Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley

by John Nest

  In order to save his and Ledur's Mana, he ordered the Tikbalangs to use the dug-out dirt and shape it into a circular wall four meters high. Smoke divided the Tikbalangs into four groups and they were each given their assigned sections to work on. Their hooves smoothened out the sides of the wall with ease.

  As soon as Adder finished their horseshoes, the Tikbalangs were called back to the emergency shelter one by one. Equipped with their new tools, the Tikbalangs looked pleased.

  In order to complete this second line of defense, Smoke gave the three Maneators a demanding task of providing massive amounts of wood from the nearby forest.

  Stark chopped down the trees as he wielded two axes given to him by the Banalites, while Rasant and Weise delivered the wood back to the village. The twenty Condortlians who did not help with the smithing carved the wood into sharp spikes that would be placed along the bottom of the trenches.

  After the wooden spikes were in place, the Condortlians put tied-up branches and leaves gathered from the trees over the trenches. Then, Smoke and Ledur took turns in covering them with a paper-thin layer of earth, completely concealing their trap.

  Once the Condortlians were done with the spikes, they proceeded to make bases of throwing spears and attached the finished spearheads provided by Adder and the smithing unit to them.

  Next, Smoke and Ledur focused on the last line of defense...the third wall. They planned to create a hexagonal wall six meters high and two meters thick.

  Hours went by in a flash and each of the Earth Manipulators created three sides of the wall. It only dwarfed the surrounded emergency shelter by one floor. They also created platforms extending from the top of each corner of the wall.

  Some of the Banalites were tasked with the creation of disposable bridges made of wood and straw, meant for connecting the three perimeter walls. This provided some much-needed mobility to the defending forces and also allowed them to easily destroy a compromised bridge if necessary.

  As Smoke continued working on the third wall, he saw Vijaya's silhouette with the tall T-shaped falcon perch protruding on her back.

  After helping Espion set up some of the traps earlier, she was tasked with checking the progress on the trenches. She did all of this from afar, while standing on top of the original village wall.

  Vijaya started to do practice shots from her position and used a random tree outside the village as her target. Although Smoke selected her for monitoring the trenches precisely because of her falcons' scouting abilities, he still felt that she should personally inspect them from time to time.

  So he stopped working on the third wall and glided down to where Vijaya was. He flew a short distance and landed softly beside her.

  "Everything alright with the trenches?" asked Smoke.

  Vijaya stopped firing her arrows, turned around and answered, "Yeah, everything's on track. I think there's only 20% left to work on."

  "Really? That's good." he said with a smile.

  "Keke keekekeeeek kekekekekek."

  One of Vijaya's falcons flew overhead and shrilled. "Make that 15% left." said Vijaya as she threw a chunk of smoked horned rabbit meat at the passing bird.

  "And you don't think you need to verify this yourself?" said Smoke as he crossed his arms. "Didn't I tell you before not to rely on your falcons too much?"

  "Of course. I've learned my lesson, I was about to go there now." Vijaya said as she cupped her hands around her mouth and used the Falcon Tongue ability. "Keeeeeekk keeeeeek kekekekekekekek kekek."

  Six falcons swooped down and grabbed specific portions of her falcon perch. Then, in one fluid motion, all of the falcons flapped their wings in unison.

  Vijaya was lifted up by her falcons and was flying towards the latest finished portion of the trenches. Surprised, Smoke stood still and watched the astonishing sight before him.

  The WoodElf's flight speed was slow to say the least, but it still gave her extra mobility.

  Smoke then realized that the finished portion of the trenches still needed to be covered by a thin layer of earth. He shouted to the flying Vijaya, "Vijaya, wait up! I'll cover the finished portion."

  "It's okay, Vij said that Ledur already covered it." Vijaya shouted back.

  Convinced that Vijaya was on top of her task, he leapt up and glided back towards the third wall.

  As Smoke descended, he saw a winged Tikbalang standing on top of their command center and landed next to him. "Those horseshoes look good on you, Ledur. Is Adder done fitting your brethren as well?"

  Ledur nodded and kept gazing at the auburn horizon. "Smoke, do you really think our curse will be lifted once all three Witches are dead?"

  Noticing the serious look in his eyes, Smoke took a moment to respond. "Honestly, I don't know. Sierra told me that she could remove her curse if she acquires the blood of all three Witches of Wysteria. You and the others were cursed by the same Witches, so hopefully..." he answered with a straight face and stared at the orange sky.

  "Thank you for being straight with me. I have my doubts as well. I can understand your optimism, but I'm afraid that I don't share it." said Ledur before fully expanding his bat-like wings. "I'm going on a break for a couple of minutes." he added and swiftly took to the skies.

  Smoke wished he could have comforted Ledur, but didn't want to lie to him. He stood at the top of the earth tower, worriedly looking at the winged Tikbalang's silhouette in the distance.

  The third wall was about 90% completed, but Smoke needed to recover his mana before working on the last 10%. Since he couldn't finish the wall yet, he decided to call Espion and check how he was doing.

  The young Spy was placing early warning devices precisely three kilometers away from the village. The Lioumereans provided trip wires, snares and flares, which would help indicate the enemy's arrival.

  Smoke gave specific instructions on where to place the traps and flares. Since the traps were to be set up in forest patches, they had Sharanga modify them to react only to the humanoid type of monsters. That way, only the incoming Gobble Goblins would trigger them.

  "Espion, is everything set?" asked Smoke.

  Espion answered energetically, "Yeah, I'm almost done thanks to Vijaya's help earlier."

  "Good work. Return to the emergency shelter immediately afterwards. I'll be giving out battle assignments as soon as I finish up the third wall."

  "Alright, I'll be there as soon as I'm done. I think we still have about sixteen hours before they arrive." Espion said before Smoke ended the call.

  As Smoke stood alone on top of the command center, he noticed that he still had a few more minutes to spare before his mana bar becomes full again.

  This made him decide to practise the new ability he learned from the book "You and your symbiote Volume II". He rushed down from the command center to check on Adder and see if he could have his symbiote back.

  He opened the window of his newly-acquired ability.

  Ability: Symbiote Vision

  Active

  Level: Beginner Level 1

  Experience: (10/1,000)

  The second level of Mana Melding with your Symbiote.

  Effect: Projects the image of what your Symbiote sees into your mind.

  WARNING: While the ability is active, you are Blinded.

  Smoke grinned as he let Igniz soar around the emergency shelter. He knew that Symbiote Vision had a huge drawback, but right off the bat, he could already think of several scenarios where he could effectively use this ability.

  * * * * * *

  After extensively discussing their battle strategy, Smoke still had ten hours left before Crucibelle's supposed arrival. He ordered his troops to get some rest but stay on alert and near their designated positions.

  His private army members began to disperse from the great hall of the emergency shelter. Before they left the building, each Condortlian Warrior picked up thirty of the newly-crafted throwing spears.

  Smoke followed them outside and heard Adder asking them to do a c
ouple of practice throws before the battle. As Smoke and the Condortlians walked out together, the Maneators decided to follow them.

  Ledur and twenty Tikbalangs joined them as well. Soon, all of Smoke's private army members walked with him to watch the Condortlians.

  It was already very late when they gathered outside in the open area between the emergency shelter and the third wall. Igniz managed to light up the entire space with his luminance alone. Adder prepared six straw-goblins as targets in advance.

  "Men! Fall in!" Adder shouted. Instantly, thirty Condortlian Warriors formed a six-columned platoon and stood twenty meters away from the target.

  "Volley!" Adder commanded. The Warriors in the first row threw their spears and made direct contact with the targets. Most of the spears went straight through the target dummies as they could not sustain the spears' weight.

  After throwing their spears, the Warriors retreated to the back of the columns. "Volley!" repeated Adder in a commanding voice. The Condortlian Warriors next in line attacked the targets with similar precision.

  Adder kept giving the same command until the Condortlians used up all thirty of their spears. Each of the Warriors hit their respective marks every single time.

  CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK.

  Ledur clapped his black hooves, producing an abnormal clapping sound. "Very good, Adder, but you haven't seen a Gobble Goblin's transformed state."

  The winged Tikbalang raised his right hoof and indicated for the Condortlians to wait. He created six clay pillars in front of the straw targets.

  With the new targets in place, Ledur signaled for Adder and his men to continue. "Charge!" Adder commanded and the Warriors in the front row dashed straight for the pillars.

  This time, the Warriors were not equipped with throwing spears but round shields and long bastard swords. Each Warrior slashed the pillars hard and broke off large chunks of it.

  Smoke and everyone else looked very pleased. Ledur smiled, impressed by the Condortlians' prowess. They all started to clap, but Adder raised both his hands and asked them to be quiet, as he wanted to resume the practice.

  Slowly, Smoke's private army members started to walk towards their designated locations and left the Condortlians to their training. Smoke was the only one left watching them.

  After almost an hour of practice, Adder asked the Condortlian Warriors to take a break and head to their assigned positions.

  With just Smoke and Adder left, the Condortlian asked him to stay a bit longer. "I'd like to show you something." Adder said as he took out his double-bladed BlitzSturm.

  Smoke instantly noticed the sword's increased length and width. He tried to wield it, but it almost fell to the ground as soon as Adder handed it over to him.

  A notification window popped up soon afterwards.

  - Cannot use BlitzSturm with your current Strength.

  'Hmpf. Just like the Condortlian Emerald Shield.' thought Smoke bitterly.

  Using his left arm, Adder lifted BlitzSturm with ease and went straight for the clay pillars.

  SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

  With one swift strike after another, the pillars were reduced to rubble as Adder slashed his BlitzSturm through them.

  Smoke walked up to Adder and patted his back. "Nice! Looks like you'll be a great help against the Gobble Goblins."

  "Thanks, but that demonstration was to showcase the improvements made to BlitzSturm." Adder held his double-bladed sword in front of Smoke.

  "Ah, I see. Well, great job on that as well." Smoke said with a smile as he bent down to examine the BlitzSturm.

  "Maybe you want me to do something with your weighted chain and sickle?" asked Adder.

  Smoke shook his head. "Nah. I already tried using the Transmutation ability on it. It seems it's made out of a very strong material called perlite. Apparently, it doesn't melt easily, making it hard to forge or transmute the weapon."

  Adder understood and stowed his BlitzSturm onto his back. "Well, that's it for today. I'll head to my station and rest there."

  "Alright, Adder. Just remember what your top priority is. Your life is very important, don't be reckless about it in battle."

  Smoke watched his second-in-command nod before walking away. Since he still had some time before the battle, Smoke decided to log out of Zectas. It was time for him to eat a quick meal and take a power nap. He wanted to feel rested before facing off against Crucibelle and her army of Gobble Goblins.

  * * * * * *

  Numerous flares flew towards the heavens and the sky above Banal village turned emerald green. Smoke stood alone on top of the ten-meter command center and watched as Gobble Goblins tripped the early warning devices from all four directions.

  From this position, Smoke could use his Telefax Vision ability to observe the encounters near both the main and the back gate. He readied himself to glide down at a moment's notice to support either side.

  The next round of flares went off. He expected one more round to follow shortly afterwards, but it didn't end up being triggered. 'Looks like the goblins aren't that naive.'

  A group of thin goblins hurtled onto a clearing and was immediately attacked by a fearsome winged Tikbalang. Ledur swiftly swooped down, picked up two of the green monsters and lifted them up in the air.

  The two goblins struggled to break free as they were being carried towards the first wall of Banal. They tried scratching Ledur's arms. However, the winged Tikbalang did not give them the opportunity to do any significant damage and briskly dropped them just a few meters away from the main gate.

  The damage from the fall killed the two goblins instantly. Seconds later, orange-colored flares went off. The incoming goblins no longer cared for the traps as they made a beeline for the bodies of their dead kin.

  'Hmm. Maybe they aren't that smart after all.' Smoke thought as he watched the start of the battle from the command center.

  The first group of goblins started to eat as soon as they reached the corpses, but as they did, Vijaya's six falcons swooped down. Enhanced with the Steel Falcon ability, they relentlessly assaulted the feeding goblins with their talons.

  Fire arrows began piercing the goblins as Vijaya attacked from the top of the first wall. She fired her arrows as fast as she could.

  This combined attack killed four goblins very quickly , but the falcons were slowly being overwhelmed as more thin green monsters arrived.

  "Keeekk keeek kekekekek!" Vijaya ordered her falcons to retreat. Unfortunately, one of her falcons, Dakhana, was caught by a goblin.

  The other falcons were speedily soaring towards their owner and didn't notice that their comrade was captured. Dakhana used its beak to damage its captor, but the goblin endured it and pulled the falcon towards it even harder.

  Thanks to Vijaya's Steel Falcon ability, Dakhana received little damage after its legs were tightly squeezed by the green monster, but the situation looked grim. Desperate, Vijaya drew her Hunter's bow back with more power and determination.

  Her fire arrow was joined by five spears as it flew below the five retreating falcons and pierced the goblin's body. Greatly damaged by the spears, the goblin's life bar showed only (5,321/50,000 HP). Near death, it released its hold on the falcon.

  Dakhana took advantage of this and plunged its talons into the goblin's eyes. As the falcon gouged out both its eyes, a fire arrow struck the monster's chest and killed it.

  The falcon hastily retreated before any other goblin could grab a hold of it, while Vijaya and twenty-two Condortlian Warriors slaughtered the goblins in front of the main gate.

  * * * * * *

  Red flares went off and indicated that most of the goblins were only twenty meters away from the first wall. Smoke equally divided his Tikbalang corps into four division and assigned them to northwestern, northeastern, southwestern and southeastern sides of the first wall.

  Each division was fairly spread out. The Tikbalangs were reminded several times to be extremely cautious at this point, since they'd be sep
arated from each other. They waited for some of the goblins to arrive within their reach and punched them with iron horseshoes before retreating.

  The hurt goblins were enraged and angrily chased after the fleeing Tikbalangs. The northeastern and southeastern divisions baited the goblins to follow them towards the main gate, while the northwestern and southwestern divisions led the goblins to the back gate.

  Equipped with their new horseshoes, the Tikbalangs had faster movement speed if they galloped on all fours, using their hooves as main support. This enabled them to easily outrun the goblins and made Smoke's hit-and-run strategy effective.