by Elian Tars
But the horses were a different story altogether. I could already learn the skills that allowed me to use the horse as a tool rather than an assistant. They also gained XP differently. By evening, I had noticed that the level of our leader’s horse had changed. We hadn’t fought, we just rode, so the conclusion was obvious. But Vella didn’t get XP just for riding and carrying me. Hmmm… Carrying… Yes, I rode her. That seemed to be possible only because of the affection we had for each other. Figuratively, if a parent carried a child in their hands, they didn’t become their “mount”. We had a similar situation — one of us was just more suitable for speedy travel than the other.
Without slowing down we moved further and further into the territory of Decay. As it was expected, nobody attacked us. Sometimes, though, we saw the silhouettes of wolves and huge spiders hiding behind the trees. The monsters watched us cautiously, but didn’t attack.
It was more of a stroll than a journey. The environment was, of course, not to everyone’s taste, but there was no more danger in it than in a guarded park in broad daylight. It was a strange feeling. I looked at the dead trees and rotted grass and remembered how hard Vella and I had to fight in a similar place. And I felt the cognitive dissonance at once. No danger threatened our group for now, right?
Sometimes I thought that with my unknown powers came a curse to materialize my thoughts. Only negative thoughts, of course; otherwise, I would have already returned home and lived like a king, coming back into the game from time to time in the body of a level 200 character. But now…
Arthur Suddenly pulled the reins, stopping his horse, and raised his arm. The group immediately grew weary, understanding the leader’s order. Everybody took out their weapons and looked around.
“Who’s there? People?” Berg asked briskly. Noticing something just a couple of seconds later, he muttered. “No way…”
Chapter 25
A Glitch
“Don’t dismount!” Arthur shouted. “There are only two of them!”
Two people? What level were they?
Looking for the unknown enemies, I turned my head around. The Iron Faced? Or somebody else?
A moment later, I froze. I knew the enemy very well. But what the hell was going on?
Two Old Bears Changed by Decay roared loudly, advancing to our group from both sides. They moved in synchrony, as if they had been rehearsing this the entire year. I had an impression that the bears were an equal distance away from Arthur’s horse and would plunge their claws in its body from both sides at the same moment. It would happen in five seconds!
Arrows whistled through the air — the ranger was the first one to attack the enemy. HP of the bear to the right of us started lowering. I took out the crossbow from my inventory and noticed Dina who was raising her staff that looked like two twining iron vines with a crystal ball on top. A wisp of lilac sand, shining like metal, stretched toward the bear’s nose and filled its nostrils. The decayed animal stumbled, slowed down and tottered to us, as if it was under anesthesia.
My shots didn’t deal much damage because I still hadn’t swapped my Simple Hunter’s Crossbow to something better. But, thanks to upgraded agility and the enemy’s low level, I was able to deal critical damage twice. At such moments, the bolts pierced through the bear’s skin, releasing acid-green sprays, and disappeared in its decayed body. But it was nothing compared Dina’s spells.
From time to time the girl would raise her staff, casting lilac sand into the enemy. The effect was impressive — breathing in the magic dust, the creature of Decay, still dazzled and slow, would rear onto its hind legs and thrust its front claws into its head. In the next, similar attack the bear banged its head against the ground full force. Third time it had almost torn off its left paw with its massive jaw. There were different demonstrations of its madness, but there was one obvious reason for them.
It was a good to see what a powerful sorceress was capable of. I could assume that she was a “Follower of Mavia”, the Goddess of Blood magic. Though, if what the beggar had said was true, she most likely had the same Patron as the mayor and most of his allies — Rugus, the God of Control. In any case, that kind of magic proved that the girl was just pretending to be cute and nice. Maybe I was quick to jump to conclusions, for I myself was a wizard of Darkness that spared lives. A gloomy character on the outside, but a good-natured fellow inside.
Whoever Dina really was, together we defeated the left bear easily. The decayed wasn’t even able to get to the sorceress’s horse, falling unconscious with one HP left. Spurring her horse, the girl reached the bear and jerked the reins. The horse neighed, getting on its hind legs and then crashed the enemy’s skull.
A couple of second before that, Arthur had finished his enemy. I watched him fight with the corner of my eye and noticed that his sword shone with golden light during one of ’his attacks. Of all the Gods I had read about in the Encyclopedia, Einar, the God of Military Virtue, best suited our captain.
But Berg and Lade, like me, didn’t use any skills in combat. In fact, the monk was sitting aside and leisurely watching the battle unfold. He came up to the leader once the enemies had been defeated.
“And what was that, Arthur?” he asked in his usual mocking manner.
“Had we been fighting humans, I would say it was a warning…” the captain answered in a dry voice.
“Why did these little creatures attack us despite the Crystals?” the monk’s voice was cold, as if he ’hadn’t been sneering a second ago.
“Why would I know?” the leader said through his teeth.
The strain on Lade’s face changed into a smile again.
“But we won’t get scared and we will continue our journey, right, Arthur? The Crystals ’hadn’t lost their effect; otherwise we would have already started losing HP just being in these disgusting lands.”
“We have a task. And we must fulfill it,” the leader answered and turned his horse around to face all of us. He frowned a little, glancing at drooping Dina. I tried to act as usual and my deep hood helped me hide my emotions. Berg, just like me, looked like a still, equestrian statue. “I asked you not to be afraid, and I repeat my plea,” the captain said loudly. “Even if we get attacked by the enemy, we’ll handle it! The effect of Decay doesn’t work on us. I repeat again, don’t leave your saddles! Dina and I can deal with the enemies. Is everything clear?”
We affirmed in an incoherent chorus, and in a few seconds resumed our journey moving, if I got the direction right, north-west.
The situation didn’t seem so optimistic anymore, and I could feel the tension rising in our group. But nobody attacked us and we relaxed involuntarily. The puzzled look, however, ’hadn’t left Dina’s face. The girl stayed in character and, unlike the other three members, didn’t try to hide her astonishment. She turned to me a couple of times and I could read the silent question on her pretty face: “What’s going on?” or “How come?” Yeah, her previously unshakable faith in Glozeysk Crystals was slowly falling apart at the seams. It was as if a rug had been pulled from under her feet.
Looking at her, I wanted to clutch my head. My brain was about to burst from all contradicting thoughts and questions. There were sly dogs all around me… I couldn’t trust them… Dina was acting nice just to win me over… But why was she so surprised now? Was she still acting? And what about the others? Was everything going as it should? Or were they just pretending, too?
Damn! All the mind games were driving me crazy. I kept telling myself how good it would be to be back in the real world, where there were less deadly dangers and potential treacheries. Yes, I had problems there, too, but I didn’t have to question every conversation, trying to understand my partner’s true motives and struggling to choose the right words and excuses so as not to spill one secret or another. On the other hand, I didn’t mingle in such societies, where every dialogue was like a dance on a mine field. Nor did I really care about what a cashier in a supermarket was thinking about me while’ was doing my shoppin
g.
Spurring my horse, I rode closer to Dina. Yes, I was hiding. Yes, any word I said could be used against me, but if I didn’t ask questions at all, I wouldn’t broaden my horizons.
“Why does the captain insist on staying in our saddles?” I asked in a low voice. The girl flinched and, turning around, looked at me in surprise. But then she smiled almost immediately.
“Oh, yeah, you don’t know much about horses. That’s why you probably don’t know that you can only use your skills if you have Riding level 10. Even with the harness and its bonuses, only the captain and I can boast having it,” she said amiably.
I remembered trying to cast Tranquility of Darkness while on Vella’s back. Nothing had happened. I assumed that something like that had been the case.
“Until there are only weak enemies around,” the sorceress continued, “we don’t have to get serious. We can save time fighting on horseback, too, because if you leave the horse, it ’will run away. It’ll come to our whistle, of course, but you understand… We ’can’t afford to waste time. Crystals and all…”
“I got it. Thank you,” I smiled back at her.
“No talking!” the captain shouted, and immediately got an answer from the back of the group.
“You’re so mean, Arthur!”
Our leader noticed the incoming danger even earlier this time around. After twenty minutes of safe ride he suddenly stopped and shouted:
“Enemy’s close! Do not dismount!”
Six bears rushed at us from behind the trees.
“Hmm, they are like chess pieces on a chess,” Lade muttered thoughtfully, while the others were preparing to attack the enemies.
Making holes in the decayed skin of one of the creatures slowed by Dina, I internally agreed with the monk. Not only did they attack us as synchronously as before, but they also stood in a line at equal intervals from each other before the fight. As if somebody had carefully placed them in a line on a chessboard. The harmony had been ruined, of course, but that didn’t change the point.
We fought in couples again. Three bears that Dina and I got stuck with, attacked the girl, completely and utterly ignoring my humble shots. The difference in levels and skills was overwhelming. There was even no need for me to help her — the sorceress could easily defeat them herself, slowing the beasts down and putting distance between them when she was within reach of the bears’ blows.
But even using that tactics, the girl’s horse hit a couple of times. The leader’s horse got hurt even more; so, after smashing the skull of the last bear, the captain turned to the monk and ordered:
“Lade, heal the horses.”
“You got it, Arthur,” the lad saluted, dismounted and gave me his horse’s reins.
The monk stood motionless in front of Dina’s horse. He inhaled deeply and his hands glowed with a cold blue light. Lade put his hands on the horse’s chest; the mount neighed lightly and shook its mane. Its HP bar was immediately filled to the maximum.
“Thank you, Lade,” said the sorceress. He just chuckled and stopped near the captain’s horse. The girl looked up at the leader. “Again, what was that, Arthur? Is there a problem with the Crystals?”
I shifted my gaze to our commander who frowned and scratched his beard.
“There may be,” we heard the ranger’s dry, snippy voice behind us. “But I wouldn’t be so sure to say that it was the Crystals that had failed. The decayed were behaving rather strange. Have you noticed how they attacked us in a straight line?”
“Yes…” the sorceress answered lowering her gaze. “So what it is it? Has something happened to the territory of Decay itself?”
“Or to the beasts,” I said aloud following my train of thought. Four pairs of eyes looked attentively in my direction.
“Do you know something, lad?” the monk asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously once he was done with the captain’s horse and took his horse’s reins horse from me.
I shook my head.
“Just a wild guess.”
“Let’s hear it,” the captain demanded.
Pulling myself together I made a slightly haughty face.
“What do you know about the origin of Decay?”
“It’s not a good time to talk about science, lad,” Lade snapped, mounting his horse. “The Crystals won’t protect us from the effect of Decay forever,” he looked inquiringly at Arthur.
“A minute of delay won’t change much,” the captain quickly said. Then, turning to me, he added: “We don’t know more than others. The Decay was created by the spirits that wanted to destroy every living thing in this world. But the Gods were able to slow down its growth. Though, the Decay began to spread faster than before as of late. Now, tell us your assumptions. But do it quickly, Bale. You don’t want the Crystal to stop working in the middle of the decayed lands, right?”
Satisfied with new information about this world, as scarce as it was, I answered hastily:
“Okay. It’s just that the bear’s organized interaction today reminded me of ants. And ants, as you know, have a hive mind. Maybe that’s the case here, too?” I asked, thinking to what degree entomology had been developed in this dark world. Did the locals know anything about it? Did I put myself at risk, saying too much?
“That’s quite possible,” Arthur nodded, wrinkling his brows. Okay, they had heard about the “hive mind” concept.
“Why have we never faced something like this before?” Dina asked.
“Maybe we are in some special part of the decayed lands now?” Berg asked quietly. “What are we looking for, Arthur?”
“Something very valuable and important,” the captain answered calmly. “But before anyone makes any assumptions, think about this,” he looked at us with a serious look. “The goal of our journey is a something that was hidden by a man who was able to get deep into the territory of Decay and come back. He was alone. There are five of us. He made it and we’ll be able to do it, too. Now, enough talking, let’s go!” Arthur commanded and, turning his horse, rushed forward.
There was nothing left for us to do but follow our leader who sacrificed our time to listen to me, but then cut the conversation short when we reached a sensitive topic. Our team seemed to be divided. There were other persons aside from me that stood out. I liked that. Though, I hoped that our disunity wouldn’t cause extra problems. Everything was already straying away from the plan...
Chapter 26
The Warrior
Half an hour later we got attacked again. This time there were six Formidable Bears Changed by Decay accompanied by the same amount of Colossal Spiders Changed by Decay. Their levels ranged from 32 to 41. Both types of creatures were much bigger than their lower level brethren and looked even more disgusting — they had more viscous acid-green slush, bigger teeth and hideous festering open wounds.
In order to stand against this mighty group we had to dismount, doubling our team power — nothing prevented any of us from using our special skills.
Except me, of course. I was content with the pitchfork and Power Strike, choosing enemies that had already been engaged in the fight and attacking them from the side. I didn’t risk rushing to the front and tried to stay behind Lade. In the end, I lived through the fight without losing a single HP. The monk didn’t have to heal me, and I was able to keep a secret my inability to be cured by usual healing techniques.
“Arthur,” the ranger spoke to the leader after the fight. “We may have defeated them, but we should understand that we may not be so lucky next time.”
“So what?” the captain raised his brows.
“If we get attacked by a stronger group,” the archer answered slowly, withstanding the leader’s heavy look, “I would advise you to retreat and try to take find a way around them.”
“And what if that doesn’t work? What then? We’ll run away?” the commander frowned.
“Retreat,” the ranger corrected him. “We’ll go back to Ekheim and give a report. I wouldn’t like to die without even knowing wh
at for. The information we now have could drastically change what we know about Decay. If Glozeysk Crystals don’t protect from the local decayed creatures, people must know about it.”
Trying to hide my surprise, I looked at Berg who had finally revealed his other side. He was talking a lot for someone who had until this moment been a very gloomy and silent guy. Though, I had to admit that he had a point. It seemed that it was true when they said that looks can be deceiving.
Looking into his companion’s eyes, the captain smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Berg,” he said, “I agree with you. We have to be more careful and return to Ekheim. And we have to return victorious, of course. Lade, are you done?” he asked the healer.
“Final touches,” the smiling monk answered, restoring Dina’s horse’s HP. “Done!”
“Let’s move!” the captain commanded, getting into the saddle. “We’ll follow the same route. If we see a big crowd of enemies, we’ll try to go round them.”
Honestly speaking, I doubted that the captain would listen to the ranger’s advice. He was clearly very eager to get to our destination. And he seemed to be thinking that the fastest, and safest, way to do so was to go straight to it. I was inclined to partially agree with him — we didn’t know how much time it would take to retreat and put a distance between us and the creatures, as had Berg suggested. And to make a detour after that… There was no guarantee that we wouldn’t meet another similar group. Or worse — during the retreat we could bump into more creatures and there could be twice as much decayed enemies against us.