[ - Author's Note - ]
Here we go, new chapter!
Current poll is still going slow. I've had some people on FFDotNet's side contacting me and complaining about difficulty in reaching it. In my defense the site was always lousy with allowing links in story. It's annoying, but what can you do? The AO3 version has the link able to be copy and pasted, if nothing else. The link will be reposted at the bottom of the story once more.
So; this chapter we go off to Arafe and find some... Bumps in the road.
[ - Act II - Chapter X: Clash At Arafe - ]
Ruled by House Leosol, the Barony of Arafe is one of the states on the border of Garan and it has caused them issues for the last seven hundred years. While House Leosol has, traditionally, been a proud and independent territory it was demoted from a county after a hundred years of war due to the damage done by the constant Garan assaults. To prevent it's collapse the other states of Feoh banded together to both help prop up Leosol's economy and to build forts along it's north east to protect the realm.
This has led House Leosol to be among the most loyal to Eostia in general and Feoh in particular. Leosol has since saw itself as the Shield of Feoh; the first line of defense against the Garanian hordes. Arafe has some of the best knights in all of Eostia, not because of training but experience. Thanks to the other states of Feoh they have all they need to equip their forces.
Considered a limited state House Leosol only allows for the enslavement of Dark Elves and no one else. And in addition most of the Barons have exiled all Dark Elves born in Arafe to other territories; they seek to punish the invaders but for some their pride cannot let them punish those who did not choose to wage war on them. Still a general dislike for Dark Elves exists in Arafe.
In addition the Garanian High House Chaoxis has a long lasting grudge against House Leosol; one that is well returned.
~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia
[-]
"That's very... Odd..." Anncastel let off, blinking as she used the well in her temple to replay the scene over and over; the scene of the Archbishop sensing James' observe. "How did he pick up on it? That ability is granted by divine magic. No mere mortal should be able to sense it! Even the gods local to the world shouldn't be able to sense it!"
"I've seen it happen..." Carlongera let off. Benterra was rubbing his chin at his seat, thinking it over while Debcorra and Erinseala were elsewhere in the divine realm attending other tasks. "It's rare but a hint of the divine can enter a mortal when our sort of power is used on their world... And when your champion entered your, ugh what was it called... 'character creator', it would have counted when the effects of his choices washed over the world."
"Craaaaaaap..." Benterra let off, biting his lip as he thought about it. "How dangerous does that make him?"
"He's not a demi-god or the like, if that's the fear." Carlongera said as he crossed his arms. "But you've seen one of his abilities; he can sense other divine magics. Another is an unusually deep mana pool. His spells won't be more powerful then another human of his level but he'll have reserves so deep they might seem endless to him..."
"Damn... That means he can just chuck attack after attack if he wanted..." Benterra let off, humming. "Something to be said of being able to just spam fireballs at something..."
Carlongera nodded before speaking once more. "The last varies from person to person however and we won't know it until he reveals it. It could be a second form, the ability to see future possibilities, supremely good luck... It could be almost anything."
"...Could he alter the World Laws?" Benterra asked, a little worry in his voice.
"He shouldn't but... It's not impossible..." Carlongera said as he gulped softly. "I've never heard of such a thing, but I admit it's not impossible..."
"Damn... If he could alter the World Laws it could be devastating to our goals..." Benterra let off. "Even if we're not that absurdly unlucky though he is on a collision course with James as foes. Whatever this ability ends up being it can't be good..."
"Anything you can do to counter it?" Anncastel asked, turning to him.
"Hmm, give me time..."
[-]
We left Feoh for Arafe the next day. It would be the second time I'd be in a northern border territory so I had a little bit of worry. I wasn't expecting Garan to invade (Knock on wood) but they did have a habit of launching skirmishes and raids. It was an annoyance, to say the least. Anyway, Arafe was ruled by Baron Arthur Leosol, his wife Glenda and his heir Lance. I asked Olivia about it and she wasn't sure why I had Mungale, Arafe and Harcal as starting options in particular. I guess it didn't matter; I was happy living in Mungale either way.
The trip over was mostly full of reading, idle chatter and the odd gap of silence. Riding with me this time was Makoto, Miria and Alicia. Makoto began to ask questions about the Knights of Iris (Directed to Alicia this time) and the Knight Princess was happy to explain. And of course Makoto, from a land largely removed from Eostia and it's troubles until recently, made an observation and followed it with a question.
"If Eostia had managed to ward off Garan for seven hundred years then surely it has the strength to push up north and end the war by force of arms. Why haven't you?"
Alicia sighed and for a moment I didn't notice she was giving me a look (While I listened to the conversation I was also reading an enchanting book and was quite engrossed with it) until Miria softly elbowed me. I jerked and looked up and seeing both Alicia and Makoto looking to me I realized the onus for answering the question was on my shoulders, as per usual. I coughed into my hand and took a moment to bookmark and set my tome aside before looking at Makoto. "Short answer; the Black Citadel."
Makoto blinked in non-understanding and tilted her head. "I... presume there's more to it then just that."
"Yeah... Okay, time for a history lesson..." I said as I took a moment to compose myself. "If you recall I mentioned that before the Battle of Sulden, or Battle of Arndale as some people call it since that's what Sulden became... Anyway, I mentioned that Dreadrick Arblade made a bet that Verlangen was going to lose the battle and made moves to secure his own territory in the north; what is now Garan used to be an Empire named after himself; Arblade. For the better part of a thousand years Arblade and Eostia waged war on and off; Arblade never could make any real conquests, or at least never held them long, but Eostia could never conquer them either; Dominious or Weregell were usually other concerns of the time, our relationship with Camafran was rocky for a while and while Balanar wasn't attacking at the time they were happy to shake their sabers like an agitated rattlesnake."
I leaned onto the table in the middle of the carriage as I kept going. "With so many distractions Eostia could never afford to mass enough forces to just smash northwards. However about a thousand years ago it became a moot point; The Great Pox was washing through at the time and while an Eostian priest discovered a means of protection from the pox in the form of vaccination Arblade hadn't and lost nearly all but ten odd percent of their population as they succumbed to the Pox." Makoto gasped loudly. Yes, ninety percent of Arblade died to the Pox. When you have a plague with that level of lethality, well, nothing good comes of it.
I carried on with the lecture. "The then High King Rictor Rodimus was torn between abandoning Arblade as they asked him for help, driving a spear through them and conquering Arblade once and for all or giving them the help they begged for... Then Dominious decided to come knocking with an army and the choice was made for him. Arblade had largely been isolated and insular so details of what was going on inside of it at the time is limited but what we know was the place was falling apart. The Aberrant were running wild and their military was strained to the breaking point. However they ended up with some unexpected help from the northeast beyond what we call The Unknown Reaches. Dark Elves."
"Wait... Dark Elves?" Makoto let off, blinking as I nodded.
"Yeah." I said with a shrug. "Information is limited but what we know is they left their homeland for some reason. Because of different ideology, oppression or something else I don't know about but a population of Dark Elves immigrated through the Reaches and into Arblade. We know they made a deal with the Arblade crown, or whatever was left of it, and settled into the country and helped fight the Aberrant. Details are scarce but by all accounts the two peoples mostly got along and some intermarriage even began. Whoever took over the crown even took a Dark Elf as his bride... After about two centuries things had calmed down between Arblade and Eostia and while they were still insular it was expected there would be peace... At least until contact suddenly stopped. Celestine took over as High Queen in this time and was directing forts to be built up north; she said she had a vision of an Aberrant army coming from the north and it would be coming in a century."
"What no one knew yet was Arblade had fallen in this time." I said with a sigh. "Those Dark Elf immigrants ended up being followed two centuries later by Olga Discordia. Details are, yet again scarce but what we do know is she brought an army with her, rumored to be backed by or comprised mostly of golems. And either after or during their conflict with Arblade she built the Black Citadel. It's said to be an obsidian structure that's some mish-mash between a castle and a pyramid. However it generates a strange, weird magic. Most people call it the Dread Field, which is... appropriate."
I sighed as I crossed my arm. "It has two main effects; the first is it empowers the Aberrant. All Aberrant who are loyal to the Dark Queen gain much greater strength and any natural abilities are improved. Or maybe even those that aren't; it's an assumption not a known fact. Worse, the effect improves the closer you get to the Citadel. Out here, in the border, the boost is supposed to be noticeable but not major. If you push too deep in, however, it's not long until you're facing enemies two or even three times as strong as they should be." Makoto gasped softly as Alicia nodded.
"I can confirm that." The Knight Princess said. "I chased a group of three ogres into Garan once and they were much stronger as we got just a two day's chase in."
I nodded and kept going. "That's not the worst of it, however. The other is the reason it's called the Dread Field. As you get closer the same field that effects the Aberrant effects people too but in a different way. Elves of all stripes are unaffected, but humans start to feel an imposed sense of dread on them. Like... It's been described as a soft pressure on you when you get a little ways into Garan... However the first time Eostia tried to launch a full conquest the army didn't get half way there before morale broke apart. No one, even the most seasoned commanders, could deal with the overwhelming sense of dread and pressure put on them each hour of each day. Because of that no force could get close to the Citadel, let alone lay siege to it. Dominious tried by invading by sea from the north only to meet the same problem; they didn't even meet significant resistance; the Dread Field alone forced them to retreat."
"Such a defense..." Makoto let off, as she rubbed her chin.
"Yeah, and no one knows how to get past it." Miria added with a groan. "It's stumped everyone for seven hundred years, we can't do anything about it!"
"Mages like my father have studied it and come up with nothing so far." I chipped in. I had my own theories, and given how I came from another world I had a fresh perspective but still drew a blank on exactly how I could block it. It was something to look further on later. "But yeah, in the end the war has been a seven century long stalemate. Eostia can't push in and end the war by traditional conquest, routs or deposing their Queen and none of them want to come to the negotiating table. On the same token Eostia has beaten back Garan each time, and over the last century has managed to keep them from getting past the border states. Effectively the only two ways we can end this war is either by a peace agreement the Dark Elves scoff at the idea of or defeating the Dread Field which no one has done in seven centuries."
"You'll figure out the Dread Field, I'm sure." Alicia said to me with a nod making me smile and nod back in reply... Before her words fully hit as I blinked at her for a moment.
"Excuse me?"
"You just made a long distance communicator and are installing a network to ensure people can spread messages across the entire Alliance." Alicia said with a smile, lifting a finger up. "I might not be magically educated but I have dealt with long distance magical commutations before you made the voxlux. It's not exactly what I'd call 'reliable'." She said moving to lean back in her seat. "You nearly made every other form of long distance reporting obsolete in a manner of weeks. And when all your boosters are up they will be fully obsolete. If you can make something like that you can beat the Dread Field."
"...That's... That's a bit of a taller order here, Alicia." I said with a deep sigh. "Even if I had all the research on the Dread Field that's still a case of solving a problem that's stumped everyone for seven hundred years by picking out the few, tiny details that no one else thought of."
"So, like making the voxlux then." Makoto said as I felt my eyebrow twitched. In my defense I had the concept of a radio and cell phone to base creating the voxlux on, I didn't know what I could make to fight the Dread Field based off my old world. I mean people have tried every kind of shield under the yellow sun to block the Dread Field, multiple kinds of healing and medical based magic, every potion and medicine that one could think of... Aside from turning everyone into an elf I had no idea on how it would work.
There was only two unique things I knew that hinted at the issue; anyone who used mana succumbed to the effects faster and those with higher level of mana could resist it for a time; as long as they refrained from spell casting. What hasn't been figured out is why; the best guess was that one's mana could help resist the effects to the Dread Field somehow... But that doesn't explain why using spells, even weak ones, would accelerate the effect so quickly. The answer was sitting in front of everyone's noses for seven hundred years, I was sure of it, but I was damned if I knew what it was.
I wasn't sure if I should be glad that Alicia had such faith in me or upset she decided that the responsibility for figuring such out should be dumped on my head with little fanfare.
I sighed deeply... Why me?
Any further thoughts I had on it vanished as an explosion rocked the carriage; a heavy, loud boom sounding as I grabbed the table, as did everyone else in the vehicle as the sounds of spooked horses spilled in to us. "Wha-"
"Ambush!" A knight let off. The Table was folded quickly to the wall as I opened the door, floating up with Levitate. I was close to capping it's level off, so I made an idle note to work on that.
Maybe... Not the best thing to think about in the middle of an attack.
My eyes widened as I saw a fireball flying towards us as our convoy slowed down as I casted a shield spell. The fireball hit me head on and I grit my teeth as Miria, Makoto and Alicia filtered out under my protection, the others doing the same from their carriage. The spell rocked me but I held my ground and blocked it fully as I took stock of the situation. I quickly noted a dead or disabled knight and horse along with a crater in the road before looking to where the attack came from.
"Legion..." Alicia hissed out as she drew her sword. I gulped. Great.
Several large, seven to eight odd foot beastly looking humanoids with a couple standing at near nine feet tall with dark, green skin of varying shades. Each wielded at least a club but a couple held axes or maces. Dark, greasy looking black hair hung off their heads as they marched closer, red eyes matching their smiles and clad only in loincloths save one who wore a steel breast plate and some armor on the thighs, forearms, shoulders and a very, basic helmet. He held a two handed claymore and a tower shield as well, making him stand out further. I singled that one out as some sort of leader of his six buddies.
(-)
Name: Legion Ogre Grunt
Title: Legion Grunt
Class: Wildman
Level: 17
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 9
Status: Healthy, Battle Hungry, Lustful
Known Traits
[?]
[Lust From Battle] For each kill you make in battle increase all Sexual Stats by 2 for one hour
A basic, common ogre; used as heavy combat troops and a semi-common form of Aberrant in the Legion. Larger by most humans and heavier by three times at least they boast masses of muscle and hit harder then most humans can dream of and can take much more damage; although a good, critical strike to the heart or other internal organs can still disable or kill them outright. Garan often use them as sergeants in combat.
(-)
Name: Legion Ogre Sergeant
Title: Legion Elite Fighter
Class: Barbarian
Level: 26
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 7
Status: Healthy, Battle Hungry, Lustful
Known Traits
[?]
[Lust From Battle] For each kill you make in battle increase all Sexual Stats by 2 for one hour
[?]
Some ogres who are battle-hardened and have proven their worth on the fields of combat will be acknowledged by their Dark Elf superiors and are given better arms and even armor to wear. They act as sergeants and low ranking officers in their combat forces and are even allowed to lead units at times. These types of Ogres are smarter then most may expect and are known for wicked cunning.
(-)
In addition I could see two dozen and change goblins swarming around them; half with melee weapons and wearing old, worn looking gambeson armor that was dark with dirt and stains and the other half wielding bows and arrows, acting in support. They would fire arrows at us but Aeris, hovering over the ground on her staff, would knock them from the air with a wind spell. Said goblins were levels twelve to fourteen; cannon fodder but dangerous cannon fodder. However it was the one hanging back that worried me most.
She wore black robes that covered her whole torso with a white, leather breastplate over her chest that only covered the chest that was shaped like a skull with red eye and nose holes and two fangs hanging off the edge of her D-Cup breasts and pointing right down. White, black forearm bracers were on each arm with a white, spinal design going along the outside and rib like designs wrapping around it. Black gloves covered each hand with a silver ring on each hand, both with red spell stones on them. A matching circlet was on her head; silver with a large, red spell stone in the center and two smaller ones flanking it.
However it was her dark, dusky skin and pointed ears that marked her as a Dark Elf; her hair was pure white and hung to her knees in waves with only a crown of braids around her head taming them somewhat. Red eyes looked to us as she lifted up her staff. It was a pure, black staff capped with a silver skull with red spell stones set to the eyes.
(-)
Name: Cherep Chaoxis
Title: Magical Scion of Chaoxis
Class: Sorceress
Level: 18
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 3
Status: Healthy, Hateful, Angry
Romance Rating: N/A
Corruption Rating: 245
Known Traits
[True Misanthrope] You hate humanity to the max! You are unable to romance or be romanced by humans.
[?]
[Rough Control] Your magic is more powerful then normal; but it's harder to control as well! +15% to Mag. Spells may increase in power by up to 15% at random. If so increase the spell cost by 2.5% per 1% power increase
[Lust For Destruction] You want to just destroy anything you hate. +2% to Mag & Mnc when throwing Area of Effect attacks.
Daughter of the High House Chaoxis she was forced to compete with her four sisters to compete for a place besides her mother as heir or spare to her House in the ranks of the Highborne. However she was outshone by all four of them and was the first cast into the Lowborne ranks. She now seeks to destroy what she can in her anger and has taken any and all chances to kill humans as a means of expressing her rage.
(-)
I clicked my tongue. Chaoxis was one of the Five Great Houses in Garan. I didn't know much about them beyond they controlled Garan's south west and... Well, that was the bulk of it really.
"What are they doing out here!?" Riri bellowed out as she (And the rest of us, really) drew weapons as the Feoh knights regrouped quickly, moving to flank us. The Dark Elf threw another fireball as I kept my shield up, Aeris quickly floating closer to me and lifting her hand to reinforce my spell; her help making it much easier to tank the shot.
"Recon in force..." Albert, on horseback, was the one to answer as he spun his spear about once. "Sometimes Garan likes to poke at the border territories and test them."
"Yeah..." Ur'Akara let off, smacking her axes together. "I say we fail them."
"Not like we have a choice." I let off, letting another fireball splash onto the shield with a boom before pointing my hand to the approaching Legion. "Aeris!" I called out as flames gathered to my hand. She nodded and drew wind to hers before she casted a wind spell and I coupled it with my Flamethrower spell. The result was a pillar of spiraling flame rushing right to the Dark Elf. A couple goblins were caught in the burning wave while the ogres dodged, although a slower one had a now smoking shoulder, likely burned harshly. The enemy spellcaster, however was able to bring up a shield quick enough, the wind fueled flames just splashing around her shield and doing seemingly no harm to her.
"Heh... You humans are harder to kill then most..." The Dark Elf let off, tapping her staff on the ground as Alicia growled just as I hear the boss music kick in. "Fine by me..." My vision flashed white as my view on her zoomed in, spiraling up her body before focusing on her grinning face. "It makes the blood taste all the sweeter..." She let off as my view panned back as she lifted her staff up high.
_Magical Scion of Chaoxis_
Cherep Chaoxis
My vision returned to normal as the ogres closed in as Alicia started to bark orders.
"Aeris, give us some cover! Albert, take the knights and deal with the ogres! Miria, snipe the archers! Makoto, Ur'Akara, Agni, Riri! With me, we'll close in and punch through to the Dark Elf! James, support our approach!" Alicia was taking charge and I felt no reason to question her lead. Aeris drew mana and blasted off with a Scatter Bolt as I did much the same; the difference being I moved to land on my feet and rush after Alicia as she, our bodyguards and the maids rushed ahead of me; Alicia at the point, Makoto and Agni flanking her, Riri and Ur'Akara flanking them and I bringing up the rear. I'd rather be closer to the front, but Alicia's Mana Armor meant she was the best protected and as the magic user I was best to be in the back.
As we rushed in the knights, led by Albert, charged the Ogres. They all drew spears, charging through the goblins first; goblins were an odd threat for mounted units as the little buggers by themselves had poor reach to hit the knights and were at higher risk of being trampled by the steeds but at the same time the short Aberrant were harder to hit by those mounted if they didn't have a weapon with enough reach. Hence favoring spears. They were also better for fighting the ogres; you don't want to be closer to them if you had to be. Really, there were many good reasons the spear was the weapon of choice for knights, soldiers and conscripts due to a combination of reach, ease of creation and relative ease of training.
I put up a shield as we made the advance; the larger and further the shield reaches the harder it is to use and maintain the shield so when I casted it I covered the girls but not Alicia; her Mana Armor would be more then enough as it was; in fact I saw an arrow slam into her shoulder and break in two as it just fell over her body to the ground. On either side of us and ahead the knights started to crash into the enemy; two of the knights engaged with Ogres with Albert outright killing one, jamming his spear through it's head. The rest were on goblin-slaying duty.
Meanwhile we started to crash into the goblin line, Alicia being the first to meet them with a wide swing of her sword, taking two of them out in a single stroke. The girls behind her slashed at the goblins with their weapons (Save Agni who just punched them in the face) as I transitioned into casting Gale Burst into a mass of Goblins trying to flank around the girls, knocking them back, jabbing my Rapier to the other side to catch one in the eye.
The armored Ogre barked orders and charged right at Alicia in turn, moving to stab with a sword that to him was a short sword, to us a large one. Alicia hopped over the stab as the point hit the ground and slashed at him as she landed; soles of her boots on the side of his blade. He blocked with his shield and she'd jump away before he could move his sword or attempt a shield bash. I channeled mana to attack him to either do some damage or distract him only for my whole being want to jump back, which I did as I avoided the impact of a fireball exploding near where I was and sending me tumbling back. I cursed as I rolled to my feet, the Dark Elf levitating upwards and channeling mana to her staff once more; creating a new fireball as she smirked down to me.
Gee, I wonder what her favorite spell was?
I waited until she was just about to cast her spell before casting mine; Hammer of Smite. The mana was a physical, crushing attack made of holy magic and I sent it off not at her but at her spell. She seemed to realize what I'd done just as she fired off her attack. Spell met spell and her exploded only feet from her as she tried to bring up a shield; the fire from her spell wouldn't hurt her but the concussive force the spell generated would and despite the attempt to cast a shield she was flung back in the air. I redrew mana and aimed my attack straight upwards before unleashing a Scatter Bolt. Rather then attack her directly the missiles soared upwards as she recovered, arced in the air and dropped them onto her from above. Her shield was still up so all mine did was pepper her shield and force her downwards slightly, but it kept her from casting another attack. A growl caught my attention as I looked over in time to see a goblin leap at me but before it could get into strike range a throwing knife from Riri slammed into the side of it's skull. I looked back to the Dark Elf who had recovered and glared down at me.
I glanced around quickly. Agni and Makoto were handling an ogre together, fighting rather well. Riri was focusing on the goblins, proving too nimble for them to pin down and she whittled them down. Alicia blocked a strike of the ogre sergeant, deflecting it's blade to the side before her blade glowed. The beast blocked with it's shield and was knocked back three full steps, even if it's guard wasn't broken.
I was in a mostly one on one situation but one where every other fight nearby could spill in and out of it (And vice-versa) with an enemy mage. It occurred to me now that aside from Tiffany I hadn't really fought another mage in a serious fight until now.
Time to step up.
She drew mana back to her staff but I snapped off a Magic Missile at her as she leaned away from it; the magical bullet zooming past her as she dodged as I charged on the ground at her before using Levitate to rise up, flying upwards as she pulled back for a fireball. I drew mana and as she readied to throw another fireball I brought up my left hand, using the shield in my glove's spell stone to bring up the shield and used my mana to reinforce it.
I braced for the fireball as she threw it, blocking it with the shield as I approached. I grit my teeth as I was rocked by the attack as I prepared for my next move. She drew her magic once more, sneering at me.
"Weak human, I will end you!" She let off as I waited for the right moment... Right as she was about to cast I used my own spell; Gale Burst this time. The wind attack did three things; first if buffeted her, making her yelp and adjust her mid-air stance to keep herself from flying back. The second was it sent her fireball flying off to the side; well off the battlefield below us. The third?
The vacuum effect pulled me forwards towards her as I prepared to thrust out with my sword. The moment she saw me coming closer she drew mana, trying to quick cast a shield. I quickly piled on Reflex Boost and Adrenaline Rush on top of each other before using Piercing Thrust in mid-air. It turns out that, yes, Piercing Thrust did allow you to rush in even while flying in mid-air... And the point of the Unicorn's Horn slammed into her shield as she casted it.
For a brief, few seconds it was her shield trying to hold out against my attack. Despite her efforts you could see cracks starting to form, snaking out bit by bit. She used her mana to reinforce the shield as she grit her teeth, glaring at me.
I used mine to cast Blessed Weapon onto my sword, making it glow brightly with holy light as I gave another press in, her eyes widening just before her shield shattered. She tried to dodge but she didn't get to move much before I slammed my rapier through the center of her chest as she screamed out in pain, the staff slipping from her grasp as she grabbed my arm with both of her hands, looking at me with shock. "Im-impossible... A lowly... human... You cannot..."
Her words died as I drew my parrying dagger, turned it to a reverse grip and slammed it into her skull through the side. She went limp as I pulled the dagger free before letting her body slide off and fall to the ground, dead. I took a moment to catch my breath before looking down.
The bulk of the attacking force was gone save the armored Ogre who was backing up from Alicia; either her attacks were becoming too fierce for it to handle or it wanted to keep all it's opponents before it as it's followers lay dead around it. Of course both at the same time were also possible. I decided to fly back to the carriages and the downed knight; I didn't know his condition and I was sure Alicia would win; she had too much support to not win. Indeed as I was flying down her blade started to glow a bright silver before she swung hard. The ogre blocked with his shield once more... But this time the shield was cleaved in two, along with the ogre's arm at the bicep.
It howled out and swung it's blade at Alicia as she swung back into it's blade, harshly deflecting it and sending it's arm away as she smoothly pulled her blade back before dashing in with a horizontal swing... With the ogre's body being cut clean in twoalong it's waist. The sword fell from it's grip and clattered onto the ground before it's upper body hit the ground. It's legs stayed standing before slumping to the side. The ogre whimpered but that was it; it wasn't getting back up while it was in two pieces.
[Defeated List]
13 Legion Goblin Grunts x 135XP=1755XP
15 Legion Goblin Archers x 140XP=2100XP
3 Legion Ogre Grunts x 220XP=660XP
4 Legion Ogre Warriors x 250XP=1000XP
Legion Ogre Sergeant=1050XP
Cherep Chaoxis=1400XP x 1.25 Kill Bonus=1750XP
+20% Dark Horse Bonus
Gain 9978XP Total
Level Up!
You are now Level 17!
+1 to Dex, Acc & Mnc!
+1 to End!
+1 to Rap
+2 RSP & SSP!
+5 UTP!
Achievement Unlocked: They Were Legion
Won your first encounter with the Legion
Achievement Unlocked: Superior Species My Ass
Defeated a Dark Elf from Garan in combat
I landed on the ground before sheathing my weapons and dashed to the knight, fully turning him to his back and lifting his visor. He was still breathing so I started to cast Blessed Recover on him. He didn't come to, but I was sure he was out of danger, at least for the moment. I checked the horse next; it was lightly scorched on it's left side, missing a fair bit of fur on it's front leg and the sections of it's side that wasn't armored, as well as bearing more then a few burns but it was also alive. I started to cast Blessed Recover on the horse now; unlike it's rider it did start to come to. "Easy big boy; you've had a rough day." I called to it softly trying to keep it calm. While I didn't fully repair the burns I soothed them enough and I moved to take it's reigns, trying to guide the beast back to it's hooves. It took a moment but soon it moved and stood up on it's own; it was shaky but it would be fine.
"How is he?" Alicia asked as she walked over, sword still in hand as I looked to her. Agni flanked her before moving around to kneel by the knight.
"Out cold, but alive." I said, looking back to the knight. "Beyond that, I can't say. I'm not a proper healer."
"I know some of the healing arts, so leave him to me." The Monk said setting her own hands to his chest as she cast her own healing spells.
"Did we get them all?" I asked, looking back to Alicia who frowned in thought.
"I think so, but I don't know so." Alicia sighed shaking her head. "Garan sometimes likes to make small attacks on convoys of all types, but with heavier armed ones they like to hit, retreat and lead cavalry back to a larger group; it's annoying." She said with a huff. "Uncle is quickly scouting for signs of additional enemies, but that should be it. Although I'm confused on why they just attacked." She said. Despite this statement she kept her sword out.
"Maybe over confidence on their part?" I said, crossing my arms and raising one to rub my chin with a thumb. "Given her statements the Dark Elf didn't think much of us. Either way, we'll need to slow down our pace for the injured horse. And we'll need someone to ride who's light enough to not strain it further."
"Soooo, Alicia's fat ass is out then." I heard Miria let off as she walked over, bow still in hand. Aside from a small gash on her bicep she was fine and as soon as she was close enough I casted Minor Heal on her; Blessed Recovery would be overkill for this one.
"Oh, and let you drive it along? You'd get it lost and half way to Discordia's doorstep then find your way to Arafe!" Alicia let back, her free hand moving to her hip as the two girls gave each other a large, playfully wicked grin. I sighed, shook my head... And grabbed both of them by an ear, tugging them closer to me; just enough to hurt a bit.
"Owwww!"
"Ouchouchouch, ease up bro!" The pair waved their arms about as they grit their teeth from my tugging on them in such a way.
"Can the two of you knock it off!" I let off tugging a bit more before letting go and watching them recoil back, rubbing their ears. "We've a man down, we got ambushed by a force of the Legion, we have no idea if there's more of them hitting people without a sizable escort of well trained knights and we can only guess as to if they're poking at the border or if they're preparing for an invasion." I pointed out, I crossed my arms. "You can needle each other later; for now we need to focus on getting to Lion Soul City, reporting into the Baron and sending word back to Feoh about this." Lion Soul City being the capital of Arafe, of course.
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
"Your Highness!" We heard, turning to see Albert and his knights ride back, Aeris soaring over their heads on her staff; I imagined she stuck with them to offer magical support. "No signs of further enemies. That seems to be all of them." Makoto, Riri and the rest made their way over as he spoke. "If there was a scout or observer we could see no signs."
"Really?" I let off, blinking softly. Makoto hummed and sheathed her blade before cupping her chin.
"Does this not seem odd?" She asked, rubbing her chin softly. "This Dark Elf drove her forces to us with no thought, no tactics, no real plan by what I can see. Why?"
"I find there are three kinds of Dark Elves in charge of these groups." Albert said, snorting. "Respectful ones who recognize us as worthy foes, disrespectful ones who recognize us as dangerous foes... And fools who do not see us as a major threat."
"I can only go off by what I read, but yeah." I said, nodding once and looking back to Makoto. "According to reports their peasantry and lesser nobles trend to respecting what we're capable of. However Dark Elves on a whole are taught to see humans as insects or beasts and doubly so of their higher nobility. If she came from one of their higher houses, or hell, a well educated lesser one she might have saw us as gnats to swat at or ticks to squash." I said before shrugging. "Sadly our reports on Garan society are... rather limited." I made a mental note to brush up on what we did know.
Know thy enemy and all.
"Regardless we need to see Baron Leosol; sooner as opposed to later." Alicia summed up. We quickly moved to get back on the road; the downed knight was gently set into the wagon and Alicia mounted the injured horse who was still able to bear her weight without difficulty. That said the convoy was still slower then before not to strain the beast. We weren't that far out from Lion Soul, but the injured horse would still slow us down.
[-]
North West Arafe
Abandoned Lumber Camp
"And that's why we let the village burn down." The female Dark Elf let off as Alois sighed. Of the forces he pulled under his command he got all the Aberrant he requested, many of the more seasoned of which were gathered with him now. As for the Dark Elf soldiers... It was less so. "Now, if only Cherep would hurry up and report in..."
The Commander told him he had the right to six Dark Elf soldiers and six he got... One of his choice.
They were currently gathered in an old, no longer used human lumber camp and using one of the main buildings as a base of operations. It wasn't the coziest of places to make a base camp, but it wasn't the worst either. And they found two old, if rusted, axes that the goblins could use as weapons. And as he listened to the reports he looked over the four other Dark Elves. Of the two not present one was Cherep Chaoxis; born into a Highborne branch of a house and thrown down to the ranks of the Lowborne, she had a chip on her shoulder and desire to take it out on others; and she should have reported in hours ago. Hence he had to send another out to go and find her; namely Budvilas Razvedchik. Budvilas was a good scout and solider and would have been at a higher rank... If he was born female.
Alois wondered if his obsession with his trophies was in part to spite these women around him...
Two more of his Dark Elf troopers were both female, barely seventy years old (Young by their lifespans) and both greener then the leaves outside; they were sent to get experience in combat operations and were... Mostly tolerable in that they knew they were here to learn and did their best to do so.
Then there were the damned Highborne twins...
Both female, both spellcasters (Of course) and both a pain in his ass in very different ways.
Branka Nightsong was around five foot five in height with darkened skin, C-Cup breasts and deep, purple eyes. Her hair was waist long and tied near the bottom, colored a purple so dark it was nearly black. She wore a black, leather, sleeveless bodysuit with a single strap over the left shoulder and the left leg missing, leaving her limb bare. Deep, red boots reached up to her knees and gold, fingerless gloves reached to her elbows. Finally a purple sash was wrapped around her waist. Hanging off her left hip was a mace with a brass end cap and a steel head shaped like a goat's skull; a yellow spell stone set to each eye hole. On her back was a tower shield, built to look like thigh bones stacked atop of one another.
Her issues was twofold; she wasn't assertive enough to really lead (Something she was here to start learning) and she wasn't much for violence. Thankfully as a healer she didn't need to be the one slaying everything in sight, but it was a problem. "I-I'm sure she's fine." Branka let off, tapping her fingers together as she looked about nervously.
"She's overqualified of course. Hrumf. I don't see why we need to learn from an Uplifted Lowborne, let alone a male one." Branka's twin let off. Alois felt his eye twitch at that.
Bronka Nightsong looked exactly like her sister, if only with a haughtier look on her face. Otherwise her height, body type, hair color and style were a match for her sister's. She had a matching outfit, save the strap and missing leg were on the right, her boots were gold and her gloves were red. At her left hip was a rapier with a brass pommel and a steel D-guard, shaped like a goat's skull with red spell stones in each eye. At her other hip was a parrying dagger with a bone shaped handle and prongs in the shape of ribs.
Her issues were, arguably, worse! She was classist, arrogant and full of herself. She wasn't unskilled; she mixed spells and swordplay quite well, but she still didn't understand her limits. Or his.
He was sorely tempted to make her his next trophy.
"Settle down, Bronka." Alois said firmly as he snorted. "You're here to learn, not to be coddled by a nanny. These humans are dangerous." He said moving to walk before the louder twin. "And they will kill you or enslave you if you screw up."
There was a reason that the Commander chose him to lead the mission, after all. Quirks aside he had spent over four hundred years fighting humans and came to respect their abilities. Many of his favorite trophies were tough foes or women defended by them.
He might have been a ruthless, remorseless, psychotic butcher but he was a ruthless, remorseless, psychotic, competent butcher first and foremost.
"Listen, male..." Bronka huffed, crossing her arms. "They're just insects. As difficult as it is for lowly, coward like you to-"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off as Alois slapped her with the back of his hand with enough force to turn her head and stagger her two steps. "Sister!" Branka let off as she moved to look at the soft bruise on her sister's cheek.
"Y-you struck me!" Bronka let off, rubbing her cheek.
"My, my, the Highborne have a talent for stating the obvious." Alois said with a sigh. "You are here to learn, child, and you will learn." He said, giving the girl an unamused glance as he huffed, turning to walk to where he was before, hands behind his back. "Lesson one; the real world doesn't care about what you think it should be." The ogres shifting away from him and the area between him and Bronka told him all he needed to know even before he noticed the soft glow. "And as such one who underestimates another because of race or birth..." He ducked the moment he felt her attack, a fireball sailing over his head and blowing a wall of the old building out.
In the view of Bronka Nightsong one moment her fireball was thrown off to teach the lowly male a lesson... And then he vanished from sight, the magic attack blasting a wall open. "Whe-huuurk!"
Only for him to reappear and slam a fist hard into her gut. Air left her lungs as she clutched her ribs, doubling over before his knee rushed up to meet her face; the snapping of her nose sounding across the room as her head snapped backwards. Smoothly his sword was drawn from his back, it's pommel smashing into her head between the eyes and sending her to the floor. Bronka grit her teeth and tried to regain he senses... Only to hear a sword slam, point first, into the floor next to her. She looked to the side and saw it was planted right next to her neck before Alois' boot pressed down hard to the side of her head. She could see her sister gawking at what happened in shock.
At least she drew her mace, he thought. Good to know she was ready to fight if it came to it.
"Ends up as food for the worms." Alois finished his words as he glared down at her as she shivered, looking back up, even as she managed a prideful glare. "I was once Laborborne, you know. You know how I rose up? By getting the job done, century after century. I outlasted Lowborne who thought they were better then me, I outlasted Highborne like you who thought that by virtue of birth they would have their foes throw themselves on their swords or before their spells. And many of them died because they never learned that the world doesn't care about your race, your station of birth or your gender." He pulled his sword free and sheathed it before stepping off of her. "Arrogance is a quick way to dig a shallow grave." As he walked back Branka moved to cast a healing spell as he finally saw Budvilas walk in from the hole in the wall.
"What happened here?" Budvilas (Often called 'Bud' at times) asked as he looked around, noting the downed twin being attended to by her sister.
"Establishing discipline in the ranks." Alois said smoothly as he looked to the scout. "You couldn't find Cherep?"
"No, I found her and her forces. All of them dead by a road." Budvilas said with a snort. "My guess is she attacked some convoy with a good, well trained escort."
"Tsk." Alois let off as he crossed his arms. "Damn it. By the Giant, I told her she was to test their patrols and militias. Did she go off an attack a nobleman's escort or something? If she was going to get herself killed she could have at least sent the Legion back. They were more valuable."
"You arrogant piece of-"
"Do you need another lesson?" He asked as Bronka started to rise to her feet, glaring at him as she started to speak once more.
"Tsk..."
"What did you say?" He said stressing his words as he glared back.
"... Nothing."
"Nothing what?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Better." Alois said smiling to her in mocking warmth. "See! You can learn!" He ignored Bronka's glare as he looked back to his Scout. "Do what you can to find out who killed her. Fool as she was, she had enough forces to overwhelm most patrols and guards. If there was a significant force to ambush then that force is up to something; I'd like to know what."
"Yes sir!" Budvilas barked out, looking to a few of the goblins now looking into the room from the new hole. "You and you! With me! Let's go!" He barked out as Alois moved to a seat sitting down as he though softly.
For him there were a few questions. Who was it in that group that needed a heavy escort? What was their purpose? Visiting? Tactical? Economic? And most importantly...
'I wonder if there is a pretty female to add to my collection...'
A wicked grin came to him as he thought his happy (For him) thoughts as one Nightsong twin glared at him and one looked to him with nervousness.
[-]
Thankfully the knight came too along the way; we took sometime to rest at the last town before Lion Soul City and he awoke then. Aside from needing something to drink he was mostly fine, which was a relief. I didn't know these guys really but they were sticking their necks out for me and mine, so they deserved respect.
We arrived late to the city; the moon rising and the sun setting over the horizon. Lion Soul was fairly standard for defensive set up; white washed walls, a few towers, reinforced gate. We bypassed it for Arafe Castle, however. Normally we would install the booster first then visit the local lord but between earlier events and the time we were doing it in reverse this time.
Arafe Castle was rather well built for a barony but that was expected; both Eostia and Foeh funneled funds to the place to build up their defenses. After all they were one of the first line of defenses for Feoh and Eostia from Garan, so ensuring a good castle was needed. For Arafe Castle it was a double wall set up (No white washing) with towers and a moat. For extra defense there were multiple, wooden and metal spears planted into the ground, pointed outwards. The ends were planted with blocks of cement making them difficult to move making any charge annoying at best. Additionally Arafe was a place with high amounts of sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter; aka the main ingredients to gunpowder. And while they didn't have rifles in large amounts the castle did have cannons but a penchant for using catapults to launch iron shells filled with gunpowder and a lit fuse. As such it gained the nickname 'The Roaring Castle'.
That nickname was helped as the emblem for House Leosol boasted a lion, of course, placed over the front gate of the castle. I hadn't seen it since this whole 'Harem Quest' thing started but it was a striking shield to behold. A knight's shield with two barbs on the bottom and two on the top of the orange edge with short spikes in the upper corners, bottom and top pointing inwards, with the top and bottom spikes have small notches in their middle, as well as one in the very top of the shield. Inside the orange was a red background as a yellow sun with detached spikes inside of it, the side profile of a lion's head on the middle of sun's circle.
[Leosol Banner]
We arrived and once the guards saw Alicia we were waved into the walls proper. One unexpected thing was that the road between the walls (As the inner gates were on the other side, of course) was a hill about mid way through; it wasn't overly steep but it would slow down any attacking force moving between the walls a little. Once inside the second wall we rode towards the central keep; it boasted a square keep that rose up over the double walls. Once we pulled up to the door we disembarked from the carriage and were let inside by the guards.
The inside was gray stone with a few banners hanging about. The second floor balcony boasted heavy gates at the top of the stairs and solid, crenelated barriers to take cover behind. There were a few decorations but it was mostly practical design; like Ur but unlike the Fortress Arafe Castle lacked the additional flair and luxury set over it. Again, this was a border country with Garan so there was a need for function over form. It wasn't long before we could see three figures move along the second floor, through the open gates and start walking down the stairs to us.
"Princess Alicia, welcome to our fair home." The blue eyed man in the lead said, wearing a red long coat with brass buttons on the front and the Leosol banner on the left side of the chest, black pants, dark orange boots and gloves and an orange sheathe at his left hip, holding a long sword in it. He stood some six foot three and had broad shoulders. He bore red hair trimmed short and a matching beard. Blue eyes looked over us before settling on me. "Ah, and you must James of House Noxdecus; here to install those boosters I've heard of, have you lad?"
(-)
Name: Arthur Leosol
Title: Knight Baron of Arafe
Class: Knight
Level: 34
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 46
Status: Healthy, Calm
Known Traits
[Ironclad] You wear any metal armor like you were born in it. +10% bonus to all Resistances for Chain Mail, Scale Mail, Splint Mail and Plate Mail.
[?]
[Lion's Roar] Your war cries inspire your followers and put fear into your foes. +2% to All Stats for anyone following you and -2% to All Stats to all foes fighting you for thirty minutes.
The Baron of Arafe, he took over from his father after forcing the overly demanding man into retirement as he proved to be more and more incompetent and gaining support from the Council of Lords to take the Barony. Proud and capable as a warrior he is worried of being as bad, if not worse, of a father then his own which has strained his relationship with his own son. Considered mostly reasonable and wise as a leader he is aware of his faults, even if he is unsure on how to correct them.
(-)
"It's been awhile, Baron Leosol." Alicia said with a short,brief curtsy before looking to the woman flanking the man. "And you look well, Baroness Glenda."
The green-eyed woman in question was some five foot three or so and boasted barley noticeable breasts; clearly A-Cup, blonde hair pulled back into a waist long ponytail with two, shoulder long bands framing her face. She was petite and wore a red dress with deep blue trim that bore no sleeves but otherwise covered the torso fully with the face of a lion stitched in the front in orange. The bottom of the dress was a skirt... That circled the sides and back like Prim's dress, leaving a set of black panties on display. Her feet were set into red boots over black, thigh high socks. Red, bridal style gloves reached up to her elbows, trimmed with deep blue.
"Thank you, Princess. I assume you've installed the booster already then?" Glenda said, curtsying in turn once the three of them were on the ground floor.
(-)
Name: Glenda Leosol
Title: The Lady of the Lion
Class: Noblewoman
Level: 6
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 53
Status: Healthy, Joyful, Happy
Romance Rating: N/A
Corruption Rating: 7
Known Traits
[Single Target Sexuality] You're only attracted to one person at any one time. +300 Romance Rating for that person. Cannot have a Romance Rating for anyone else
[Lady in the Keep, Whore Before Sleep] You are a prim and proper lady in public. When the bedroom doors are closed however... +10% Pleasure taken during sex
Daughter of a notable merchant she met Arthur after he saved her and her father's wagon while on the road from goblin raiders. Helping tend to his wounds she didn't expect to see him again but he would find excuses to come and visit her, over and over. Over his father's objections Arthur would marry her and while he did all he could to annul the wedding after he lost his Barony to his son all he could do was seethe at her as she won over the Arafe's minor nobility, as well as the nobility of their allies.
(-)
"No. Circumstances have forced us to set that aside for the moment." I said, speaking up. "We were ambushed on the road by a Garan Unit."
"Tsk..." The younger man with the two let off as he frowned deeply. "So, they're doing their own brand of recon, are they? Damn..."
"It fits the reports we've gotten, yes..." Arthur let off with a sigh as I looked over the younger, blue eyed man. He was about six foot two in height and bore his mother's, blonde hair color in a shoulder length, tight braid. He wore an orange long coat with yellow suns on the shoulders, each with the side profile of an orange lion's head on it, matching the Leosol emblem. Black pants tucked into red boots and a set of short, black gloves were on each hand. He was broad shouldered like his father but not to the same degree.
(-)
Name: Lance Leosol
Title: Heir of Ararfe
Class: Lancer
Level: 19
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 54
Status: Healthy, Calm, Eager
Known Traits
[Unmovable Object] When holding a shield your shield gains your armor's resistances divided by 4
[Spearpoint] Your spear thrusts have a better chance to punch through armor. -3 Piercing Resistance to all targets when thrusting a polearm at them
[?]
Son of Arthur Leosol and heir of Arafe he was raised well by his mother and with the help of several tutors was raised into both a scholar and a warrior with good values and a desire to protect those under him. He understands why his father distances himself from him, even if he wishes it were otherwise and does his best to make his father proud of him.
(-)
"Hmm... It's not unusual for them." Arthur mused, crossing his arms as he thought for a moment. "They've poked at our villages before, and sometimes hit roads with raids. They like to see how long it takes for us to respond to their attacks and even ambush small patrols and responders... But attacking a heavily armed escort? Sounds to me like they have some greenhorns in command."
"Is that unusual?" I asked as he shook his head.
"Not really." Arthur said calmly, even as Lance had a stronger reaction; clenching a fist and lifting it up to glare at it, even as his father spoke. "They see it as a good way to get some experience on their lordlings and cut their teeth in killing us." He huffed. "Likely they are led by someone who knows what he or she is doing. The force won't be too big; two hundred to two-fifty at most. Do you have voxluxs we can use?" He asked as I nodded once. "Good! That'll make this all the smoother."
"Smoother? What are you talking about father?" Lance let off, looking to his father who flinched but otherwise maintained his posture and tone.
"Calm yourself. I do not intend to let them run amok in my lands." Arthur said calmly as he looked back to me. "Tonight I want you to teach my men to use your creations. And tomorrow we'll install your booster before we go hunting for this force." He turned to Alicia before continuing to speak. "With the voxlux I am sure we can track down and discover them quicker. Your Highness, can I petition your aid in finding them?" He asked, turning to look at Alicia.
"I'm obliged to my duty as an escort for James, so unless he joins your hunting party I cannot." The Princess explained calmly as the Baron turned his head to look at me.
"As for me, I am willing to pitch in." I said to him. "I can't, in good faith, leave when good people are in danger. If I can be of help, I'll be of help." I said. Having been attacked I could say that averting further disaster is a good thing.
Also; more XP is good. I needed more XP.
"Very good. I will gather my forces and tomorrow we'll find these devils..." Arthur said, smacking a fist to his palm. "In the meantime, please rest. We will start at first light!"
[-]
Dinner was hearty and well made; nothing was overly fancy but it was filling and tasty and after wish I gave his officers training to use the voxluxs. We were offered quarters for the night and we were glad to take them, settling in. The Baron set his captain out to start gathering up men for combat. A barony had to have at least five hundred soldiers and was allowed to have up to seven hundred and fifty under the Aegis Accords... And no more. Despite the threat of Garan there was issues. Political issues.
While the maximum (And minimum) have been raised before some Abolitionist nations were against giving exceptions to the border states to being allowed exceptions in raising a larger army as the bulk of the border states were slave states; of the nine border states five of them were slave states and the other four were limited states with allowing for the slavery of Dark Elves save Jetra but they had a more 'kill on sight' policy with Dark Elves. The worry was the extra military strength might be applied to their neighbors in some fashion, doubly if an excuse for a Trail by War was found... Or fabricated.
That's not to say there weren't other options; the border states often employed mercenaries for example to bolster their forces, although usually through indirect means, like through city mayors or the like. The border slave states also employed Slave Battalions; units formed mostly of slaves who were either trained for other tasks and thrown into the fray or trained strictly for combat. Elddale, Hol'Canna and Albia just treated them like cannon fodder, Caul treated them as supporting forces transporting supplies, digging trenches, building fortification and so on. In combat they were usually just given bows and told to fire in mass. I had no idea if they had training in archery, but they weren't used as cannon fodder and their owners got some money by loaning them out to the Barony. Lastly Maros used slaves alongside regular troops and they were usually given decent to good equipment. Unlike the others, however, notable or brave service of a slave or a unit of slaves could see them freed and even given payment for their service.
However the go to option was militias. The limited border states, Maros and Albia all funded and equipped large militias. By law they couldn't be drafted to fight outside of the state border that they came from but the militias could be called on to handle domestic defense allowing the states to send more of their forces off to fight. In fact all of the Eostian states had a militia of some size for this purpose (Who could be called upon in the event of a Trail by War) but it was the aforementioned that had among the best funded and equipped militias save for western Feoh who had Dominious breathing down their necks. Hell, despite not being on the border of Dominious the County of Pulca was famous for their militias to the point they were nearly as large as the state's regular forces.
Arafe, of course, had militias and even required each town and village to maintain weapons, shields and armor. They usually weren't great mind you; usually basic gambeson armor, planks of wood as shields, spears and militia clubs. The militia clubss had another name, I think. Something that translated as 'Good Morning' or the like. The militia club was just a wooden club not that unlike a baseball bat some three feet to three and a half feet long with a long with a four to seven inch spike jutting out the top and a metal band around the top. The weapon could be used as both as an actual club but also as a short spear of sorts. It was considered a decently flexible weapon for a rather cheap price; you could buy maybe ten or twelve to each sword.
Any further musings were cut off as I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I was reading my book once more so marked my place with the book marker and set it on the table I was sitting by as the door opened, Makoto stepping in, turning as she shut the door. She turned back to me and bowed before walking over. "Evening Makoto, what can I do for you?" I asked as I stood up to greet her.
"I suppose you can say I have a question and a request." She replied, smiling to me softly. "I have been thinking of something in regards to my training. I find myself facing a small conundrum. I am wondering if I should do as my family, teacher and former lord had and perfect my swordplay... Or perhaps I should consider cross-training to other weaponry... I... I thought an outside opinion would be useful."
I blinked; while it was a quandary I was wondering why exactly she was asking me this... right before the world dimmed into grayscale and slowed to a pause...
What in the...
And then Olivia, the AI of this gamer system, spoke up to me.
[You are now being presented with a choice in relation of one of your comrades. Makoto Taihei is not yet ready to upgrade her class, but she is now considering her path forwards; a path that will lead her to her choice of upgraded class.]
[You now have the option to guide her choice. As a reminder this is her current status.]
Name: Makoto Taihei
Title: The Honest Blade
Class: Swordswoman
Level: 11
Known Traits
[Back to the Wall] If you cannot retreat you fight better then normal. +5% all stats when retreat is not an option when a fight starts
[Perfect Slice] If you have longer then five seconds to line up a melee attack it's accuracy is 100%
[Light On Your Feet] If your Dex is higher then your Agi increase Agi by 5.
[Unshakable Faith] If the cause is just you can fight on! +10% to all stats but Lck when fighting for a cause you believe in
[As an additional reminder this is her current class and it's information.]
(-)
[[Swordswoman]]
Primary Weapon: Swords (All Types)
Secondary Weapon: Knives (All Types), Short Swords
Armor Type: Gambeson
Primary Stats: Str, Dex, Agi
Secondary Stats: End, Lck
The swordswoman is a mistress of a single weapon; the sword. A master of her choice of blade or blades she relies on fast, quick strikes and superior skill. Preferring duels to open combat the Swordswoman can deflect arrows at higher levels. That said they're known to do more damage then expected, time to time.
[And these are her upgrade options. In addition you can see what Combat Arts and Traits she will gain from the upgrade in question.]
(-)
Samurai Upgrade
+Chain Mail, Scale Mail, Splint Mail to Armor Types
+Con to Primary Stats
+Mag to Secondary Stats
The Samurai is a Swordsman who's perfected the blade and prefers to use Eastern blades in combat but is still adept at Western ones. Mastering spiritual arts now the Samurai can channel wind magic with their blades; extending their blade's range, sending a blast of wind to a target or boosting their own speed.
Combat Art Acquired - Gale Sheer: You can channel wind through your sword and slash it out to either extend the range of your melee attacks or to send a cutting wave to a target.
Trait Acquired - Art of Kyūdō: You are from a family of samurai and while most focus solely on the sword there is another traditional weapon of the class; the bow. You may now equip Short Bows, Crossbows and Quivers as secondary weapons and gain access to some Archer skills.
(-)
Hero Upgrade
+Axes (All Types) to Primary Weapons
+Shields (All Types), Short Bows & Quivers to Secondary Weapons
+Chain Mail, Scale Mail, Splint Mail to Armor Types
+Con to Primary Stats
The Hero is what happens when the Swordsman broadens their horizons; using new types of weapons to increase their flexibility. The Hero is a fast, hard hitting class with better defenses then before and the ability to boost their physical power for short bursts.
Combat Art Acquired - Warrior's Honor: Boost all stats for a full minute by 5%. Comes with a long cool down.
Trait Acquired - Dual Strike Mastery: You are a master at using two weapons at the same time. +10% Dex and Agi while using two weapons at once.
(-)
I blinked at this. I had this much control over her path? I mean I know this was a Gamer System but to have the power to decided for her...
As if sensing my thoughts Olivia spoke up once more.
[Understand; while you are given this choice it's given to you because she trusts your input and thoughts on the matter at a time when she is considering for herself what she'll path she'll take for her own improvement.]
[Had she not had such a trust or affection for you she would not be asking for your input and she would pick her path without your opinion on the matter.]
Oh...
That made me feel a little better.
[Please, make your selection.]
Choose Your Companion's Path
[Choose Samurai]-~-~-[Choose Hero]
Well, now a choice to make huh?
In terms of armor she'd have access to the same types no matter the choice meaning the two main choices were her offensive options; while both gave her access to bows (Via Trait, in the case of Samurai) it was a choice between wind based combat arts or grabbing axes and shields.
While both had their merits I dismissed the Hero class after some thought. I didn't think axes was a weapon type were well suited for her; I couldn't picture her not using a katana really. Additionally Gale Sheer sounded like a damn good combat skill to have; a ranged option that didn't require swapping weapons.
Samurai it was then.
The grayscale ended as I spoke. "I think you're best served as you are; I think the katana suits you a bit too well, maybe." I said as she beamed up at me, back straightening up slightly.
"I thank you." She said, blushing faintly as she set a hand to her chest for a moment. "Now, as for my request... Err... W-well..." She let off, squirming and blushing for a moment, biting her lip. Getting the idea of what she wanted I set my hands on her hips and pulled her close.
"You wanted to stay the night?" I asked teasingly as she blushed deeper and nodded once just as I leaned in, kissing her lips softly. I deepened the kiss with her returning it for a long moment before her hands moved to my chest, pushing back gently. I let her go and her hands moved to her sash, undoing it and slipping her swords off. She moved to a desk to the side of the room, setting her weapons down before slowly undressing bit by bit. Taking the hint I did the same myself as she kept her back turned. The last part for her to undo was the wraps around her chest; leaving herself nude. She took a moment to breath and, if I had to guess, relax, as I finished undressing as I walked over to her hands moving to her hips once more, pulling her back to me, ass to groin, before wrapping my arms around her waist.
She gasped softly and leaned back into me, turning her head to look up to me. It only took a moment before I leaned down to kiss her lips, my hands drawing up her body to kiss her petite but firm breasts. She sucked in a breath, breaking the kiss, as I pinched her nipples, toying with them slowly and gently, hearing her moan softly. "Is it strange... That after that one time I am in such desire for more?" She asked me softly as I kissed her once more.
"People desire love, pleasure and comfort." I replied, moving my lips down to kiss at her neck. "It would be strange if you didn't." She turned into my arms and caught my lips with her own before I could respond, her arms wrapping about my neck. My hands slipped down to cup her ass, my cock lifting up and pressing softly into her abs as I lifted her up slightly as I moved us to the bed, her legs lifted up to wrap about my hips, groaning into my lips as I groaned into hers.
I moved a hand down to her sex, rubbing at it with a thumb and ended up rolling her clit with the digit. It was easy to tell she was wet and I slipped it into her slowly and softly, testing how ready she was. She moaned under me, squirming and rocking into my thumb softly. With her clinging to me like this I couldn't really do much else for foreplay beyond kissing her deeply, slipping my tongue into her lips as she moaned under me, and my thumb made her squirm.
Still, it was clear she was ready and waiting so I decided to give her what she wanted. If nothing else, I couldn't really do much else with her wrapped about me like this. I moved my thumb to help guide my cock into position, pressing myself to her sex before pressing into her slowly. She moaned into my mouth as I drove into her, adjusting my legs as I went deeper into her. I felt her legs tighten around me as she shivered under me. Soon I was rocking into her as she deepened the kiss we were locked into.
I was pumping my hips, nor particularly hard or fast but mostly firm, paced and gentle. Even so she seemed to enjoy it as our tongues danced from one mouth to another. I moved my hands between us, cupping her breasts softly as she shivered, pinching her nipples softly. Finally the broke and after panting for a moment I moved to kiss at her neck, hearing her moan deeper. She shivered for a moment before moving under me before suddenly rolling us over.
Once on top she adjusted her legs, getting them under her with her hands moving to my chest. Soon she was rocking on my hips, squeezing down with her sex as she moaned over me. My hands gripped her hips softly as I rocked my hips back up to match her movements and pace. I groaned deeply as she moaned over me, her hips picking up speed as she dropped her ass harder and harder into my lap as I moved my own as best as I could to match her movements.
Her petite breasts rocked up and down as her body bounced on my dick, the two of us groaning in delight at each other as she shivered over me. After a while she gasped, leaning over me and arching her back as she moaned out harder as my hands moved to grip her ass firmly, holding onto it as she rocked down. Enjoyable as it was everything came to an end sooner or later as soon she cried out, clutching at me as I pushed myself up into her, groaning deeply as I pushed hot, thick cum right up into her as she shivered, her sex gripping down hard on me.
Soon she collapsed on me and clutched be softly, shivering a bit as she panted, my hands moving to wrap around her waist, holding her gently and stroking her back slowly.
[Fucked List]
Makoto Taihei=75XP
+20% Dark Horse of Eostia Bonus
Gain 90XP Total
Although I softened my cock stayed inside of her as she laid atop of me panting gently as we both recovered from the fun. She would shift a bit to give me a brief kiss before laying her head on my chest.
Nothing else was said, nor needed to be said; all we needed was to enjoy the other's warmth.
[ - Author's Note - ]
Whew. Well that's James' first (But not last) clash with Garan, meeting the Leosol's and we get a peek at Garan's forces.
Next chapter is going to have another such clash, and perhaps a bit more.
Once more, the poll for the Best Ur Banner is up at strawpoll (dot com) /polls/05Zd1rzPQy6 so if you haven't, go vote and let me know which is your favorite.
Until next time!
~~Eostian Scribe