"And lastly, although it is of much less importance than Nigun's failure, there is the matter of recent developments in the Holy Kingdom."
The voice echoed around the small, nondescript room. It was rather plain, with its only remarkable feature being that it was incredibly clean, a result of cleaning magic being used regularly. Inside there was a small table, around which sat six individuals.
"Is this about their supposed alliance with some demihumans?"
A female voice, this time, and one that would be considered kindly under normal circumstances.
"An alliance? Is that even possible? We indoctrinated them long ago in the teachings of the gods, so it's not possible, right?"
An older, male voice spoke next, punctuated by the shifting of the shadows on the wall.
"We've had multiple corroborated reports; there can be no doubt. They've allied themselves with the nation of…"
There was a shuffling of papers, followed by a hesitant reading.
"Der-wid?"
"I thought it was pronounced Deer-wood?"
"Who cares, it's some demihuman nation. It's not like they could spell it properly in the first place."
The last voice seemed more middle-aged than the others and seemed to hold little care for this development.
"Regardless," continued the first voice. "This is still a potential problem to add to the pile. Our goal to incite a war between the Empire and Re-estize hasn't yet made any headway, and now we might be losing our foothold in the Holy Kingdom."
There was a pause where the figures that sat around the table nodded to one another, with the female voice speaking up.
"So, what do you suggest? Perhaps it's time to install a more suggestable leader in the Holy Kingdom? From the report, it would seem that this is largely due to that Calca woman. I hear that they haven't even fully revealed the alliance to the people, for fear of a potential revolt."
"So, we arrange an accident for Calca, then?"
"We could, but there's clearly a similar sentiment within her immediate circle, or else this alliance would have never happened in the first place. Besides, there's a much simpler solution that I don't think you're seeing."
The others focused on this speaker, the oldest voice, as he continued.
"We already know the people's sentiment to this idea, don't we? And there is already tension in the Holy Kingdom between the South and the North. All that has to happen is for this information to 'leak', and the problem will take care of itself."
"You're suggesting we incite a civil war?"
The older voice chuckled.
"We're not doing anything; these events are bound to happen sooner or later. All we are acting as is a catalyst; and expedient. Inform some of the southern nobles and this will be the last meeting we have about this Der-wed"
"There's no way that that's how it's pronounced"
And so, the figures dispersed, happy in the knowledge that the problem would solve itself. Besides, it was much less important than the events at Carne Village anyway.
Sauriv smiled happily as he surveyed Oberon's handy work. Before the two of them laid nearly one thousand blades, each to the specifications set out in the treaty. It had been almost a week since his first meeting with Calca, and since then Oberon had been hard at work overseeing the creation of the first batch of equipment to be sent to the Kingdom. And while Oberon had been working on that, Sauriv had been busy himself. Not wanting to bog down Oberon with even more work, he had taken it upon himself to provide the materials for the armour. Of course, Sauriv didn't have the correct Job Classes to make the armour himself, but he wanted to at least provide some assistance to his subordinate. And so, he had travelled to the Treasury to collect the Troll hide for Oberon. Indeed, that was what his Earth Elemental subordinates were currently working on. Sauriv bent down and picked up one of the swords. Even though Druids were barred from equipping metal arms and armour, he could still pick up items like this to inspect them. The blade was fine indeed and had the same faint glow that belonged to all magical items. Placing it back into the pile, Sauriv slapped Oberon on his crystal back.
"Well done, Oberon. I am impressed by the speed and skill of your work." Oberon bowed slightly, and Sauriv thought for a moment he saw the crystal creature blush.
"It was an easy task, Lord Sauriv. These are Low-Class items, after all. Producing this is nothing."
"There's no need to downplay your abilities, Oberon. Even in Yggdrasil, this would be impressive." Oberon bowed once again, before looking back up to Sauriv.
"Thank you, my lord," Oberon said. "Well, with this done, we now only need to wait until the Elementals are finished with the armour." Sauriv nodded, before turning away and moving towards the door.
"Excellent. Well, I won't disturb your work anymore Oberon. Keep it up." And so, after a final bow from Oberon, Sauriv left to return to the elf village. It was nearing the time for Faënor's daily report. It was slightly frustrating that the meetings had to be in person, but there were a couple of reasons for this.
The first was that Sauriv could only cast [Message] through the use of scrolls and, while he had stockpiled quite a number of them, he did not have an unlimited supply.
The second was that Sauriv was concerned with Faënor being away from Derwydd for extended periods. Of course, the standards of power that they had encountered so far were abysmal, but that did not mean it was the norm. Indeed, even a low-level pleb could use a World Item to its full potential, not to mention all the other anomalies in this world.
Namely, thought Sauriv. Those [Martial Arts], or at least that was what Remedios called them.
Such power didn't exist in Yggdrasil. Honestly, that was probably for the best.
Martials certainly didn't need any extra help. Imagine a World Champion with those abilities. Sauriv shuddered at the thought. The point was that there were tons of unknowns in this world, and Sauriv was sure that he had barely scratched the tip of the surface of what there could be. This, of course, was the main idea behind sending Faënor out in the first place. He could not go too far, given that Sauriv wanted him to make daily reports, but Faënor was incredibly quick on his feet, and so could travel many miles before having to turn around.
Entering the village Sauriv could see that Faënor had already arrived, and was currently talking with one of the other elves. Upon noticing Sauriv Faënor stood to attention, providing a clean salute, before approaching him.
"Faënor, it is good to see you well. Any new information?" Sauriv asked. Faënor nodded curtly.
"Yes, my lord. I have discovered several new demihuman camps, although most are just more barbarians, not worth integrating." Sauriv nodded, sadly. His goal of diplomatically expanding his influence was becoming less and less attainable, although this did not discourage him. Of course, there would be times when diplomacy would break down, or indeed was never an option to begin with. This was just something that he would have to contend with.
"I see. This is unfortunate, although it cannot be helped. Anything else to report from you or the Stalkers?" Sauriv asked.
"Yes, my Lord. I have been able to ascertain the location of another human settlement in the northeast, along the coastline." Sauriv raised his eyebrow; that piqued his interest.
"Do we know their affiliations?" Sauriv asked.
"Not with any certainty," Faënor replied. "However, I am inclined to believe that it belongs to the Re-estize Kingdom, a nation I learned about during my infiltration of the Holy Kingdom." Sauriv nodded and pondered this for a moment.
The Re-estize Kingdom? We know next to nothing about them, only that they have occasional trade with the Holy Kingdom. Lack of information was a death sentence in Yggdrasil, and I'm certain the same holds true here. Therefore…
"Faënor, prepare the Stalkers for an extended mission. Their goal will be quick surveillance of this village, and any other potential settlements that belong to the same nation, if they are a part of one." Faënor nodded, performed a sharp bow, and then left quickly without another word. Sauriv sighed inwardly as he moved back towards the exterior of the forest. This information was important, yes, but he still had other tasks to attend to. Namely, completing his first trade with the Holy Kingdom. The arms and armour were pretty much complete, but that still left the lumber to be dealt with. Of course, this would be the easiest to accomplish. Growing Ironwood trees was something that Sauriv could do himself; In fact, it would be much more beneficial for him to do so. He had many skills and items that could increase the potency of growth spells such as those, and he could easily produce the quantities required in a couple of hours. Exiting the forest, Sauriv reached into his inventory and produced a small bag, from inside of which he extracted a small handful of acorns. In Yggdrasil, many Druid spells required a material component, and so he always kept a large quantity of them on him at all times. Throwing the seeds on the ground, Sauriv raised his hand and pictured the spell in his mind.
"[Instant Forest]."
Immediately, the acorns started to shake violently, planting themselves into the ground quickly, before a huge tree sprung from their location. It was a deep maroon in colour, the leaves a dark red, and although it was rather windy the branches remained stock still. After admiring its beauty for a moment Sauriv looked back down at the earth, which started to rumble and shake. Almost immediately afterwards a great number of similar trees burst forth all around him, growing high into the sky and densely populating the ground across from Derwydd. Sauriv smiled, satisfied, before reaching into his inventory again. [Instant Forest] was a useful spell for a variety of reasons. Normally it would just produce a small forest of oak trees. However, if you used a different type of seed during the casting then it would produce a forest of the same sort. In Yggdrasil, it was an excellent method of farming resources, and so was generally considered more of a crafting spell than anything else, although it did have other uses.
Sauriv searched through his inventory for a moment before apparently finding what he was looking for, producing an axe made from a similar material to the trees around him. Even the axe head had the same colouration, with only a slight magical sheen hinting at the difference. Humming a quiet tune to himself Sauriv approached one of the trees, eyed it for a second, before swinging the axe at it with all his might. Under normal circumstances, even with Sauriv's prodigious, level 100 strength, one would expect such an axe to merely embed itself in the bark with a loud clang. However, this did not happen. As soon as the axe impacted the tree it continued on its path as if it were still travelling through the air, and did not stop until the entire trunk had been sliced cleanly through. Pulling back the axe Sauriv raised his hand to his forehead, watching as the tree came tumbling down, crashing into the ground with a mighty crash.
Thank goodness I spent all that time farming back in Yggdrasil, thought Sauriv. Otherwise, I might not have such a handy item on hand.
Thanking his past self for investing his time in such a thing, Sauriv continued to the next tree.
In the end, due to the efficiency of the axe, the job only took him twenty minutes to complete.
After his quick work, there were now hundreds of felled trees laying next to Derwydd. The next stage would require Oberon and his elementals, as Sauriv didn't have the correct job classes to process the materials himself.
I just used to give it all to Hilden before. Well, it doesn't matter anymore.
Thinking of his old guildmates brought him nothing but bitterness, and so he decided to ignore the memory, instead focusing on informing Oberon about his work.
Besides, he thought. I have preparations to make.
Calca was, currently, in a rather good mood. There had been some internal struggle on her part to get the members of her court to accept her decision to ally with Sauriv, and the words of Kelart and Leonardo did little to help her convince them. The arguments would go in circles, with it always returning to the simple fact that Sauriv was a demihuman. The past few days had been torture for her, with the endless meetings and constant barrages of threats. She was only glad that no one had yet told the southern nobles, though how such information hadn't leaked yet was a miracle.
These opinions had changed, however, when the members of the court inspected the first shipment of goods from Derwydd. Up until now, the courtiers had cried foul at Sauriv's promises, claiming that such shipments were impossible. Now, however, the fruits of the Dragonkin's labours were staring them in the faces, and it buoyed Calca's mood as they each grabbed and inspected what they could. Suddenly, it was as if a switch had been flipped in their minds, their opinions of their new neighbour changing dramatically in just a few short minutes. Claims were being made about each of their true opinions, and how none of them had ever doubted 'Lord' Sauriv. Calca rolled her eyes, content only that these nobles were so easy to sway.
Although, thought Calca. It is incredibly impressive.
Thousands of swords, armour and lumber were arranged in the courtyard, dragged there on carts by large, earthen creatures. They reminded Calca of Earth Elementals, although these were far larger than any she had seen or heard about before. Accompanying the creatures was Oberon, the crystal creature that Calca had seen with Sauriv at their meeting, who held a similar clipboard, although this time he did not appear to be wearing his previous attire. The ruby being had been given a wide berth and had seemed content with that, instead giving a final inspection of the equipment before slowly plodding over to Calca. Her guards stood ready, although Calca was not at all concerned and simply waved them down. Oberon bowed promptly before Calca, before making a glassy, singing noise, which sounded almost like a clearing of the throat.
"Lady Calca," said Oberon, his voice sounding old and tinny, as though he were speaking through a tube. "I hope this day finds you well." Calca nodded and politely returned the bow.
"Likewise. So, this is the first shipment?" Oberon nodded and turned to his side to better allow Calca to view the wagons.
"Yes, your Majesty. Everything is accounted for, though I will not hold it against you if you wish to check." Calca nodded, watching as Leonardo and Kelart were viewing each of the pieces carefully.
"That is no problem, Oberon. I am certainly impressed by the speed of this delivery. It has only been six days, after all. I honestly did not expect the first shipment for a least another week, a month at most." Oberon let out another ringing noise, which almost sounded to Calca like the crystal man was chuckling.
"This is remarkably simple work, your Highness. If I focused all of my time on a task such as this, I could have easily made three times as many in the same length of time." Calca widened her eyes at this but nodded at Oberon.
"Really?" she said, admiration tinting the edges of her voice. "And you do this work all on your own?"
"Not as such, your Majesty," Oberon replied. "These are two of my helpers here." He gestured in the direction of the earthen creatures, which has stopped completely still; to one that hadn't seen them move just moments ago, they would look to be no more than simple piles of earth.
"I see." Calca found that slightly hard to believe, and wondered if Oberon was just being humble.
Well, she thought. It wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen this week.
"Well, assuming it is all in order, I shall take my leave." Providing a curt bow, Oberon turned towards the exit, the elementals following silently behind him. Calca gave a slight wave, before turning to the approaching forms of Kelart and Leonardo.
"Everything is in order, Lady Calca," Leonardo said. "All present and accounted for. They haven't shorted us by even a single item." Calca nodded, turning to face Kelart.
"The enchantments on the swords are all correct, too. They do exactly as promised."
"Excellent," Calca said, clapping her hands together. "Have the weapons taken to the barracks. I'm sure they will be happy to see some new equipment. And enchanted at that!" Calca smiled.
The number of men's lives this will save…
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Calca returned her focus to Leonardo. "Do we know when they intend to engage any of the tribes in the Abelion Hills?"
The old man shook his head.
"Not yet, Lady Calca. Although, from the treaty, they should be on the move within the next week." Calca nodded, looking out upon the bright, midday sky.
"I hope they stay safe," she whispered.
The sun was low in the sky when Nasrene Belt Cure exited her tent. She still was not entirely sure why Buser had insisted upon them using these. Sure, it kept the rain and the cold off of them, but all of this could be achieved through magic; anyway, it wasn't like these were hazardous to most demihumans.
He becomes more and more like the humans every day. She thought to herself, although she would dare not say it to Buser himself. Nasrene was powerful, yes, but even her prodigious skill in magic failed to best the Bafolk's strength. She scowled to herself, before returning to a neutral expression. Nasrene was one of the Magelos race, a powerful species of demihuman that were naturally able to use spells up to the 4th Tier. They also possessed four arms, and the mental acuity to use multiple spells at once. Nasrene herself, considered to be the most powerful Magelos of her generation, could use up to three spells at a time; a fact that she didn't let the other members of her species forget.
Stretching each of her arms one by one she surveyed her territory. Since Buser's takeover, she had been relegated to overseeing a small camp of Stone Eaters alongside Halisha. She was not entirely sure why she had been sent here, although she did not particularly mind the company. Halisha was one of the few members of their circle that she somewhat respected, even if his people were rather barbaric. Their camp was not that glamorous, although it was a definite improvement over how it had been a month before her arrival. Buser had spent time with her improving the quality of life amongst the Stone Eaters, providing proper shelter and better weapons, as well as improving the quality of minerals for the ape-like creatures to snack on. The only part that Halisha complained about, and the only aspect of the Stone Eater lord that disgusted Nasrene, was the lack of human corpses to eat. Honestly, the thought revolted Nasrene. Humans were disgusting, lowly creatures that deserved death, of course, but she could never imagine eating one. She swallowed her disgust as she moved to meet with Halisha. The White Elder, as he was known amongst his people, was currently directing some guards around the wooden palisades of their camp. Although it may have seemed primitive, these defences were a huge improvement over what had been there originally.
"Halisha," Nasrene said, waiting for the ape to turn to face her before she continued. "I've received a recent report from Buser." She spat his name out with all the same vitriol as a Snakeman might spit venom. Halisha tilted his head, smirking.
"Hehehe. Is it time for us to move against the humans?" His signature chuckle grated on most other people, but Nasrene did not mind it much.
"Unfortunately, no such luck," she replied, the disappointment clear on Halisha's face. "However," she continued, causing the Stone Eater to tilt his head. "He has informed us about a different problem. Apparently, some elves have been spotted roaming around the Hills. Buser wants us to capture them if we spot them. Alive, mind you," she added, Halisha chuckling to himself.
"Hehehe, no problem, no problem at all! But elves, out here in the Abelion Hills? Sounds a little far-fetched to me. Has Buser started to get old like someone else I know?" He made a nudging motion towards Nasrene, who scowled at the remark.
"I don't know what's going on with him, honestly," she said, moving a little closer to the ape to gain some semblance of privacy. "Supposedly, he went back into the circle again, and didn't return to camp for three days! Then he just walked back in as if nothing had happened!" Halisha nodded to himself.
"Well, if Buser loses it, someone else will have to take charge, hehehe. And honestly, it'll probably be up to you or Vija to do so." Nasrene would have raised an eyebrow if she had any.
"You wouldn't try anything yourself?" Halisha shook his head, chuckling to himself.
"Heeheehee, no no no! I can have so much more fun when I'm not bogged down by all the hard work that goes into leading. Even ordering these guys around can be boring sometimes." He punctuated this by sticking out a thumb and pointing towards the other Stone Eaters, who were decidedly leaving the two of them alone. "Besides," he said. "We already came to blows, and look where that got me!" He laughed once again to himself, and Nasrene thought about what Halisha had said before.
Me or Vija? I could easily beat that upstart, honour-bound freak! He might claim to be on Buser's level, but beating him would be so much simpler!
She was pulled out of her musing by a loud horn, emanating from one of the guards along the palisade. Just as confusion was about to cloud her mind, a voice rang out that cleared it immediately.
"Alarm! Enemy forces! We're under attack!"
There was silence for a brief instance, and in that moment all the members of the camp remained motionless, each attempting to parse what had just been uttered. Then, suddenly, there was a burst of movement, the guards along the perimeter moving to the horn's origin, while others around the camp scrambled for their gear. Nasrene herself moved swiftly to follow, while Halisha lazily plodded along, seemingly more amused than worried. He wasn't necessarily not taking the potential danger seriously, that was just how Nasrene knew the Stone Eater to be.
Moving swiftly to the wall, Nasrene looked out over it to see what their opponents looked like. Out across the hills, a large number of trees had appeared that certainly hadn't been there before. At least, they looked like trees on initial inspection. Squinting, Nasrene was sure that the trees were shifting slightly, almost imperceptibly, and they all seemed to have arm-like branches. On their trunks, they had large, carved wood in the shape of armour, and they had thick roots protruding from their stumps, almost acting like legs. Aside from the tree-like creatures, there were other creatures; Large clumps of earth that interspersed themselves amongst the trees, some of which were more humanoid in appearance and held large mauls and shields. Above them floated sentient gusts of wind, barely visible but for the sheen of spears and bows. Water flowed amongst the ground forces in the form of soldiers, wielding tridents and javelins. Finally, fires raged amongst the front of the forces, although they burnt none of the trees, instead coalescing in a range of shapes and sizes, many wielding large hammers.
It was a veritable army of the elements, as well as nature itself. Nasrene almost didn't believe it, but here it was, staring down her camp. Gradually, Nasrene came to realise that there was another figure ahead of the army. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but there seemed to be a lizardman standing in front of the elementals, facing her camp. After a few more moments, she realised that the figure was approaching the camp, while the army itself rested upon the hill.
The leader, perhaps?
Eventually, the lizardman came within audible range of the camp. Nasrene also noticed that he was within spitting distance of the Stone Eater guards. The Stone Eaters had a unique quirk in that they would eat rocks and gain different properties based on what type of rock they consumed. They also had a habit of spitting those same rocks out at foes, and they were eerily accurate; they could easily strike a target within 100 metres, and many were trained to go beyond this range.
The lizardman stopped his approach, before clearing his throat and speaking.
"Members of the Stone Eater tribes," the lizardman began. "Know me as Sauriv, the lord of Derwydd! I have come to make you pay for your crimes against the Roble Holy Kingdom! Surrender now and you shall be treated fairly and properly; you shall receive a suitable punishment for your crimes and you shall work to be free of your sin!" Then this Sauriv turned and gestured to the army behind him. "If you do not surrender, then you shall be brought before justice by force, and your punishments may be more severe!" There was a pause as the eyes of hundreds of beings remained locked with the lizardman. Nasrene's eyes darted between him and the army, thinking quickly.
What kind of an army is that!? Is he in control of it!? Is that even possible? To control so many elementals at once, and such large ones at that…
Looking back at the lizardman, Nasrene eyed his equipment.
It's clearly enchanted, but it's not very powerful looking, she thought. If he is the one in control of the army then killing him should be the top priority. There's no way we can defeat that army with our current forces, but if we can kill their summoner then they should all disperse.
She turned to look at Halisha, who was still chuckling softly to himself, who met her gaze. Locking eyes, they each knew what the other had been thinking.
Quicker than any other time in her life, Nasrene raised her four arms and chanted three spells at once. She didn't know if the lizard had any resistances, so she endeavoured to cover as many areas at once.
"[Freeze Lance]! [Shock Lance]! [Silver Lance]!"
The initial two spells were Nasrene's own derivatives of the third. Silver lance was a powerful 4th tier spell that dealt large amounts of physical damage if it impacted an opponent. In addition to this, it would deal immensely more damage to one wearing no armour, although its damage potential would drop off the more armoured the target was. Normally she might have instead used another derivative, such as [Burn Lance] or [Acid Lance], but considering her target wasn't wearing any armour it made more sense to use the greater damaging spell.
At the same instance as her spells were cast Halisha leapt into the air, spitting out a rapid-fire blast of rocky pellets. Each flew through the air at blinding speed, with every pellet being strong enough to cave in a human's ribcage even through steel plate armour. Of course, this was a lizardman and so would have greater resistance than a human, but the power of the shots meant that even one of that hardy race could not survive.
It was a perfect coordination of strikes, with the only sound made being Nasrene's casting cry. Each attack hit almost simultaneously, blowing up dust and dirt as they impacted against the lizard. Watching the dust rise, Nasrene didn't let up, immediately raising three hands and extending an index finger on each.
"[Fireball]!"
Immediately a minuscule, bright orb extended from each finger at blinding speeds, impacting the same location as her previous attacks and exploding into a fiery conflagration. As a 3rd Tier spell, [Fireball] was not as powerful as [Burn Lance], but considering she couldn't see her target due to the cloud of dust she couldn't be sure that a focused spell like [Burn Lance] would connect with her target. Therefore, she had chosen to use a spell with a much wider area of effect. Halisha, too, had the same idea. Grabbing a chunk of rock from his robes, a red crystal from the brief look Nasrene gave it, the ape threw it into his mouth. Immediately the exposed fur on his body took on a fiery hue and smoke started to pool from his robes. Letting out a maniacal laugh Halisha released a large gout of flame from his mouth, engulfing the same area as Nasrene's [Fireballs] had a moment before.
All of this took place over the span of 2 seconds. Finally, Halisha came crashing down to the ground, the large leap having kept him in the air for the whole encounter. Continuing his laugh, Halisha pointed at the smouldering creator that he and Nasrene had created.
"Heeheehee, repent, you say? Get real! What is there to repent about, anyway!? Oh, this is too much fun!" Halisha started to do a little dance, clearly happy with the results. Nasrene, however, was concerned.
The elementals should have dispersed! So, either he wasn't their summoner, or…
Raising herself into a defensive stance she saw a silhouette in the cloud of dust, illuminated by the afternoon sun. Stepping out from the crater, the lizardman emerged, dusting himself off in an exaggerated way.
"I see. Well, I can't say I didn't expect this."
Instantly, Nasrene returned to the offensive, raising her arms as Halisha directed the Stone Eaters.
"Attack the summoner!"
"[Acid Lance]!"
Attempting a different approach, Nasrene fired off three separate [Acid Lances] at Sauriv.
Does he possess resistance to those other elements? Nasrene thought as the other Stone Eaters fired off shots of rock from their mouths. Now that the dust had settled, Nasrene could clearly see the pellets bounce right off the Lizardman's scales, not so much as fazing the creature. Indeed, even her [Acid Lances] seemed to disperse into clouds of nothingness before they even impacted Sauriv, the summoner just standing there, not bothering to dodge. Nasrene panicked, not fully comprehending what was going on.
Even Buser felt the need to dodge my spells! This being is on a completely different level!
While the Stone Eaters continued their assault Sauriv raised his staff, calling out a spell of his own.
"[Entangle]!"
Immediately, the ground under them began to spasm and groan, the minute specks of grass growing exponentially in a matter of moments. Before the vast majority of the apes could react the blades of grass sprang out, entangling them in their grips. Nasrene leapt into the air, as did Halisha, dodging the effect, and landing on top of a small guard tower. Below them they could see their army struggle against their bonds, while those who were able to avoid it were fighting off the grass, slicing at it with their swords.
"Hehehe, well this is a predicament," chuckled Halisha to himself.
"Get serious, ape!" Nasrene snapped, readying herself for another attack. The ape shook his head in apparent disregard for the current situation, withdrawing another chunk of rock from his robe. Throwing it into his mouth he leapt at the summoner, chewing and swallowing as he approached. When he got within melee range his fur had taken on a new hue entirely, this time a shiny, reflective colour. Nasrene knew that Halisha had just eaten a chunk of diamond, granting the Stone Eater great resistance to bludgeoning damage. Considering he was attempting to engage the creature in close quarters this was probably smart, as the lizardman had only a staff to defend himself with.
Although, if he can use spells in the thick of a melee then it will be useless.
Attempting to assist the ape in his endeavour Nasrene cast a quick [Shock Lance], one which dissipated into smoke like the others, while she attempted to keep her distance. While Nasrene was a great caster she, unfortunately, didn't have any spells that allowed for escape or augmentation, so she was entirely reliant on her attack spells for dealing with her foes. Up until now, that had been more than enough, but perhaps she should rethink that approach. Regardless, thinking about such things would not help her secure a win here.
While she thought about her methods of attack, she watched Halisha engage with the lizardman. The ape did not use any weapons, rather instead focusing on his fists to get the job done. Getting within range of Sauriv, Halisha swung with a backhanded strike, causing Sauriv to duck under. The strength of the attack alone caused a gust of wind to slice through the air, and Nasrene was only glad that she was not on the receiving end of it. Following up, Halisha let loose a barrage of punches at his foe, focusing his attacks on the summoner's body. Sauriv seemed able to parry most with his staff, although a couple landed on the body of the lizard, forcing him to leap backwards.
Although there doesn't seem to be any outward damage there.
Firing off another [Silver Lance], which impacted harmlessly on Sauriv's chest, Halisha decided to start ramping up his assault.
"[Step of the Wind]! [Ability Boost]!"
Following his activation of martial arts, Halisha exploded forward, meeting Sauriv where he landed, clasping his hands together and throwing them into a strike for the lizard's head. Sauriv ducked to dodge the attack, but this seemed to be Halisha's intention. The Stone Eater went for a leg sweep, impacting Sauriv and toppling him over. Halisha then went for a strong hit to Sauriv's chest, calling out another martial art as he did so.
"[Iron Fist]!"
The punch connected. Nasrene knew that it was taxing to have so many martial arts active at once, but she considered it a worthy price if they could survive. The fist impacted with an almighty clang, the sound of metal upon metal echoing across the hills. Nasrene saw Sauriv bounce off of the ground, all the while Halisha was winding up for another hit.
"Take this, heeheeHEE!" Swinging his arm around, Halisha gave Sauriv an almighty punch to the head, sending the falling figure flying off in the opposite direction. Halisha went to celebrate again, bouncing up and down, but Nasrene decided to continue the pressure. She aimed at the careening figure of Sauriv and sent out another spell.
"[Lightning Bolt]!"
The strike travelled almost instantaneously, connecting with the distant figure and lighting up the entirety of the hills. Whooping and laughing, Halisha finished his dance and returned to facing his distant opponent.
"Hehe, do you think he's down now?" Halisha asked, Nasrene peering out onto the lizard's point of impact.
"I don't think so. The army is still there, so he's not dead, although he's probably weakened by now." Halisha nodded, returning to an aggressive stance.
Immediately, a small tree started to grow in front of Halisha. He was so surprised that he almost didn't react to it, but after a moment to collect himself, he breathed in deeply, his fur returning to the fiery hue it had previously, and then exhaled a large gout of flame, scorching the tree as it grew. This attack seemingly had no effect on the tree as it continued to grow until it took the shape of Sauriv. The wooden texture shifted in colour until it was clearly scale and flesh, and it wasn't long before the tree had transformed into Sauriv entirely
Laughing, Halisha moved to once again strike the lizard, but Sauriv was faster. In an instant the lizard raised the end of his staff, striking Halisha under the jaw with the butt of the stick, and sent him flying back into the palisade.
Nasrene stood still from her vantage point, not daring to move or speak. Halisha was out cold from that one strike, and even his greatest attack had apparently had no effect on his opponent. She tried to process this new information, tried to formulate some strategy where she could win. But the evidence was overwhelmingly against her. Sauriv calmly started to walk towards the camp, the Stone Eaters each having lost their battle against the earth, each tied up and held by the grass itself.
"I thought that a show of force would be enough to get you to surrender. I don't believe in killing people unjustly, especially when it can be easily avoided. Don't worry," he said, focusing on Nasrene as he produced a scroll from his person. "I won't kill you, torture you, or do anything harmful to you. In fact, you can expect good treatment from me." Nasrene was slightly confused as the lizardman approached, the wooden stakes of the palisade bending and shifting out of the creature's way. "I will make sure you receive a fair trial, and you will receive a punishment in accordance with that." Nasrene had only one option left. Jumping down onto the now stabilised earth she prostrated herself before Sauriv.
"I will accept any and all punishment you see fit, Master Sauriv! This one was foolish to stand before your grand, no, godly might! Use this one as you see fit! A servant, a slave, anything you wish!" Nasrene blurted out the words almost as fast as her mind could process them, trying to quickly sway the lizard to accept her apology.
If he doesn't, there's no way I'll survive!
Trembling on the ground, her face pressed against the earth as hard as she could, Sauriv spoke to her.
"Will you accept your judgement?" His voice was calm, but Nasrene could hear an edge to his voice that she couldn't fully grasp.
"Yes, my master! This one will accept your divine wrath! Let this one be cleansed in the fires of your rage so that I might better serve you!" There was a pause. Whether Sauriv was paying her any attention, she did not know, and she did not dare raise her head. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sauriv spoke.
"If you can survive your Judgement, then I will allow you to serve me." Nasrene gulped instinctually, feeling the ground tremble as the elemental army approached.
"But know that you will not face my judgement, but the [Judgement of Osiris]"
In the darkness of night, the only sight that could be seen was that of the moon, which shone brightly upon the village. It was a small sight, with only a few meagre homes and a decrepit blacksmith to fill it. Indeed, at this time of night, one could be mistaken for thinking it was abandoned. No sounds were ringing throughout the streets, and no light was pouring from the windows. At this time the inhabitants were all asleep, and so the shadows made their move. They crept across the earth, darting between the moon-casted silhouettes of the trees. They entered the village, quietly, as they had been ordered to, and silently took note of the inhabitants.
Above the village, there was a similar, invisible movement. The air currents shifted and swayed, and the leaves on the trees blew in abnormal directions. These currents moved towards the village, too, and were there on similar orders. Quietly, they observed the village, and took note of the inhabitants, as they had been instructed to. The shadows danced around the interiors of the buildings, moonlight spilling in and, after a few minutes had passed, the shadows retreated, satisfied with their observation. The air currents, too, spent a couple of minutes here, before continuing in the other direction. They had finished their observations each and had noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Certainly, their masters would be quite bored with the results of this endeavour.