The small outpost had a wooden wall that covered the area. Several wooden towers that were a level higher than the height of the walls overlooked the entire outpost.

“Four archers and three mages…” Kyros counted the people standing on the tower. Two archer towers had two archers each. The mage tower at the center had three mages guarding the spot.

With Kyros’s dark powers, the one that was the greatest threat among all were the mages who could use various magics to detect him.

Calaminus was confused at Kyros’s declaration.

“Don’t you have that ability? Splash? Or soul tap?”

“It’s not something that will hurt or kill that man!”

“Really? You think that the ability to touch, tap and make noise within thirty meters of where I am whilst being invisible isn’t useful?”

Calaminus was silent for a moment. And then it dawned on him.

“You’re right! Man. I named it Splash because I found that ability as a cool reference to a useless fish. But now that you mentioned it… it should be helpful.”

“Alrighty. Now for my part.” Kyros smiled.

Because of the new items Kyros acquired, he decided to adjust the items he had marked in his inventory. He currently can mark eleven items that he could store and retrieve with ease. Not knowing what the outside world would have, Kyros decided to unmark the Cloak of Darkness, the Dark Armguards, and the Sword of Ten Thousand Grudges as he equipped himself with these weapons and armor.

The new items that he had marked for easy storage and retrieval were the Temple Torch, the Blood Blade, Vermilion Earth Sword, the Earth Core, and the Entropy Core, a bow, and two quivers of arrows.

As expected, the Temple allowed the quiver of arrows to be stored along with all arrows as it was marked as a ‘single’ object despite consisting of many objects.

Kyros retrieved the bow and arrows he stored.

“Alright, Calaminus. I’m going to move closer. You have to move towards the tower and tap the area on the east side of the tower. Make it look like something is attacking them. The entire tower has some form of light force field. The mage must have erected that force field just now as they are anticipating an attack.”

“Hehehe.”

“What are you laughing at?”

“You said erect.”

“…” 

“Please continue.”

“In any case… The force field uses Light energy. Right now, it’s spread out to cover the four sides of the mage tower. With their current position, they seemed to be expecting something from the west. However, if you go to the east side and make continuous splashes, it will create a continuous ripple of light as the force field will detect being hit by something. What would the mage do with an unexplained continuous tapping?”

“If I do continuous splashes, the mages will fortify the energy on the east side, fearing a stronger attack.”

“Right. That’s enough to weaken the strength on the other side. The current strength of those force fields isn’t enough for my bow and arrow to break. When they fortify that side, that’s when I attack.”

“Genius!”

“You still have to keep on using splash on the east side even after I kill those men. With continuous splashes happening on the east side of the mage tower, what will the other soldiers think?”

“That there is an attack is on the east side and put their attention guarding that place. That gives you the chance to slip in on the west side…”

“See? Now you get why my INT stat is higher than yours? While I’m thinking of ways to use what you considered to be a useless skill, you make childish remarks and laugh at me saying the word erect.”

“Look, with someone as smart and capable as you, I feel like I joined the thesis group with the class genius who can do all the stuff. If I try to make any contribution, I’d end up making a mess. I don’t know how Fate works. So instead of being the guy trying to contribute, I’ll be the guy who’s in the background making quirky comments to add comic relief to the tedious work.”

“Fair enough.” Kyros sighed.

“Alright, my thesis companion! It’s time for you actually to do something. I’ll move closer, and you start taping.”

“Quick question. You don’t have any qualms at killing that mage?”

“No. Why?”

“Really? No qualms whatsoever? I mean… you gotta talk about the moral dilemma here. You’re killing innocent people.”

“I thought you saw my memories! I’m already generous. But you saw how my family was driven out and betrayed. Most of the human kingdoms in the Low Lands became supporters of the Eldrich race. While these foot soldiers may not be wicked, they are still part of a big kingdom that eventually becomes one. Wouldn’t killing them be good?”

“How so?”

“It’s something that I learned from Fate. I think Fate can contribute to the life of a person and determine where this person goes when he or she dies.”

“It can?”

“You told me that most souls that die either to the high heavens and become part of the cosmic light that shines or provides light like the sun or down to the Nether region. They either enjoy a blessed, pure life as the sun or fall into constant anguish in the nether region. You said that the soul’s afterlife depends on the kind of life that person lived, right? If their souls are full of ‘Light’ in that they have done good and pure deeds, they become fuel for the light while those that don’t become dark beings that reside in the dark.”

“Right. Unless, of course, the mortal can transcend.” Calaminus added.

“Right. Me killing people will make them enter the right cycle and reach the heavens. The earlier they die, the lesser evil they do. If I kill that mage and he is wicked now, then the time when the Dark Shine Kingdom attacks and tempts people to betray their kin and country will only assure his death. If that mage is righteous and may soon fall into depravity because of the future terrors, then I am doing him a favor. Who knows? Maybe when the Dark Shine Kingdom invades, he might give in and betray his kingdom and stack on his soul wickedness.”

“I get it. That makes sense. The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity.”

“Wow. That sounds beautifully poetic.”

“Eh. It’s Biblical. Anyway, now that the moral dilemma is settled, let’s go and kill that man!” Calaminus cheered.

Kyros was covered in the thick, black power that made it harder for him to see within the darkness. The Dark Cloak ability of his cloak was not only something that covered him in black, but it made him harder to detect.

As such, Kyros was able to move closer and closer and reach the region near the watchtower. Calaminus was able to move his soul and reach the direction which Kyros told him to. Calaminus slowly moved so as not to tap and trigger the force field accidentally. He slowly hovered in front of the mage and watched it.

Kyros drew his bow and harnessed dark energy on the tip of three arrows. With his magic seals weakened, the dark energy was more potent, making these arrows have a piercing ability on another level.

Kyros waited, and Calaminus finally reached the area.

“Do it!” Kyros telepathically ordered Calaminus.

[Calaminus used Splash!]

[Something happened!]

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

The force field of the tower suddenly lit up as it could sense several strange taps.

“Enemy attack!” The mage warned.

The fortress suddenly sprang to life at the alert. The archers moved to position, and the knights readied a battle. Hounds were released to search for nearby life.

Ripples of lights continuously appeared on the east side of the mage tower as they reacted to something.

The mages were frantic. The tower they were on only had a small gap where they could peak out of and cast spells. At the height they were on, the attacks kept occurring at their head level. If they were not careful, they could die.

“Quick! Strengthen the shield!” The mage ordered.

The three mages harnessed the energy and charged the forcefield.

At that moment, Kyros released his arrows.

FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!

The arrows flew and pierced through the weak force field on the north side, which had been weakened, and it carried on and pierced the heads of the mages.

Calaminus kept splashing, and even after the mages were dead, he kept at it for a few more seconds.

Meanwhile, Kyros had moved to another area.

The forcefield kept reacting, and soon, the ripple of lights disappeared.

The group moved to check on the mages.

Kyros ran towards the west wall of the fortress. As the attacks occurred on the east, most soldiers went to that area and left the west wall with very few guards.

With the dark, liquid armor he wore, Kyros easily scaled the wooden as the dark powers assisted him in sticking on the wall.

Calaminus had stopped splashing on the tower and moved closer to Kyros. He headed towards the spot where one of the archers stood guard.

[Calaminus used Splash!]

The archer was startled that something tapped him from behind, and he jumped and drew his bow.

This gave Kyros the chance to scale the wall unseen. The bow appeared on his hand, and Kyros shot another arrow at the archer, killing him instantly.

“Infiltration complete. Time to kill!” Kyros smiled.