by John Nest
‘Its Level is still too low. What did he mean look from within?’ he wondered.
He had experimented with the Automaton Knight with all the possible equippable items in his backpack. The only promising results were the different elemental stones he placed into the circular cavity at the center of its chest. The Automaton Knight turned red when he placed an ember stone and brown when it was a clay stone, but that was it. It did not increase any of its attributes and reverted back to its gray form when he removed the elemental stone.
“Look from within, huh?” said Smoke out loud. “What do you think, Daga?”
“Don’t look at me? What do I know about Automaton Knights?” replied Daga.
“Good advice,” said Smoke, shaking his head.
“But you know what? We should ask Igniz,” said Daga. “I haven’t seen him for quite some time. You’re usually in your synergized state.”
“Igniz! Of course!” exclaimed Smoke, his eyes wide with excitement. He canceled his synergized state and smiled at his emerging dark ember sprite.
“Hey, Buddy!” greeted Smoke. “Listen, how do you feel merging with the Automaton Knight?”
Igniz looked at Smoke then back to the Automaton and back to Smoke again. The dark ember sprite shook his body as if shrugging. He then flew towards the cavity in the Automaton Knight’s chest and entered it.
Then, an unexpected notification window popped up.
+ Unlocked Symbiote Advancement: Incarnation!
The Automaton Knight’s gray body began to turn a darker shade of purple. Its bald head started growing long white hair, and a face started to form. It was that of Smoke’s own image. As soon as the purple skin covered its entire body, it started emitting Igniz’s dark flames.
“What the—” yelled an ecstatic Smoke. Right in front of him, was a fiery naked image of himself.
The Automaton Knight looked puzzled. It stared at both its hands, examining them with curiosity. Then, it spoke. “Master Smoke? What’s going on here?”
“Igniz?” asked Smoke, the whites of his eyes fully showing.
“Yes?” replied his incarnated symbiote.
* * * * * *
The day of the Ork Horde’s arrival was finally upon them. Smoke disguised as Faux, wearing his paradox mask and sacred clay staff, led the incarnated Igniz. His symbiote let out purple flames as Igniz equipped all of the Flame Knight’s items. Together, they went over to meet Meneur and Cynar.
“A dark Flame Knight. Let me guess, you must be Ilad,” said Cynar, extending his hand to Igniz. “Good of you to finally show yourself. I expect big things from you.”
Igniz shook Cynar’s hand but did not say a word.
“The strong silent type, huh?” said Cynar. “I like that.”
Cynar and Igniz got a long well. However, Meneur was not as welcoming as the OrkElf leader.
“Who are you?” she asked Igniz.
“This is Ilad,” replied Smoke. “He’s one of my best friends.”
“But how can that be?” Meneur asked Smoke. “Ilad is there—and you are there.”
“It just is,” answered Smoke.
“Strange, the two of you share a certain aura,” added Meneur. “But the Flame Knight registers as a Sonstwelter. Why?”
“Never mind that,” said Smoke. “Let’s focus on our positions. Igni—Ilad and I will stay on your right, correct? Cause I was thinking that with Ilad here, he can stay next to me too.”
“Fine,” replied Meneur. “You two stay over there,” she pointed to a place in the center of the huts. “Cynar, you’re already disguised as one of our Ork Priests, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” replied Cynar, his disgust clearly conveyed in his voice. “But Faux and Ilad aren’t yet!”
“Answer me in Orkish!” ordered Meneur.
“Lagir, lagir!” said Cynar in fluent Orkish.
“Smo—Faux, you and your friend should wear the priest’s robes now,” said Meneur.
“Karonir dayn,” replied Smoke in crude Orkish. He got out long brown robes which concealed them from head to foot.
“Good, now everyone get into position,” said Meneur. “They should arrive soon.”
Smoke, Igniz and all of the OrkElves and MaduHai Orks lined up in front of Meneur.
“Pamagir sair sagahum nair Tezcazin gaer magir,” chanted Meneur in Orkish.
Even though the sky was clear, a light drizzle fell upon Smoke and everyone else.
+ Received Tezcazin’s Blessings
+ 50% MP Regeneration
+ 50% HP Regeneration
+ Protection against Bleeding attacks
Note: All blessings will last for the next three hours
“Karoni lakatir na kamo,” said Meneur.
Everyone moved with urgency and purpose. In a matter of seconds, all the units were in place. With Meneur, Cynar, Igniz, and Smoke left out in the open.
A few minutes later, a group of ten UrukHai Orks arrived on their dirus wolves, which were almost twice the size of a regular mount. They rode fast, uprooting the grass in the valley. Behind them, were thousands of Orks belonging to the tribes of the MoriHai, OlegHai, and UrukHai.
These ten Ork riders broke away from the horde and rushed towards Meneur.
A gigantic Ork with sleek black hair dismounted and walked over to Meneur. Smoke did not recognize the Ork, but his eyes were drawn to the long executioner blade which was well over two-meters. Yet, it looked small as it was placed on the Ork’s back.
“Nindotar makitag valik, High Priestess Meneur,” he began in Orkish. “I’m Colonel Wertlosmorder, in case you might have forgotten me.” His right lower fang broken, which made his mouth twitch as he talked. “Where’s the rest of you?”
“The four of us are already more than enough to greet you, Wertlosmorder,” replied Meneur, turning her ears toward him. “But if you must know, the rest are in their huts preparing your lodgings,” she said, pointing to a few MaduHai Guards stationed outside some huts. “What about Snide and Dastard? I don’t sense their presence with you?”
“Oh, they decided to stay with the main body of the Horde and give the glorious honor of charging in advance to us. And to Supreme General Wertlosvati, of course,” explained Colonel Wertlosmorder. He then pointed to the statues of the former Kings. “I love the irony. The place where they made statues of themselves. A symbol of peace and prosperity between their kingdoms’ will be the birthplace of their demise.”
“Hyuk hyuk hyuk!” chuckled another UrukHai Ork, dismounting as well.
The large war hammer on the Ork’s back made Smoke identify him as Wertlosrauber, the Ork who saved Wertlosvati the last time they faced him.
“Looks like my friend is putting on his charms for you, Meneur,” he said to the blind Ork High Priestess. “But he’s right. You’re one evil genius for thinking about using this place.”
“Ahem!” unexpectedly coughed Smoke, surprised that Meneur was the one who picked Etonner Valley.
“Say, you MaduHai Orks have really grown shorter,” said one of the Ork’s in Wertlosvati’s entourage.
Without warning, a rush of water came up from beneath the UrukHai and covered him and his dirus wolf. The water quickly solidified and turned into a block of ice, freezing the discorteous Ork.
“So what if we’re small? Does anyone else have a problem with that?” hissed Meneur.
The life bar of the frozen Ork was rapidly decreasing until it finally fell to zero which made the block of ice shatter.
“No, no. Of course not!” replied Wertlosmorder, smiling at Meneur. “That idiot deserved it.”
“Good, now why don’t you and Wertlosvati join me in my tent,” offered Meneur. “I’ve got something important to tell you all.”
“General, why don’t we rest while waiting for the horde to arrive,” said Wertlosmorder.
“Don’t order me around!” yelled Wertlosvati, pointing his double-headed ax at Wertlosmorder. “I’ll dismount when I please.”
“General
, please. It will take a few more minutes for them to get here,” said Meneur.
Wertlosvati turned to face Meneur. “Why are you suddenly being nice to me?”
“Why?” said Meneur. “Because you’re the Supreme General of the Ork Horde.”
“No! That’s not it,” screamed Wertlosvati. “Check the grounds. I smell something fishy.”
Wertlosrauber and Wertlosmorder, along with the remaining Ork entourage began tearing up the huts.
“What the hell are you doing?” asked Meneur. “My men worked hard to put those up!”
The first three huts that they broke revealed a few MaduHai Guards and several long-robed individuals with them.
“Why are they cloaked?” Wertlosmorder asked Meneur. “I thought you only had a few Priestesses?”
“Oh, they’re not,” replied Meneur.
Then, a loud horn resonated in Etonner Valley. One of the mounted Ork entourage called out Wertlosvati. “General, the last of the Ork tribes have entered the valley—”
“Shut up, Captain Deutlich! I know what the horns mean,” replied Wertlosvati. “But, Meneur, tell me. Why do you have so many cloaked members? Are they still Acolytes? Is this the surprise that you wanted to tell me?”
“No,” replied Meneur, grinning and shaking her head. “They’re the OrkElves who will bring you down!”
A torrent of water erupted from underground and swallowed the remaining mounted entourage. In a blink of an eye, all of them were frozen solid.
However, Wertlosvati was able to leap off of his mount.
“Time to die!” yelled Cynar as he pulled off his cloak and charged for his bastard of a father.
“It’s a trap!” screamed Wertlosvati “Sound the retreat—” but was cut off as over sixteen paralysis darts were flying straight towards him.
CLINK CLINK CLINK CLINK
Wertlosrauber and Wertlosmorder jumped in between them and blocked all of the darts.
“Get out of here,” Wertlosmorder said Wertlosvati. “We’ll handle them. Just get to the horde.”
CRASH
The sound of the two mountains rumbling came from the valley’s entrance. The colossal effigies of the past kings crumbled to the ground. The Earth Elementalist stationed on top of the mountains loosened their hold, blocking the valley’s only passageway.
A storm of elemental spells fell from the sky, as the Magi units of the two kingdoms were stationed on the mountaintops. A loud thunderous sound came from the mountainside as the Knights from the Thanotl Kingdom charged down upon the unknowing Ork Horde.
“This is the end of the horde!” screamed Smoke. He tried capturing the two Ork Colonels with his earth-pillars but both of them dodged it with ease.
A massive war hammer came crashing down on Smoke’s head, as Wertlosrauber went after him.
However, it was blocked by Igniz’s flamberge. The incarnated symbiote held the fiery sword with both hands as he stood in front of Smoke.
Meanwhile, Wertlosmorder went after the Ork High Priestess.
Meneur released a torrent of water from underground, but Wertlosmorder’s executioner blade went through it before it solidified. The two-meter blade plunged deep into Meneur’s stomach. The water fell back to the ground as blood gushed out of her mouth.
Chapter Seven:
Reckoning Day
Dark flames covered the flamberge, which blocked the massive war hammer of the Ork Colonel. Its blaze fueled by the incarnated symbiote—Igniz.
Smoke, who stood behind his friend, was taken aback at the turn of events. All of their strategical planning were blown away by the sheer force of the Orks. Except for the collapsed statues, the destroyed ancient monuments kept the Ork Horde within Etonner Valley. Looking around, his eyes zoomed in on the executioner blade protruding out of Meneur’s back.
“Cover me,” Smoke said to Igniz.
He used his Hyper Jump ability and vanished. A split-second later, he reappeared in front of Wertlosmorder—the three-meter Ork, holding the handle of the executioner blade.
Concentrating his mana on the ground, he erupted two pointed earth-spikes from the ground and pushed Wertlosmorder backward. Meneur gasped in pain as the executioner blade was forcibly pulled out of her abdomen.
Smoke quickly created a spherical Manatl shield, securing both him and Meneur inside it.
“Here, drink this,” said Smoke, pulling out a jar of pompom juice and pouring out over Meneur’s mouth.
Meneur coughed out the pompom juice along with her blood. “It’s okay. I’m fine,” she said weakly.
Several waterballs floated up from the ground and splashed themselves on the deep wound in her stomach. Yet, the Ork High Priestess’ life bar remained the same and showed no signs of recovering.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Sparks came out of Wertlosmorder’s executioner blade as it struck the Manatl. Ever since using the sacred clay staff, Smoke was confident that his barrier had gotten stronger.
“Go, don’t worry about me,” said Meneur.
Ignoring the raving Ork outside his barrier, Smoke focused on the old High Priestess. He could not understand why Meneur, who cured him of Horrabelle’s curse, could not heal herself.
“No,” he replied. “Something’s wrong.”
The sacred clay staff on his left hand glowed as it continued to store the energy from Wertlosmorder’s attacks.
“Truth is, Ork Priestesses have potent healing powers. But we can’t heal ourselves,” confessed Meneur.
Smoke stared at the injured blind Priestess. He then pointed his right palm over her open wounds. Small balls of white light flowed out from his hands towards her lesions and slowly replenished her life bar.
Scanning the battleground, Smoke saw the sky lit up with dazzling lights as various elemental spells rained down from the mountains surrounding the valley.
However, the battle with the main body of the Horde was still some distance away from them. OrkElves rushed out of the huts as they were stabbing their spears into the block of ice were the Orks were frozen. All of them desperate to finish off the Ork entourage. The two MaduHai Priestesses named Sauf and Secours came out of hiding and supported them with their healing.
Smoke also spotted Cynar leading a large group of OrkElves on foot. They were chasing after Wertlosvati, who was running towards the sea of jade giants.
CLANG CLANG CLANG
The sound of a flamberge clashing against a war hammer drew Smoke’s attention. He watched from within the safety of his Manatl while restoring Meneur’s life bar.
* * * * * *
Igniz was awkwardly holding the Salamander’s Tongue with his right hand. He was backing away as he matched Wertlosrauber’s war hammer, blow against blow.
The Ork repeatedly struck down from overhead, beating Igniz to his knees. Yet, the incarnated symbiote persevered and defended with the flamberge. Sadly, his life bar was not as sturdy as his resolve. It now reflected 45% remaining.
Igniz knew that his training sessions with Smoke were not enough for him to master the flamberge, but he faced the Ork Colonel anyway. After all, it was second nature for him to defend his symbiotic partner.
In a defensive kneeling position, Igniz felt each blow of Wertlosrauber’s war hammer as it continued to pummel from above. But then it stopped, as a surprising blow came from below.
As the Ork’s war hammer was about to hit Igniz, he plunged his flamberge deep into the ground. The loud resonant sound of metal clashing echoed. Igniz was pushed back, his sword plowed through the earth.
“Fatyonir tikar!” screamed the Ork, blindly charging at Igniz.
With his sword still stuck in the ground, Igniz’s left palm burst into a dark blaze. He pointed it at Wertlosrauber and unleashed a continuous stream of flames.
The Ork Colonel tried blocking with his war hammer but it was useless. The Ork’s jade skin turned black, charred as it came in contact with the dark flames.
When Igniz finished his attack, the Ork was left
with several open wounds where blood was visible. Wertlosrauber’s life bar reflected 50% and was inflicted with the burned status.
For the first time in his incarnated flesh, Igniz grinned. He thought he had gotten the upper hand against the Ork Colonel. But then he got an ominous feeling. Concerned, he turned to face Smoke’s direction. He was confused to find that the Manatl barrier had been canceled and Smoke pointing his palms at him.
Then, Igniz felt the ground he stood on shake. An earth-spike came from behind him. He turned around and found the tip of the executioner blade parried by Smoke’s earth-spike.
However, the second Ork Colonel’s sword still grazed his shoulder, making Igniz drop his flamberge on the ground. At the same time, Wertlosrauber’s war hammer painfully made contact with Igniz’s left arm. All Igniz could do was block it with his left arm, forcing him down.
Falling, Igniz heard Smoke scream his heart out. Then, he saw the war hammer and executioner blade directly above him. The two Ork Colonels were about to deliver their finishing blow.
Convincing himself that this was not his time to die, Igniz reached for the handle of the Salamander’s Tongue and used the sword’s ultimate ability—Incinerator.
CRACKLE
A dark blaze erupted without warning. Igniz’s purple flames merged with the scattered fiery blades of the flamberge. Its minuscule shafts created a massive sphere of burning steel, which engulfed Igniz and the two Ork Colonels.
Both Wertlosmorder and Wertlosrauber were forced to take a defensive stance. Yet, their efforts were all in vain. Blood gushed out of their green skins as each shaft of the Salamander’s Tongue pierced in and out of them.
Igniz remembered how Smoke stayed in its epicenter when he used this ability. It was so that he would not receive an own damage penalty from the broken off shafts.