Henrietta held the haft of her Aspirant’s Splitter tight and led the party up the hill. Xanthe did not like the way Henrietta’s trembling hands gripped the axe. She also did not like the lack of imperials on the mountain’s path. They were walking into a trap or were too late to discover what they were up to. And it left the group without enough practice to see if Xanthe’s new build with Henrietta as the tank was even viable.
The four came to stand at the mountain’s summit, giving them a breathtaking view of the world and the star-filled night sky—and a large gathering of fae imperials standing close to a cliff’s edge, gazing at Lumière City from their elevated position. Xanthe unsheathed her Aspirant’s Blades off the belt of her glittering, gem-studded bedlah. It alerted the fae ahead.
One by one, their enemies spun to look at the four standing ahead, blocking their path back to the surface.
“Emeraldal,” Kam said to the Ranger. “Still alive, I see.”
Emeraldal was among the imperials and grinned her green lipstick-painted lips at Kam. “Well, fancy seeing you here, faun.”
Kam aimed the tip of the Aspirant’s Lance at Emeraldal. “Nice to see you too,” he said. “Guess Henrietta did not cut into your skull hard enough.”
“So, which one of you stole my bow?” Emeraldal asked as she reached for her new bow. The imperial Ranger nocked an arrow that magically swirled into existence.
Kam sneered. “None of us, lass!”
Emeraldal sneered back. “Then I shall have your head instead!” She gestured with her head to the men behind her. “Veronis, with me. The rest of you, finish the job!”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
It took a few hours, but Guy, Rachael, Averyl, and Nijana found a path in the mists that led them south. Having three faes taking turns flying around to get a better lay of the land was a tremendous help. Nobody saw any signs of the airship fleet. It had likely made its move on Lumière.
The southern path took Guy’s party into a mist-covered marshland, crawling with crocodiles and other weird, mutated reptilians. Nijana recognized the area, claiming that Serzax had taken her from there recently. It was a good sign. It meant they were on the right path to the south. Like all regions afflicted by the corruption, monster battles had slowed their trek. Rachael assumed the role of a tank now since she was on her Berserker and wore that white, shiny plate armor. Rachael always smiled at Guy after they put down a monster or four. She was trying to hook his attention for some reason. Probably to show how much of a badass swordswoman she’d become.
Naturally, healing was a nonissue. Rachael’s Medic subclass gave them Recovery Orbs and Regeneration. Averyl was a Cleric with a Medic subclass, and now that Nijana gave the Flame Priestess’s Robe back, Averyl’s Chastisement spell did slightly more damage. Nijana’s Bard songs and healing spells from her Cleric subclass also helped keep everyone’s HP at full. Of course, this put a lot of pressure on Guy to step up on his damage dealing role, being the only member of the party set up for that. He gave his arms little rest and constantly kept his Svartálfar’s Halberd in hand to stab monsters, then performed impressive wheeling twirls before unleashing Astral Swipe or Storm Slash. When Guy had MP to spare, he turned into a light elemental spirit by casting Become One with the Elements. At his side was Rachael, showing her powerful talents as an able swordswoman who cast healing magic.
Guy has attained level 19!
And it wasn’t a bad experience point grind too. Nijana reached level 22 on her Bard and Rachael level 18 on Berserker. Guy and Rachael were progressing further on their subclasses, not on their main being Paladin and Medic. They needed to switch classes soon or risk falling behind.
Nijana pointed at the location she and her Assassin partner met with a dark elf to sell Wylume’s soul crystal. She never stopped apologizing for stealing it—
Rachael tripped and fell into the swamp.
“Rachael!” Guy yelled in a panic and ran to help her up.
He pulled Rachael from the dank water, and she kept her gaze forward.
“You got here quick,” Rachael said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Guy said with a grimace. “Of course, I did. I thought one of the crocs tried to pull you in.”
“I was talking to her,” Rachael said, gesturing to a figure behind Guy.
“Who? Averyl?”
“No,” Rachael said, shaking her head and pointed. “Her.”
Rachael had pointed at a snarky druid woman with a cute pair of bunny ears and two daggers on a belt around her leather miniskirt. The druid was an Assassin, the same one who’d been toying with Guy and Rachael since they arrived on Alfheimr and had just appeared out of thin air. Rachael falling over made a lot more sense. The Assassin must have tripped her.
The Assassin just grinned and waved her hand at Guy and Rachael.
Guy reached for his lance. “It’s that PKer!”
The druid Assassin lifted one bunny ear high up. “PKer?”
Rachael stood with Guy, her sword hand reaching for the Lumière Enseigne’s Divine Saber. “He thinks people killer is a terrible name.”
Guy snorted. “That’s because it is.”
“Indeed,” Averyl said in agreement.
The Assassin narrowed her eyes. “You two are nuts. And I am no simple, PKer, as you put it. I am Synaria Summers, jack of all trades with combat classes.” Synaria waddled to Averyl, looked up at her, and pointed her finger. “And you, Nijana, had me worried sick.”
Averyl winced. “I am not Nijana . . .”
Synaria stood on her toes to get a better look at Averyl. “Fuck. You are the real pixie princess, then. Averyl was it?”
Nijana stepped out from the cloud of fog, waving her hand at the bunny Assassin. “Hey, Syn.”
Synaria faced Nijana, gasping in shock. “Hold on, is this part of the . . . well, you know . . .”
“The heist’s off, Syn,” Nijana said. “Got a bigger problem on our hands.”
“Well, I am glad to see you freed yourself from the clutches of that arsehole,” Synaria said.
“Guy,” Rachael said to him. “We need to keep moving.”
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah.” And continued onward with Rachael leaving Synaria behind.
Nijana and Averyl followed later, prompting Synaria to pivot to them, hands on her tiny hips. “Or else what?” Synaria asked.
Guy walked backward and eyed the feisty bunny girl Assassin. “New Svartálfar and the Autumnfall Empire are about to hit the Lumière Kingdom.”
“Bah, such a thing happens every other day,” Synaria said, waving him off. “Despite the losses, Lumière always pushes them back.”
“Yeah, well, this time they captured one of their airships, the Sirocco,” Guy said, still ambling backward.
“Hmm.” Synaria stroked her chin. “If it has dark elves on board . . .”
“Lumière will allow the Sirocco to land without realizing it has enemy forces inside,” Guy said. “Classic trojan horse move.”
Her bunny ears rose and stiffened. “Trojan horse?”
“Old legend from the mythical planet, Earth,” Guy explained, then spun around. He almost walked backward into a tree. Earth . . . that was the planet Serzax claimed to be real and wants to liberate for his own agenda.
“Mind if I tag along?” Synaria called out.
Guy stopped, Rachael did too. The two glanced at the druid, smiling at them. “You? A PKer?”
Synaria trotted toward them. “If the Lumière Kingdom falls, then me fun goes with it. Us PKers would not be able to kill the new dark elf rulers. Nonaggression pact and such.”
“With Serzax and the sentinels being involved, don’t be surprised if they break that pact,” Guy said.
Synaria laughed and put her hands back on her hips. “Now, why is that?”
“The Autumnfall Empire is harvesting soul crystals from the dead,” Guy explained. “The alliance between the empire and the dark elves? It’s probably temporary. The empire’s here to t
ake Averyl back and help New Svartálfar take out Lumière. While the dark elves recover from the war, the empire will probably move in to finish them. Beats having to fight a war on two fronts.”
“Oh, aren’t you a smart one,” Synaria blurted with an impressed tone.
Guy shot her a smile. “Rachael and I played a few RTS games back in high school together.”
“Oh shit, I remember that,” Rachael said to him. “Those were good times too.”
Guy held the smile he gave Rachael. “Remember those LAN parties Fred used to host?”
“Yes!” Rachael burst out laughing. “Those were so fucking fun!”
Synaria stood ahead of Guy and Rachael, scrutinizing them with her narrowed eyes. “Oh, I see,” the Assassin said, and aimed her left index finger at the two. “You two are a couple!”
“What?!” Rachael stopped laughing. Her face flushed as she took a step back with her mouth opened in shock at the snarky bunny girl. “No, uh—”
“Whatever, lass, I care not,” Synaria said, waving Rachael off. “Allow me to join you, as I must inform my people what is going on. This could be a game-changer. That and . . .” Synaria grimaced. “. . . a dark elf betrayed Nijana and me.”
“Yeah,” Nijana said. “Vix. That fucking arsehole brought me to Serzax, thinking I was Averyl. By the way, Averyl, if you plan on marrying Serzax, find a better partner. Serzax’s a fucking creep and has, at best, an average-sized prick.”
“Worry not,” Averyl said. “I had never intended to be with Serzax or his son . . .”
“So with that said,” Synaria said to Guy. “You might be right about New Svartálfar breaking the nonaggression pact . . . Well then, invite me to your party, will you? I shall guide you out of the mists and on the correct path to Lumière.”
Guy opened his Party screen and sent her an invite.
Now they were a party of five traveling through the marshlands, a bunny girl druid Assassin, the fae princess, her dark fae evil twin, and a star-fae nurse turned Spellsword Berserker. Guy was the only dude in the group.
It’s not a harem!
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Emeraldal delivered a never-ending onslaught of arrows, forcing Xanthe, Henrietta, Zuran, and Kam apart from each other. Emeraldal’s Cleric, Veronis, kept everyone apart with a selection of wind spells from his Mage subclass. One spell picked Xanthe up with a gust of winds and tossed her into the path of additional arrows from Emeraldal. The two imperial faes were smart. Xanthe’s party could not focus their attacks on Veronis, the healer, or Emeraldal, the woman who stood holding a bow that would likely end them all.
Behind Emeraldal and Veronis were dozens of imperials who buzzed their wings, leaped off the cliff, and flew into the sky. Xanthe was not sure where they were flying. She was busy running from the arrows that fell to her position from above, landing one-by-one near Xanthe as she ran.
As Xanthe escaped from Emeraldal’s arrows, Zuran hovered in the air and consulted his glowing Aspirant’s Spellbook as a blue casting circle rotated below him. A giant Icicle crystalized above Zuran’s head, aimed for Veronis—
The Icicle faded away.
Two arrows plunged through Zuran’s bare chest, interrupting his spell casting. The last arrow knocked Zuran out from the air, and he hit the ground with his dragonfly wings still buzzing.
Strange, Xanthe thought as she looked away from Zuran, then toward Emeraldal and Veronis, and their idle fairy wings. Why are they not flying? They had the advantage at the start of this fight to do so . . .
Xanthe planned to worry about it later. Right now, she had a party to support.
Henrietta adjusted her glasses and stepped up to play her role as the tank, using her Aspirant’s Splitter to block Emeraldal’s arrows. Henrietta was not particularly good at it. Her only saving grace was the defense that her plate armor provided. Zuran was the sole reason the party stood as long as it did. Every time Zuran stopped to cast Fireball or Icicle, Emeraldal twisted the aim of her bow to him. Henrietta could not get close to her target, and Kam only inflicted damage on their opponents when he used Become One with the Elements and turned to a water spirit. Once Kam ran out of MP, his time to shine would end.
Xanthe was regretting making the change. They were fine with their previous set up with Xanthe taking on the role of the tank. Now, Xanthe’s sigils setup forced her to support the party with powerful buffs and hinder Emeraldal and Veronis with nasty debuffs.
They needed a new plan, and nobody was coming up with one. Emeraldal and Veronis rarely fell below 89 percent HP.
Xanthe looked at the Party screen and noted that Henrietta and Kam had 100 AP, while Zuran sat at 560 MP. A grin spread across her face. It was more than enough for the plan that she weaved together.
“Everyone, refrain from using your AP,” Xanthe said. “Zuran, conserve your MP for now.”
Zuran was in the middle of casting Ice when Xanthe spoke. He canceled the spell and winced at her. “Why?”
Xanthe twirled and held her twin Aspirant’s Blades. “Trust me . . .”
Her party did as she requested. Zuran cast fewer spells, and Kam and Henrietta focused on slashing and piercing the imperial duo, then defending against as many arrows as they could, taking an arrow or three to the chest and gut.
Xanthe hoped her plan would not send them to an untimely death. As Kam and Henrietta kept Emeraldal and Veronis occupied, Xanthe dashed to Emeraldal amidst her arrow storm. Eying her head on, Xanthe found and selected the appropriate AP skill to use from her list of abilities.
Sensual Tango
Dance around your target to place a curse that will transfer any AP they gain to you.
Cost: 100 AP
Xanthe’s irresistible allure strutted around the Ranger for three seconds.
Emeraldal’s AP transferred to Xanthe instead, so long as the debuff remained. Xanthe looked at the one person who could remove it, Veronis. She struck Veronis with a four-hit combo with her blades, then immediately used the next AP skill as part of her plan.
Vigorous Mambo
Dance with your target, draining their strength and intelligence, transferring it to yourself.
Cost: 100 AP
Xanthe’s astral circuits compelled her arms, legs, and hips to move in a brief but thrilling mambo with the Cleric, draining his strength and intelligence and adding it to hers. Xanthe blew him a kiss, then leaped away. Veronis cast Wind and hurled Xanthe to the ground with a small cyclone of wind magic, kicking up leaves and dirt. It hit Xanthe for far less damage than she expected. Vigorous Mambo’s strength and intelligence debuff lowered Veronis’s magic attack. Veronis sighed, then cast Heal Up and cleansed the debuff. That was okay. Xanthe’s plan was far from complete, and it looked like her assault made Veronis forget that Emeraldal’s debuff was still giving Xanthe AP.
Xanthe charged Emeraldal amidst arrows falling from the sky. She dove to the Ranger’s left before she could turn to shoot another arrow, came up, and carved into Emeraldal with a perfect multiple hit combo, leaving several red marks on her flesh.
Xanthe had AP again. Before Emeraldal could jump away, Xanthe used Brisk Strike, struck the Ranger once in the front, flipped over, and landed behind to plunge her second blade between Emeraldal’s wings. Xanthe kicked off Emeraldal and backflipped through the air to escape from the Ranger’s inevitable pivot and arrow assault. Xanthe landed perfectly on the ground—
Arrows slammed into Xanthe’s back.
Five of them, from what she could guess from the sharp pain and at least three piercing her left wing, turning some of the black feathers red. Xanthe’s AP rose to 80. Emeraldal’s debuff was still transferring AP to Xanthe. Just two more hits. Those two hits came, and Xanthe followed up with another supportive dance.
Celestial Ballet
Transfers all beneficial buffs to party members who witness your dance.
Cost: 100 AP
She twirled about as astral winds fluttered the ends of her bedlah, jingled her jewelry, n
ecklaces, and bracelets. Xanthe held an elegant pose when the dance finished with a splash of bright light.
Celestial Ballet transferred all of Xanthe’s buffs to the party.
“Keep holding!” Xanthe yelled.
Xanthe’s high agility carried her back to Emeraldal, striking her arm and left thigh—
She ate multiple arrows again, this time in the chest and belly, leaving her with 402 HP, and a lot of holes in her outfit.
Xanthe’s AP, on the other hand, was 100 again. She twirled ahead of Emeraldal and performed the last dance for her show.
Exotic Samba
Engage in an eye-catching samba, increasing the effectiveness of all dance buffs or debuffs.
Cost: 100 AP
The forbidden dance enhanced the buffs she gave her party. Once finished, she leaped and spiraled through the air and made a three-point landing ahead of her party. Slowly, Xanthe came up and looked at her enemies in front with a smile.
And gave the signal to her party.
“Now!”
Henrietta ran to Emeraldal, Kam went for Veronis, and both unleashed their hardest-hitting AP skills simultaneously. As that happened, Zuran blasted the area with his Firestorm spell. All three inflicted higher than usual damage.
Xanthe super buffed her party using her dances. Increased strength and intelligence, stacked with Brisk Strike’s buff, enchanted by the effect of Celestial Ballet.
Henrietta’s and Kam’s assault left Emeraldal at 20 percent HP and Veronis at 12. Zuran’s spells ensured that Veronis never got the chance to cast Starlight Recovery. The Cleric was always on fire or encased in ice. It forced Emeraldal to go on the defensive and run with her bow held low and her eyes seeking a place to hide. Emeraldal found Xanthe instead, nocked an arrow, and sent it to her. Xanthe twirled from one arrow, deflected the next three with her left, Aspirant’s Blade, and two more with the right. Emeraldal frowned. Xanthe did the opposite and leaped after the Ranger again, and slashed her chest to knock off another 2 percent HP.
Mirror Princess: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 2) Page 52