Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo

by John Nest

  While waiting for the Mercenaries to acquire the poison resistance, Smoke corralled their aardwolves and dirus wolves inside his customized earth walls. Thankfully, there was another forest nearby, which was abundant with stone deer. There, he hunted enough meat to feed sixty draughts for a week.

  After seven days, all one thousand of Smoke's Mercenaries gained immunity from the poison slimes' attacks and raised their levels to above 40.

  Smoke's and Espion's own abilities have drastically improved as well.

  With the first layer of the forest cleared, Smoke had them prepare for the next one. They were ordered to stand still as Igniz enchanted their swords and shields with his Fire.

  This time, they were going to face against the crafty orchid mantises. Smoke told them about how they moved, but the Mercenaries were not prepared for their serene appearance.

  The one and a half meter monsters looked like swaying flowers in the wind. The monsters' uniform motion hindered the Avendre from figuring out where to attack.

  Since Smoke only needed them to acquire two mantis blades each, he thought he should lend them a hand. "Igniz, create a firewall on the gathered orchid mantises."

  At once, his dark ember sprite constructed a wall of flames on the swaying monsters. The life bars on the monsters' displayed a measly 8,000 HP. After taking damage from Igniz's flames, their life bars were reduced by 2,000 points.

  Igniz then blasted the monsters with a torrential rain of fireballs, revealing a damage of 4,000 points on a single fireball. This made the orchid mantises to stampede towards the Mercenaries, but the burning plant monsters got out of their formations.

  With their Fire enchanted weapons, the monsters were easily picked off by the Avendre. In less than ten-minutes, the swarm of orchid mantises were wiped out.

  All of the Mercenaries collected more than four mantis blades. With their initial mission completed, they were ready to head back to Nanahuatl to craft their new weapons.

  "Alright, ready your gear and attach the draughts to their transports," instructed Smoke proudly.

  Yet, one of the Avendre questioned him posthaste.

  "But why should we stop here?" asked Hazard. "There is still the third layer left, right? And isn't that the last one? Why don't we finish it?"

  "Only the boss of this forest remains there, and we have what we need. It would be inefficient for us to fight it when its experience and item cannot accommodate all of us," explained Smoke.

  "Inefficient?" asked the Mercenary sarcastically. "Who are you to tell us what is inefficient when you're just a lousy leader who couldn't even properly direct a strong Avendre Commander."

  Without another word, Hazard went into the final layer of Mandragora Forest.

  Smoke and Igniz hurriedly went after him into the forest clearing.

  Inside, Smoke could sense the tree ent's whip-like vines aimed at Hazard. He used his Hyper Jump ability and appeared in front of the head-strong Mercenary.

  Smoke instantly created a full spherical Manatl, which engulfed Hazard and himself.

  SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

  Despite the dozens of vines hitting his barrier. The tree ent’s attacks could do nothing against his full Manatl.

  "What is that thing?" asked a surprised Hazard. "It attacked me from nowhere."

  "That's a tree ent. It's the boss of this forest," answered Smoke without looking at him. "Igniz, attack it from behind."

  His dark ember sprite hurriedly circled the tree ent and rained his fireballs on it, revealing the monster's name and life bar. Entree (150,000/210,000 HP). Igniz's back and fire attacks were extremely effective against the plant monster.

  Entree then switched focused to Igniz. Its vines came at the ember sprite from all direction, which forced him to stop attacking the tree ent.

  With the monster's back turned to him, Smoke canceled his Manatl sphere and transferred the gathered energy into his white metallic staff.

  BONK

  The sound of his staff hitting the back of Entree's head resonated in the forest clearing. Yet, the monster still had 30% left on its life bar.

  Instantly, Smoke switched out his staff for his twin lightning rods, and used its Lightning Strike ability. He crossed the black rods together and struck Entree at point blank range.

  A blinding blue light flashed before them. After the light faded, the tree ents life bar now displayed 0%. Its hundred of vines shriveled up and slowly vanished out of existence.

  Smoke collected the necklace that the monster left behind.

  + Acquired rare amulet: Heart of Entree.

  He didn't need to inspect the necklace to know its attributes. Without a word, he walked over to Hazard.

  The young impetuous Avendre was slumped on the ground of the forest clearing. He looked at Smoke with remorseful eyes, and tried to explain his foolishness, but no words would come out.

  Then, Espion appeared from behind them. "What in the world do you think you're doing? Didn't Smoke tell you not enter here?"

  "Espion, it's alright," said Smoke calmly.

  "No, it isn't. He should understand how to follow your orders," argued Espion. "We're training you to face far more dangerous things than this, but at the moment you're not ready to face any of them."

  Hazard did not answer them and only kept staring down.

  "Espion's right. You're far from the level to face stronger monsters," kindly added Smoke. "Which is why I'd like you to have this."

  Smoke gave the newly acquired amulet to Hazard.

  The young Avendre stared blankly at the rare accessory in his hands. "Why? I thought you were sending me back to Mount Alouer for sure. Why give me this rare item instead?"

  "You have great potential. Very much like your cousin. It would be a waste not to polish a rough gem," replied Smoke softly. "I also feel responsible for Jeter's death, which is why I want to train you into an even greater fighter than your cousin."

  Hazard looked at him with a confused expression. He grasped the necklace firmly and placed it around his neck. "Alright, I'll do my best from now on, and I'll follow your orders."

  A notification window suddenly popped up.

  + Your Intimacy with Hazard has risen to 'Trusted Companion'

  It was far from being blood brothers, but Smoke still appreciated the increase in Intimacy with the hard-headed Avendre.

  "Now, why don't we join the others and head back for Nanahuatl," said a friendly Smoke.

  After they returned to Smoke's home village, Darius immediately began to teach the Avendre Mercenaries how to forge their very own double bladed swords.

  Darius told him that it would take a week to finish this task. During this time, Smoke was visiting the different families in Nanahuatl.

  With the rapid birth of newborns in the village, he used his improved Earth Manipulation to create a new playground for them. He created slides, see-saws, and even a six-meter tall anthill where the young ones could enter and play. All of these were far things that the infants could not use, but the bigger children gladly welcomed them. Smoke also considered how fast time flies in Zectas, soon these babies would grow up to be young adults.

  When he wasn't bonding with the residents, he was busy training his abilities. He also sparred with Espion to help increase his Spy's fighting experience.

  Yet, no matter what they were doing during the day, at sundown the whole village always ate in front of Smoke's house. His increased in speed enabled him to easily feed the growing village, including his one thousand Mercenaries.

  After a week of toiling with their mantis blades, all of the Avendre finally got their personally crafted double bladed swords.

  Smoke then ordered them to set out and hunt for phasmatodeas, towering stick insects that reached the height of two-meters. Yet, the monster was also extremely thin. Their bones made great arrow shafts. These monsters had almost no defense and a life bar of 15,000 HP.

  With their new weapons coupled with Igniz's Fire Enchantment, the towerin
g stick monsters gave no resistance to the Mercenaries.

  Using his Cunning of the Dire Fox, Smoke directed them to the location of thousands of phasmatodeas. He looked at them with the eyes of a proud parent. He couldn't believe how well they fought with their double bladed swords. They were nowhere near Adder's skill, but they had more than doubled their attack power by simply using the weapons they crafted themselves.

  With his Avendre Mercenaries' complete domination over the phasmatodeas, Smoke decided to check on the Avendre Quests.

  Avendre Mercenary Satellite Quests:

  * Salvage Salah [Taken]

  * Beasts of Burden for Betul [Taken]

  * Protect Poludnie

  * Secure the Heiress of Silap

  * Banish the monsters bothering Barat

  He immediately noticed the new Mercenary Quest that appeared. He thought about taking the Silap or the Poludnie Quest, but was hesitant to either one.

  However, now that there was a new quest, he decided to take it on right away.

  "Alright! Good work, everyone," began Smoke. "Next, we're headed for Barat Village to take on some spined coyotes. Collect the loot and pack your gear. We're moving out!"

  It had only been half a month since Smoke was together with them, but he personally felt close to them almost as much as his core members.

  'Even if I train them to be over level 150 in less than a year...there is still a high probability that they would all be wiped out by Burmistrz's Cavalry Knights,' he somberly thought to himself.

  "Guys, change of plans. We're going to stop by Nanahuatl before heading for Barat," Smoke said suddenly before the Mercenaries could get on board their respective transports.

  * * * * * *

  Smoke awoke to see the familiar white fountain with a strapping bearded man sitting on its walls. 'He really looks like a Wizard Boss now. I wonder how much power Darius has recovered?' he secretly asked himself.

  He had logged out of Zectas during the trip back, and timed his sleep to match their time of arrival in Nanahuatl.

  Casually, he stepped off the transport, and asked Espion and all of the Avendre to get some much needed relaxation near the weirs.

  Meanwhile, he walked over to Darius. "Nice of you to greet me, every time I arrive," he said gratefully and hugged the old Beggar.

  "Of course! I know that I'm mostly the reason you come here in the first place," said Darius flippantly.

  "That is, true," answered Smoke. "Alright, I'll get right to it. I don't want to risk the lives of the Mercenaries, facing off against Cavalry Knights. We're suppose to attack within a year's time, otherwise Burmistrz will have gained another attack force that could try and take over another city."

  Darius didn't say a word and only listened to him.

  Smoke appreciated how Darius knew that he still had more to say. He felt that if it were anyone else they would have interjected by now.

  "I wasn't really up for it in the first place. Prosjak was the one who strongly suggested it to complete this quest, and I was blinded with the idea of gaining thousands of new subordinates," explained Smoke, and let out a deep sigh.

  "Maybe, if it was after three years, then we would have a better chance of surviving against them," Smoke grit his teeth as he had an inkling of the battle a year from now.

  "This sounds like a serious problem," stated Darius. "It is so serious that I won't even mention about eating those yummy burgers before we proceed talking."

  Smoke was taken aback. He wasn't sure if Darius wanted him to make the burgers.

  "So, what was it that you truly wanted to do when you first got the mission?" bluntly asked Darius.

  "Actually, I wanted to create an elite team and sneak into the city and take him on directly, but I don't think it would be successful—" Smoke paused as inspiration hit him. "But Sierra just got her Job Change to Druid Archon, and Mamelon's Elemental Knights have also increased their levels."

  Darius clicked his tongue while stroking his long white beard. "But sneaking into the city itself would require you to have a low number of people. Unfortunately, from what I heard about this Burmistrz, you would need at least twenty people to take him on."

  Smoke stared at the water in the fountain. He knew that Darius was right. "If only there was a way to get him away from his men."

  "Well, there is an ability that could instantly teleport the caster and any other person they are holding and transport them to a prepared casting circle," said Darius out loud.

  "And you can teach this to me?" asked Smoke excitedly.

  Darius shook his head. "Sorry, it cannot be taught. You would need an ability book, and I think you could only find one of those in a temple of the Guardias de Tiempo."

  This time, it was Smoke's turn to click his tongue.

  "Luckily, I still have one more transference crystal left" quickly added Darius, and reached inside his wizard robe for a pure white gem. "I could create an impetus gem, and that would serve as my substitute. With that you can teleport anything touching it to my preconfigured casting circle."

  "Hm. Then, Burmistrz would be teleported here, in Nanahuatl," said Smoke while strongly shaking his head. "We can't have that."

  "Not to worry. I can create my casting circle outside the village walls," offered Darius. "And remember, I can cast a cloaking spell over the village, making anyone who has never stepped inside unable to enter it."

  Darius then teleported near the outskirts of the village entrance. Smoke hurriedly used his Hyper Jump to get closer to him, and had to run up the missing distance his ability could not cover.

  The old Beggar wrote ancient runes in the air with both his hands, and uttered words Smoke could not comprehend.

  A green, white, and blue casting circle appeared outside the village on top of each other. Next, Darius casted a rainbow of glittering colors and covered Nanahuatl inside a dome.

  "There, I've already finished half of what needs to be done," said Darius proudly. "Should I proceed?"

  "Hypothetically, the people inside the village, they could still cast range attacks outside this invisible barrier you created?" asked Smoke eagerly.

  Darius smiled as he understood where he was getting at. "Why, of course! People inside the village can safely attack."

  "Ha! Then, Burmistrz is practically dead!" exclaimed Smoke. "I'll hit him with that impetus item, teleport him here."

  Darius nodded with the same enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

  "Then, you finish him off with one of your special spells," said Smoke and gave Darius a thumbs up.

  Darius' mouth fell open. "Hm. Well, hm. You see, how do I say this?"

  "You've already gotten most of your powers back, right?" asked Smoke. "I mean you just casted that preconfigured casting circle and all."

  "Yeah about that, I still need a day to recover my mana to create that special impetus device," began Darius nervously. "And, when you use the impetus device, it would use my mana as its power source and drain me empty."

  A frustrated Smoke angrily scratched his head, almost pulling out his long white DarkElf hair.

  "Well, I could still attack with him a bow and arrow... but if you recall, I specialized in magical attacks, so I don't think my damage would amount to much."

  "Not a problem, not a problem." Smoke repeated himself. "I think it will still work. I'll just have all of the Vigilantez hide inside the village while I bring Burmistrz here."

  While Smoke was ranting on, Darius remembered an update he was suppose to tell him. "Oh, by the way, Caid said something interesting about the Magietrois. It looks like our brothers in the Verum de Mendicantibus have—" Darius stopped talking as Smoke was clearly not listening to him.

  Smoke's smile turned into a devilish grin. He faced Darius' preconfigured casting circle and imagined Burmistrz's face in pure agony.

  * * * * * *

  Smoke's heart was beating fast as he was gliding towards Coatl. He quickly disseminated the plan that he and Darius had conceived. The Vig
ilaintez's strategists had no problem with the general concept.

  However, Thyrsus pointed out that Burmistrz would likely be suspicious of the invisible attackers from Nanahuatl. Adder also added that the Duke could easily escape on the other side.

  So, Sierra suggested that only Sonstwelters were allowed outside the village walls, and they would surround the preconfigured casting circle, preventing Burmistrz from escaping.

  It took them a week to assemble all of the Vigilantez into Nanahuatl. This was Mamelon's first time in the village.