by Sarah Lin
He looked toward the projectiles that had failed to reach the caravan, checking in case they were some sort of explosive. Though they did look strange, Meara was already kneeling beside one. When he caught her eye, she gave a strange shake of her head. Nothing immediately dangerous, then.
Was he simply paranoid? It continued to bother him that such apparently strong bandits would mount such an incompetent attack, but thanks to the problem with the boxes, he couldn't even be sure if they were actually experienced.
Giving up on the boxes, he instead focused on what he'd seen. They'd been fairly well-equipped, but bandits could often steal decent equipment from adventurers. What it came down to in the end was that their attack and retreat had been just too coordinated...
"It must be a trap." He turned to the woman and also waved her partner over. "I don't think the bandits could be this incompetent."
"That's not much to stop the entire caravan for." The old man folded his arms over his chest and frowned. "You realize unnecessary delays are lost profits to all the merchants, right? They really don't like it if we jump at shadows."
"And they do like getting killed?"
The woman shook her head slowly. "The trap could be trying to force us to stay here, or make us change our route. But I suppose I'll order everyone to prepare."
She trotted away, leaving her partner to eye Bloodwraith sourly. "You might be right, boy, but don't think we trust you, either. It's clear enough you and your lady friends are up to something suspicious, with all that sneaking about."
That was the disadvantage to being around competent people. Before Bloodwraith could consider how to answer, he heard a thrumming noise. Soft at first and coming from no clear direction, but growing louder at a troubling rate. The wind was beginning to stir as well. Bloodwraith drew his greatsword and turned, all signs coming together at the same moment.
A giant insectoid beast flew toward them, wings beating so rapidly they shook the air.
Bloodwraith reacted instinctively, throwing out a hand and releasing a burst of force. He wasn't sure if he missed or if it did no good, because the monster swept overhead unharmed. It soon slowed over the caravan, flitting from side to side in strange movements he didn't think should be possible in such a large beast. The monster reeked of mana, so this wouldn't be easy...
"A shardwing?" The old man stared up at it in shock. "This far south?"
"It was led here." Bloodwraith couldn't prove it, but he was nearly certain proof would be attacking the caravan at any moment. "They don't want to take the whole caravan, just steal what they can."
Though the old man shot him a skeptical look, he didn't argue. The caravan was currently under attack, after all, as the shardwing stopped hovering and swept down toward one of the horses.
The caravan mage released another burst of fire, but to Bloodwraith's surprise it deflected harmlessly off the shardwing. As the beast's body shimmered in the light, Bloodwraith realized that it had actually been reflected. He cursed under his breath and was joined by the old guard.
"Aye, shardwings are a bitch. Most spells won't stick."
"Can we destroy the wings?"
"That would take it down, but in an emergency they can fly with only a few of them."
"I'll see what I can do. Keep an eye out for the bandits!"
Bloodwraith headed into the fight, but even that short conversation had wasted valuable time. Unharmed by the burst of flame, the shardwing landed on top of one of the wagons, smashing it to kindling. The riders managed to throw themselves aside, but the horses weren't so lucky - the shardwing tore into them with clawed forelegs and vicious mandibles.
Now that he knew what it was, he took the moment to examine it more carefully.
[Shardwing
Recommended Level: 35
WARNING! This opponent is too powerful for you to defeat!]
With such an inflated level, this thing might actually be powerful. Yet Bloodwraith found himself more annoyed than anything, since he had no way of knowing how it compared to something like the drake.
As it fed, the creature's wings became still for a moment. They were translucent blue and surprisingly beautiful when they sparkled in the sun. But when a group of guards advanced on the monster, those wings turned into a blur that sent mana-enhanced wind shooting out in all directions, flattening most of the advancing guards.
The shardwing lunged at the nearest, mandibles snapping down into the man's armor as he screamed. By contrast, the shardwing was utterly silent except for the beating of its wings, which was more disturbing than most monsters he'd encountered.
Though Bloodwraith had been ignoring the fight to instead check for the bandits again, he caught no sight of them and he knew it would look bad if he didn't act to defend the caravan. It didn't seem like the main guards would be able to handle it, the old couple was nowhere to be seen, and Danniah was out of range. The mage hadn't attacked again, at least not stupid enough to send spells reflecting into his allies.
Bloodwraith charged directly toward the shardwing's side. It didn't even turn toward him, just sending its wings vibrating to create another burst of wind. But before it could hit him, Bloodwraith let out a roar and released his "Shout of Rage" ability.
Stupid as the name was, the burst of force in all directions canceled out the wind. The shardwing seemed to realize, beginning to skitter to face him, but it was too late. His greatsword thrust out, not trying to cut the beast's wings so much as get in the path of their violent movements.
The force of it nearly tore the weapon from his hands, but two of the wings were sliced in half. Bloodwraith raised his greatsword to cut again and didn't see the creature's leg move until it was too late.
He slammed back into the ground, chest aching. Though he'd kept a grip on his sword, he struggled to raise into blocking position as the shardwing rushed down at him, mandibles snapping. It was opening itself to others attacking its weakened side, but the guards were holding back even as the beast bore down on him...
Before it arrived, Danniah slammed into it from the side, shield first. Even running at full speed, she didn't weigh enough to do more than make the beast stumble slightly, but she did distract it. The shardwing stopped rushing and turned toward her, mandibles snapping down at her.
Danniah met its attack with her shield, throwing all her mana into the shield bash. This blow did have an impact on the beast, sending it staggering backward and collapsing to the ground.
Though Bloodwraith followed and tried to end the monster's life, it pushed off the ground with surprising strength and regained the air. His sword nicked one of its legs, drawing some purple blood, but it was just a scratch. Despite its damaged wings, the shardwing managed to stay in the air, moving to attack a different part of the caravan.
Several guards drew bows and attempted to shoot it unsuccessfully. Bloodwraith ignored them and instead focused on Danniah, who came up beside him with wide eyes. "What is that thing?"
"The old man called it a shardwing."
"He has a name too, you know. It-"
"It doesn't matter right now. I think the monster is just a distraction for those bandits - they'll be hitting the caravan at any moment, if they haven't already."
Danniah looked at him briefly, then nodded. "Well, it looks like the guards are keeping the shardwing at bay for now. Let's go warn the others before anything can happen."
They headed back along the caravan, shouting warnings to other guards. Not all of them listened, but it was better than nothing. Just when Bloodwraith was beginning to wonder if he was wrong, he finally spotted them.
The guards and passengers of one of the wagons lay dead. Judging from the blood, the bandits must have come out of the grasses nearby, killing them almost silently while everyone was distracted by the shardwing. Some of the nearest guards hadn't even noticed, eyes focused on the massive beast while the bandits scooped up the spices from the wagon.
"Stop right there!" Danniah rushed at them, aiming
to cut off their escape. Her words got the attention of both the bandits and the guards, though there weren't enough to act effectively.
Several of the bandits scattered, but one of them ran directly at Danniah. She raised her shield before her and didn't slow down... and the bandit went directly over her.
For a moment Danniah was stunned, staring up at the bandit as he used her height against her and simply vaulted off her shield and over her head. The bandit smirked down at her as he sailed overhead and Bloodwraith saw the pain in her eyes.
He saw more pain in the bandit's eyes when he landed and Bloodwraith's sword hit him in the chest.
Though the blow tore through most of the man's armor and sent him to the ground in a bloody heap, it didn't finish him. The bandit pushed to his feet, dropping his loot and instead hastily drinking a potion fixed to his sleeve. Clever, that, but Bloodwraith needed to end him before he escaped.
The bandit effortlessly ducked under the swing of his greatsword, darting past and stabbing out with his knives. They clattered harmlessly off Bloodwraith's armor, which gave him enough time to kick the bandit in the knee. It snapped loudly and the bandit went down with a cry, which was silenced by Bloodwraith's sword a moment later.
Looking up, he found that Danniah hadn't let her failure stop her, instead facing off with another of the bandits. They were tough, but they clearly had no intention of standing to fight. Two of them had escaped into the grass already, while another one was scrambling in the other direction.
Bloodwraith ran after him, but soon realized that the bandit was much faster than he was. When he attempted to release a burst of force, the bandit managed to twist to the side, avoiding it. The distance was stretching between them and soon he'd be entirely gone...
So Bloodwraith reached into his bag, pulled out one of the skulls, and hurled it.
The skull struck the bandit on the back of the head, making him stumble. It then bounced to the ground harmlessly, but it looked strange enough that it caught the bandit's attention. He partially turned back, staring at the random skull now bouncing toward his ankles.
At which point Bloodwraith hit him in the face with a second skull. It automatically bit into his cheek, drawing a surprising amount of blood before the bandit pulled it away. As the skull struggled futilely in his hands, the bandit spent a moment staring at it in utter bafflement.
"What the f-" Bloodwraith's sword hit him in the neck, ending his bafflement.
Slightly ashamed of his tactic, Bloodwraith hastily scooped up the skulls and stuffed them back into his bag. He hoped that no one had seen that for multiple reasons.
As he headed back, he saw that Danniah was struggling to keep the remaining two bandits from simply evading her. Worse, there were two who had already escaped into the grass... no, were they coming back?
A moment later Bloodwraith realized that it was the old couple, their armor stained with blood that wasn't theirs. One of the bandits saw them and sprinted away in the direction of the chaos surrounding the shardwing, which was swooping through the caravan, sending guards and horses scattering.
Before the bandit got far, a burst of fire tore through him and he dropped. It had emerged from one of the nearest wagons, but Bloodwraith had no time to locate the mage.
Instead he went to join Danniah, cutting off her opponent's escape. The bandit fought back viciously, even managing to get one of his knives into Bloodwraith's shoulder, but between the two of them he soon fell.
"Thanks, Raigar!" Danniah smiled at him, but her expression faltered. "I... I should have been able to do more..."
"There's no time for that." Bloodwraith grabbed her shoulder and spun her around in time for her to see the shardwing burst into the air again, shaking a guard in its mandibles. "Go defend the others. I'll catch up as soon as I find us an edge."
She sniffed, then nodded determinedly and headed off to join the battle. Meanwhile, the other guards in the area were gathering closer, conversing in terse voices.
"I have more mana," the caravan mage was telling the old couple, "but even if I didn't hit our own, I'd waste it. That thing deflected my best."
"We don't need to kill it, just drive it off," the old woman said. Bloodwraith stepped in and cut off whatever she had been planning to say next.
"That won't work. They must have had a way to bring it here, so we need to deal with that first."
"Probably some spell to control the beast. Now that we've killed them, it will go back to its instincts."
Though Bloodwraith knew it would take an unusually powerful mage to control a beast with so much mana, it would seem odd for a barbarian to declare that. Especially if they were already suspicious of him. He considered saying it anyway and finding a way to kill the suspicious guards later, but at that moment Meara appeared beside their group, carrying a clay sphere.
"It's this." She thrust it out into the center of their group. "Not magic, but filled with something organic. I'm not sure what it is, but the smell is intense. I'm willing to bet they had the shardwing following them, then threw these to make it attack the caravan."
The old guards reluctantly accepted that this was probably correct. Taking the sphere from Meara, the caravan mage looked over it for a time before nodding. "You're probably right. I suppose I could levitate it near the shardwing, then lure it away?
"No," Bloodwraith said. "Make it explode."
"Didn't you see? It reflects magic."
"I know. It reflected my skills too. But not perfectly."
Fortunately, the mage didn't argue further, instead cupping the sphere in his hands. Bright embers began to glow within as he headed toward the site of the main battle. Personally, Bloodwraith wouldn't have chosen fire. Not only might it burn away the smell that drew the shardwing, ice or rock shards would be more likely to deal a mortal wound instead of deflecting away.
Unfortunately, his meager magical capabilities did not include such spells. The caravan mage had understood and seemed capable of packing a decent amount of mana into the sphere, so he wasn't incompetent, but it was still frustrating. Even though he should have been focused on the battle, Bloodwraith found himself vowing to find a mage to join them.
The battle against the shardwing did not appear to be going well, however. Though it had only killed a few guards, it had flattened many others with bursts of wind and savaged more of the horses. Danniah was the only one engaging directly, warding off the blows from its legs with her shield. Unfortunately, it had her pinned down more than she pinned it down, and the other guards were only attacking ineffectually.
"Danniah, get down!" Bloodwraith called only a moment after the mage threw the sphere into the air.
It flew in a smooth arc past the shardwing's head. As he'd hoped, the creature's head shifted to track it. Leaving Danniah, who dropped to brace her shield in front of her, the shardwing snapped out at the sphere as if attacking prey.
The sphere exploded a moment later, fire engulfing the shardwing's front half. It fell back, thrashing wildly as its glittering skin failed to deflect the fire within its jaws.
Yet even as it caught fire, it didn't die. The shardwing was a monstrous sight, its insectoid limbs thrashing amid the flames. It seemed confused, lashing out in all directions, but it was thrashing toward the caravan and all the flammable goods within...
Before Bloodwraith could move to act, Danniah charged at the shardwing's head with a long cry. It tried to snap its mandibles at her, but in its weakened and disoriented state, it failed to land. Instead Danniah smashed her shield directly into its face again. When the creature dropped she leapt on top of it, swinging wildly into its eyes.
The shardwing shook violently, knocking aside Danniah's mace. She let out a cry of rage and instead grabbed her shield in both hands, slamming it down into the monster's head. This time it failed to retaliate, but she kept hitting, smashing it over and over again until her shield was stained purple.
She then stayed there, staring down at the dead creature as
if she didn't know where she was. Seeing the conflicting emotions within her helm, Bloodwraith wanted to go help her, but at that moment a cheer went up.
At first Danniah seemed startled, but gradually she realized they were cheering for her. She looked at Bloodwraith uncertainly, but when he nodded to her, she smiled.
With the battle won, order quickly restored itself. The mage put out the remaining fires, healers emerged from the wagons to help the fallen guards, and merchants took stock of the damage. Since they all remained alert and the danger was past, Bloodwraith finally let himself relax.
[Victory! You received 1,051,903 EXP.]
The victory was soured by the absurd amount of experience the boxes pretended to give him, but at that moment Bloodwraith heard a bit of music he hadn't heard in some time.
[Congratulations!!! You gained a level!!!
Current Level: 11
Current EXP: 10,537/2,300,000
Unassigned Stat Points: 5]
That was better. Bloodwraith was still annoyed by the falsified EXP values, but he could feel the new potential power flowing into him. For once, he didn't need to make use of it immediately. Since the threat had passed, he should make the decisions around his unassigned points carefully.
Just as Bloodwraith was allowing himself to feel a bit of satisfaction, yet another box appeared in his vision.
[NOTICE:
While power is increased on a reincarnation, standard safeguards and bonus artifacts are also removed. While some customers enjoy the expanded freedom, it is important to remember that all risks in Alliandelle are real. Caution is strongly recommended.
In light of recent conflicts, recommended level guidelines may no longer be necessary. AdventureCorp recommends using the guidelines, but users on a reincarnation are free to choose against them under most circumstances. Do you wish to continue to use the recommended level guidelines?
Y/N]