by Elian Tars
Ten minutes later, the captain allowed uncorking the second phial and drinking a third of it. After taking the medicine, Dina was able to move by herself, unlike Berg whose Energy hadn’t restored and for which nobody had a potion for.
“Thank you, thank you, Bale!” the girl repeated time and again, looking at me with devotion in her eyes.
“You’re welcome,” I couldn’t hide my smile. Even if she had been acting before, I really saved her life this time. I also wanted to believe that the sorceress’s gratitude was sincere.
Twenty minutes later she fell again, unable to bear the pain. And again I had to carry her. The scene kept repeating itself; she would restore her HP with the potion, run on her own for some time and then fall again…
Soon after the guys had drunk their second phial, the effect of Decay got weaker. The closer we were to the border, the weaker the debuffs were.
The three of them sighed with relief. Now the immunity that I had given them lasted a bit longer and the physical impact of the effect of Decay had a bit of a delay.
“Thank you for everything,” Dina, not for the first time today. “I feel better. I won’t fall again!” she said firmly. And, as it turned out later, she didn’t lie.
“That’s the spirit,” Lade chuckled, hearing the sorceress’s words. “And somebody is still acting like a sack of potatoes,” he looked at Berg, who was still unconscious.
We didn’t answer, but continued running.
Forty minutes later, Arthur ordered them to uncork the last phial. The leader took a gulp himself and poured some into the ranger’s mouth.
We ran and ran. Tranquility of Darkness restored energy, so I wasn’t physically tired. It was odd. Nobody attacked us, but my brain was becoming a mess from all these monotonous actions.
After half an hour, the pressing effect of Decay got weaker again, and we crossed the invisible border.
“Thank you, Arthur…” Berg uttered in a hoarse voice. “Put me on the ground… I’ll take it from here.”
The group stopped and looked suspiciously at the archer.
“Are you sure?” the captain asked, fulfilling his request.
“Yes, I had a rest while you were carrying me. The pain’s gone. It didn’t use much of my energy. I’ll be able to run on my own for a while, that’s for sure. Thank you,” he humbly bowed his head.
The leader smiled and slapped his friend’s shoulder.
“Let’s go then! Enough of idle chatter!”
We continued our tiresome run. It had gotten dark a long time ago and my temporary allies took out torches from their inventories, given to us before the journey by the garrison’s warehouse commander. I followed their example as to not raise any more suspicion. To say that the territory of Decay was pitch-black after the sunset wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The haze of acid vapors and the boughs of the dead trees let almost no star or moon light through.
I suddenly realized that my HP wasn’t fluctuating around 100% but was firmly settled on the maximum mark. A glimmer of hope lit up in my chest — we were in the “living part” of the forest! But it got extinguished as soon as I glanced at the black grass, dead trees and geysers of acid-green slush.
“Oh! It got better!” Lade said cheerfully. “We’ll be out soon!”
It was clear that we got to another part of the territory of Decay; the effect of Decay got weaker again and the upgraded Dark Side of the World let me ignore it at all. Not bad. It was a pity though that I would soon lose all of my levels and the upgraded skills along with them and go back to being a level 27 weakling.
“How much longer till the effect of the Minor Boosting Potion wears off?” I asked the system.
42:21…
42:20…
42:19…
We definitely had to hurry up!
I picked up the speed and rushed forward, setting an example for others. The monotonous running made me tired, though not in a physical way. Everyone, except Berg, must have had a full energy; and although the guys tried to keep their spirits up, they looked dead-tired.
I ran ahead, so I was the first to notice the enemy. I owned that to Eyes in the Dark rather than the torch’s light.
“Hold it! Get ready for a fight!” I shouted.
The warriors reacted immediately, materializing their weapons. We heard rustling, crackling of twigs and squelching sounds of numerous paws trampling the decayed grass.
“Holy crap…” Lade muttered. “How many of them are there?”
I realized at once why we hadn’t been attacked yet. Our Crystals had worked at the beginning and I remembered seeing a lot of creatures running away in different directions...
And now they have all gathered here. And the unknown puppeteer, the Mother of the Decayed, whose Will had captured us in the illusions, decided not to divide her troops, but gather them all in one place.
Right here, non the less! Not far from the saving border of the “living” world!
Chapter 30
The Reward
Of all the battles I had fought in this dark world so far, this one was the most epic one. Neither the get-away from Trikuni, nor the fight with the Warrior of Decay could come near it. There were far too many enemies. And thanks to the wondrous potion, I felt much stronger.
Level 45 and 50 monsters stood in the first lines. Dina put under control the most formidable enemies and sent them at the weaker ones. The girl could control only one enemy at a time and it quickly lost its HP, but she would immediately get hold of another decayed.
Arthur would spread his arms and roar threateningly from time to time, making the monsters focus on him. There was a part in the Encyclopedia dedicated to the Einar, the God of Military Virtue, which told that part of his strength was based on rage which affected the same rage in the enemy’s soul. In other words, it appealed to the primal urges, clouded the mind and forced the enemy to attack the strongest opponent. It was funny that the decayed had such instincts.
Lade stood close to our captain, constantly recovering his HP. Thanks to my skills, the monk and the sorceress got an upper hand and didn’t have to think much, as they did before, about their MP.
But there were too many enemies… Their invisible commander soon ordered them to surround us. We badly needed someone to be a second tank. —Dina had to send the controlled enemies to the rear, but they couldn’t fight all of their former fellow-soldiers, some would always get through…
Then it was my turn to get into close combat. Though, at first, I was content with being a caster. The thing was that my Tranquility of Darkness had finally upgraded enough to cast them against the creatures of Decay. I only wished that the decayed were considered to be loyal to Darkness — that would be awesome… I also wished that Horror would affect them in an ordinary way… But still, there was some use of my skill. Though the spell didn’t “calm down” the enemies and didn’t make them run away in horror, it slowed down them significantly. The monsters hit by the black smoke looked like they were drunk — they tottered, sometimes fell, but managed to stand up. It was quite a good debuff.
The enemy made us thin out our forces — Arthur was left without my support; Dina had to focus on the enemy, and the monk now had to heal the sorceress and the archer, too. Every now and then, the monsters would get close to our ranged fighters, engaging them in close combat.
Lade wanted to heal me, too, so I had to reveal another little secret of mine. It would be too much to lose HP because of a temporary ally.
“We can’t fight them off!” Dina cried, getting control of a Formidable Bear Changed by Decay, which was about to sweep a blow at her, “We should make an escape route for Bale!”
“That’s right!” it was unexpected to hear something like that from Berg. “He would take the treasure to Ekheim and tell them about what happened!”
“But we can’t let him go alone!” Lade added, paralyzing a Colossal Spider. “We can’t let him go without cover!”
I noticed that Arthur threw a glanc
e at the monk. They looked into each other’s eyes for no more than a second.
“Berg! Dina!” the captain shouted, hitting the muzzle of the Seasoned Black Wolf with his shield, “Let’s do our duty to our city! And let’s repay Bale for not letting us die there, drooling and under the influence of illusions! Lade! You’re going with Bale! Bale,” he stared at me with a piercing glance and then smiled. “Thank you for everything. Fulfill the order and bring the artifact to Godwin Elliot. Now go!”
I almost swore, unhappy that they decided to die after I had spent so much time keeping them alive. Had I known that something like would have happened I would have used Elusive Darkness and tried to escape the decayed lands long ago.
I opened my mouth to object, but felt my thoughts swirl in quite a different direction:
Not a bad idea… He’s right…Yeah, we need to get out and give the “Quarter of Zurtarn” to the mayor… I helped them for a reason… I wouldn’t have been able to run away without them…
I stuttered for a moment, trying to handle the mess in my head. However, even in this condition, I couldn’t help noticing the captain’s and the monk’s eyes examining me.
“TA-TA! TA-TA!!!” loud humming sounds brought me back to reality.
Godwin Elliot used the “Horn of Righteousness”.
All of your stats have been restored.
The creatures of Decay stopped attacking us, turned around and dashed in the direction of the border. To where we had come from. To where the Horn had been heard a second earlier.
“The mayor’s here!” Berg was the first to take in the situation. “Let’s help him! Let’s attack them from behind!”
“That’s right! Into the breach!” Arthur roared and rushed after the monsters.
The beasts got about a hundred yards away from us when then they abruptly slowed down and continued to waddle toward their goal. Nobody had doubts about what had happened to them. The lilac sand, so familiar to us, was floating around the group of monsters. The magic was similar to Dina’s. But much more powerful.
When we got close to them, we were able to see through the slowly moving bodies of the creatures what was happening on the front lines. Three captains of similar level and strength as Arthur were riding in front of the monsters and slashing them with swinging blows. Godwin and his secretary Anda were also in saddles — they had stopped a little further away and were casting the lilac sand. Together, they were able to stop the mobs and control the three strongest monsters that were now slashing their kinsmen.
As per agreement, we attacked from the rear and soon ended the battle.
Level up.
Current level: 54
I dismissed the system message, smirking. I liked being above level 50. I had no desire to go back to being level 27 again. And that’s what would happen in a few minutes. I felt like I was sentenced to amputation and that they would cut my hand off in a few moments. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to prevent that from happening.
Spurring his horse the mayor rode to us.
“Thank Great Rugus you’re all alive,” he said, dismounting his horse. He shook hands with Arthur, Lade, Berg, hugged Dina and stopped in front of me with a scrutinizing look. He chuckled with satisfaction and shook my hand as well. Then he turned to the captain again. “We’ve been waiting for you at the rendezvous point, but you were running late. We waited for two more hours and then rode along the most probable route. Seems like we got here just in time,” he told us and then fell silent. A moment later he asked: “Have you found the artifact?” The captain nodded silently, and the mayor stretched out his hand.
“Bale has it,” Arthur spoke in an even tone.
The mayor turned around and looked at me with astonishment. Godwin definitely didn’t expect the newcomer on probation to be trusted with keeping such valuable treasure.
“Bale, give Mr. Elliot what you’ve found in the hole under the oak tree,” Arthur said.
My usual doubts were immediately replaced by a determined thought: Give the “Quarter of Zurtarn” to the mayor. I was about to materialize the item when I realized that that wasn’t my thought. It was a forced upon me!
It felt like my head had been gripped in an invisible vice. Groaning from pain, I clutched my head.
Give the artifact… Give the artifact…
Don’t give it away! Fight! Make your own decisions!
“What’s wrong with him?” Everything around seemed to make crackling noises, as if I was near an electrical transformer. I could barely hear Dina’s worried voice through all that crackle.
“Is he fighting my control?” Elliot muttered in a surprised voice.
“When did you…?” she began to say but then stopped short. “The potion…”
The mayor didn’t answer her. Still clutching my temples, I opened my eyes with some difficulty. I saw that Godwin in front of me.
“Give me the artifact. Now,” he said staring at me.
Sorry… I failed… my inner voice sighed sadly. For a moment I thought that it didn’t belong to me either.
“Take it!” I materialized the Quarter of Zurtarn. Elliot thievishly snatched the treasure and it disappeared into his inventory.
“Now tell me, who is your Patron? I’m really curious.”
Being controlled was an odd experience, to say the least. On one hand, you went with your decision. But on the other hand, somewhere at the back of your mind you understood that it wasn’t really you who had “decided”. But you had no strength to fight “your” decision. Because “your” decision was the right one.”
I opened my mouth…
Suddenly, the lilac sand got into my nostrils. I felt another person’s magic swirl in my brain, sweeping all the alien thoughts like a broom. I coughed out the sand as if it were phlegm; it disappeared without even reaching the decayed grass.
My head cleared at once. I looked at the mayor who was looking angrily somewhere behind me. I turned around and saw Dina nervously shifting her feet. Our eyes met. The sorceress smiled shyly, raised her head and firmly said:
“Mr. Elliot, Bale saved our lives. And what is more important, he fulfilled your task. Should we break the law of our beloved Ekheim and try to learn by force the information he has a right to keep secret? He’s not a criminal to torture him. And he’s not an enemy, that’s for sure!”
I stood there, blinking in surprise and admiring the girl, who was proudly sticking out her chest. It was a good speech! Before, she had said that she felt uncomfortable near the mayor, and that she was afraid to open her mouth in his presence. Well, she was definitely lying. But now she seemed to be helping me sincerely.
“I see you got braver,” the mayor chuckled. “But let me decide by myself who is an enemy of the city and who is not. And don’t be so proud that you were able to break my control. One can put only a small part of their power into an item or a potion. Besides, I had to loosen my control so that Arthur would be able to maneuver and make his own decisions.”
As far as I understood it, he had enchanted the Minor Boosting Potion. It had been labeled as “modified” for a reason… As a result, I got not only the main buff that leveled me up, but also the additional one that was hidden and that made me Arthur’s and Godwin’s puppet. At least he didn’t take advantage of his new abilities and concentrated on keeping his group alive and fulfilling the main mission, and not on getting new information out of my head. One could consider that to be the silver lining.
I had Dina to thank for taking the slave collar off of me. Maybe I had been wrong about her all along? Maybe she didn’t have a hidden agenda after all?
“Besides, now I can personally control him,” the mayor said dryly and, raising his arm in front of him, looked me in the eyes. “Sorry, Bale. You have too many secrets. If my concerns prove to be wrong, I will be ready to pay you for the inconveniences. “
The lilac sand started clumping on his fingertips. I remembered how the creatures of Decay smashed their skulls and gauged their eyes ou
t with their claws while they were under Dina’s control. The same fate was awaiting me! I didn’t want to be a puppet! I had to get out of there! The hell with the promised reward, my life and freedom were more important!
I didn’t even begin casting the Elusive Darkness when I noticed the horror in the mayor’s eyes. Lowering his arm, his pale lips almost soundlessly muttered:
“As you say, Great Rugus.”
I looked around in amazement. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone was staring at us. Nobody heard the mayor except me.
I looked at Elliot again. Smugness had returned to his face.
“Though, you know, Dina’s right.” he calmly said. “You’re not our enemy, Bale. I’m sorry that we had to control you via a potion. I was afraid that you would stab me in the back. But you didn’t. Thank you. I won’t try to control you by force anymore. You proved worthy of being my ally. And you did fulfill my task, so I have to reward you.”
I started analyzing everything that had happened. First of all, his controlling spell. Though it had been weakened, Godwin was still sure that I would obey. I wasn’t supposed to notice that I was being controlled. But I did. The question was: why? He definitely got that skill from his God. My Dark Side of the World provided no resistance against something like that. Did that mean that I had some other abilities? So, my future task was to figure out what exactly helped me fight against being controlled. High level “Followers of Rugus” had really frightening abilities! But I refused to believe that they couldn’t be fought against; otherwise, they would have conquered the whole world a long time ago.
Why did Godwin change his mind about rummaging through my mind? His words… Was it the God of Control himself who had been watching his vassal and ordered him not to touch me? What was the reason for it? Did the deity not want his loyal “Follower” to hear about the Old Man? Or were there just too many ears present?
“I’m glad,” I answered calmly.
Godwin nodded and materialized a corked phial filled with silver liquid.