Chapter 33: A Twist of Death

Half an hour after Aviada’s punishment, our little group was once again fully dressed and was about to finally step out of the cover of the wards that protected the main trade routes and their immediate surroundings. We walked silently, discounting my cheerful whistling holding an upbeat tone. Meanwhile, girls were busy trying to rein in their blushes, their eyes firmly on the ground.

Not a surprising reaction after our impromptu threesome.

Teasing them on the subject was tempting, but unfortunately, I had a more important task, getting used to Aviada’s magical sword. I held it tightly, occasionally slashing a nearby tree or stone, watching the target slashed neatly into two pieces. I realized that the last time I had used, I failed to appreciate the true magnificence of the sword, only my enhanced melee skill and increased magical abilities allowing me to understand its true value. No wonder those assholes tried to assassinate her for it.

Luckily, I had a much better way of staking my ownership.

“Are we ready, girls?” I asked when I saw a huge dire wolf dashing toward us, marking the start of the combat. It was merely a class four creature, not even enough to alarm, but its presence showed that we finally stepped into the wildlands, an area most wouldn’t wander without at least a full squad of experienced soldiers. It would take only a slash of my sword to kill it, but I chose to wave my hand instead, and a spike suddenly pushed out of the ground far faster than it could react, nailing it in the stomach.

[+2 Elemental]

[-14 Mana]

“Let’s move,” I said when the girls looked at me questioningly. I understood their rationale, as using magic was rather wasteful from their perspective. However, not only they had no idea about the true size of my mana pool, but also my extreme rate of regeneration thanks to the perks I had gained through the companion system. When I ignored their wordless concern, the girls didn’t push for more. Aviada because she didn’t know much about magic and assumed it was normal for a high-level mage, while Helga was too cagey to raise her concerns in the hearing range of someone else, even that someone was Aviada.

“Aren’t you going to kill it?” Aviada said questioningly when she saw me walking away from the creature, who was experiencing my extreme leveling method for the first time.

“Nope, last hits are for you girls,” I answered with a shrug, earning a shocked glance from Aviada. After all, no matter the situation, the experience was a precious commodity to people that were yet to finish their development. Otherwise, why would Aviada spend her nights killing an endless number of level zero creatures just for scraps? “But take turns,” I added at the last moment. When the next creature appeared, Aviada was about to dash forward when I gestured her to wait. “You and Helga are going to stay in defensive just in case something I can’t handle appears,” I reminded her, a direction she followed only after I conjured a small chain of earth, reminding her the last time she chose to disregard my orders.

Just as I predicted, the presence of the wolf had marked the beginning of an intense skirmish. More creatures appeared, usually below class five, but occasionally close to class ten, but regardless, they took only one move, be it a slash of my borrowed sword, or another elemental trick. It was a tough two hours, enough to leave anyone else below level twenty panting in exhaustion, but I was a unique case.

[+11 Elemental]

[+3 Melee]

[-2450 Mana]

It was nice to see my skills increasing rapidly. Of course, spending almost double of my mana pool would have been an extravagant waste if it wasn’t for my enhanced regeneration, allowing me to keep my mana pool almost completely full despite the constant rain of assault. I was planning to continue, when I came across a small cliff. It was about fifty meters tall, and it gave a rather impressive view of the area. “Let’s take a breather,” I said as I started climbing the small path upward.

“Is this a good idea?” Aviada asked. “Won’t we get bogged down if they notice us here,” she added.

“Of course, that’s the idea,” I answered with a smirk, and the moment I arrived at the top, I used my newly developed elemental skills to modify the cliff generously, enough to turn it into a small fort with thick walls and several arcana runes already carved ready to be powered. Another flex of mana, and they were ready to anchor the wards.

[+1 Elemental]

[-240 Mana]

“I want you girls to stay in defensive. Helga, start carving additional wards in case we have a breach. Aviada, you are responsible for watching the sky and the cliff, just in case a creature manages to slip the wards.” It wasn’t a likely outcome, but it wasn’t impossible either. Both girls nodded, and they started moving rapidly, though even my latest disciplining session was unable to prevent them from snarking at each other. I let it continue, believing it was better for them to get it out of their systems rather than keeping it away from my attention.

I left them alone in their task and stood in the center of the raised defensive formation, effectively acting like bait. It was a raised platform, because it would allow me to push the wounded creatures on the nearby pit that I had created. I looked around to make sure that everything was in order before casting a lure spell, enough to tempt the surrounding creatures from a mile. It was a dangerous move, but the danger also gave me the chance to maximize my abilities quickly. I wanted to be on top shape before the meeting with Cornelia, as it had the potential of ruining a lot of things.

Still, even though it was a quick decision, I wasn’t unhappy about revealing my status to Cornelia. Currently, she was the only girl strong enough to give me a few more levels while also being vulnerable enough to keep my secrets. The infighting in her family was much more important than revealing my hidden prowess. Still, deflowering Marianne in front of her was something that would make her angry. I would feel much safer if I could maximize my elemental abilities.

Soon, a rumble caught my attention, forcing my mind back to the present rather than the evening’s meeting. I could see a horde of undead, consisting of skeletons and zombies of varying strength, dashing forward, large enough to threaten a small town. Still, my smile widened even as I swung my sword, taking the lower half one of them while letting it topple back, tangling with the others, a kick sending an armored one back. The first one was barely class three while the second one was almost class nine, meaning I had to be really careful. Still, I expected the class nine one to be damaged quite a bit by the fall and opened my mouth to ask Aviada to push forward to get the experience.

[+1 Melee]

My words died in my lips when I noticed several weak zombies positioning themselves underneath the large one, reducing the damage it took while risking to destroy themselves. That level of coordination was extraordinary, with some dangerous implications for our side. I was suddenly glad of the excessive fortification I had prepared. “Aviada, I want you to stay behind me and kill the ones I let pass. Helga, after finishing the defensive array, wait, but be ready to cast a strong defensive shield.” Cooperation between undead meant someone was controlling them, and I didn’t want to be caught flatfooted in case one of them attacked suddenly.

Luckily, I had improved my elemental casting abilities significantly during the last two days, turning an impossible battle into a farming opportunity. “Let’s see how dead fares against the inferno,” I shouted while waving my left hand, my right busy swinging the sword to take the legs of a class seven zombie, which then rolled helplessly toward Aviada. I didn’t pay attention to what was happening behind, trusting her to handle an injured monster rather easily. Instead, I focused on tying the firestorm into one of the wards I had created earlier, ensuring that it would keep up as long as it had sufficient mana, then dumped a generous amount behind it. A deadly firestorm appeared in the middle of the horde, immediately roasting the weaker ones while slowing down the stronger ones.

[+3 Elemental]

[-320 Mana]

“Amazing,” I heard Aviada murmur, so I turned back for a split second to wink at her, which made her blush rather sharply. However, as much as I would have liked to flirt with my sexy swordswoman while killing the zombies, a sudden flash of darkness took precedence. I saw a dark bolt traveling toward our encampment, crackling with dangerous energy that made me feel sick even in the distance.

It was necrotic energy!

I couldn’t help but curse my luck even as I jumped off the cliff, positioning myself between the fort and the energy. “Aviada, hold the fort,” I ordered even as I pushed my mana on the sword, forcing it to burn brightly with wild lightning, enhanced with a touch of life energy thanks to my biomancy abilities. I took that risk, because while building the fortifications, I hadn’t expected it to stand against a combined assault from the necromancers. Considering there was a generous bounty on each necromancer, I didn’t expect to find one of them so close to the school.

I shouted even as my sword slashed three times, its speed no less than the lightning itself, managing to disrupt most of the energy. I couldn’t help but feel proud at the move, fitting to be a part of the legends itself.

[+2 Elemental]

[+3 Melee]

[-83 Mana]

Only a small piece of dark energy escaped my assault and collided with my body. But even that was enough to burn as I had never felt before, draining a significant amount of vitality. Though I was lucky to be competent at biomancy, as a wave of life energy rose immediately to neutralize the necrotic power trying to penetrate my body. Without that, I doubted that I would be alive.

[-274 HP]

[-123 Mana]

I ignored the gasp of the girls in favor of dashing forward the trio of figures that revealed themselves while casting their deadly spell, whose panic was clear even when they were hidden behind their robes. I let out a laugh even as I dashed forward at full speed. These necromancers overplayed their hands in an effort to quickly end the battle, and I was more than willing to punish their arrogance before they could cast another spell.

“Keep him away,” called the necromancer in the middle panickedly even as his hands dug deep into his pouch, clearly searching for something. The other two waved their staffs and a fresh horde of dead shambled forward, trying to cut my path.

It was a sound tactic. Too bad it wouldn’t work against me. I was fast enough to avoid the slow but strong ones, and several wind bullets were enough to destroy the fragile ranged units behind. Every swing of my borrowed sword was enough to cut a swathe through the weaker skeletons and zombies, their presence not enough to slow me down.

The one in the middle, who was clearly the leader, realized the problem as well and took a step back while pulling a pearl from his bag as large as his fist. It didn’t take a genius to realize it was not a trinket, simply because he was trying to pull it while facing the risk of death. “Arise,” he called as he threw it in the midpoint between me and them. A thick layer of necrotic energy escaped it, and the pearl started to unfold into a winged skeleton that was growing very quickly.

“A fucking dragon!” I called in shock and quickened my pace even further. I had no idea who those guys were, or how they managed to convert a dragon into their undead servant, but I knew that if that dragon managed to cut my path, I wouldn’t last long against three necromancers and it.

It was time to be creative.

I used my arcana abilities to cast two spells simultaneously, one to give me temporary invisibility, barely enough to last a moment, while other spell created an illusion. Then, I pumped that illusion with life energy, and sent it against the dragon. The dragon dispelled it with a swing of its claw, but it was all I needed to pass it and stood against the necromancers.

[-45 Mana]

Necromancers were too slow to reach anything other than a widening of their eyes as I appeared in front of them. My first swing took the head of two of them, while the third one stumbled back in fear. “Wait, I can-” he started, but another swing ensured that he had no chance to continue his words. And since they were necromancers, I did the prudent thing and sent a wave of flame to engulf their bodies, even though it would destroy any clue about their presence.

With a skeletal dragon behind me, I didn’t feel like taking risks.

My instincts blared, and I threw myself forward and rolled, a sharp claw missing me by an inch. I turned after the roll, and barely managed to deflect another attack with my sword. The skeletal dragon must be at least class fifteen, maybe even closer to level twenty, which normally required a large squad of level fifteen warriors and mages. Even with my stats, I wouldn’t be defeat in a direct confrontation.

Luckily, without a necromancer to lead it, it wasn’t really smart, and I had a lot of tricks to keep it back. “Girls, keep your positions and destroy the rest of the horde,” I ordered when I saw Helga back to back with Aviada, with both of them trying to abandon their well-defended position. They were good, but not enough to cut through a broken horde of undead even if they were wounded badly thanks to the ongoing firestorm, especially with the necromancers that were leading them were dead.

I could see their reluctance from a distance, but luckily, they followed my order, and stayed on the defensive while destroying the skeletons. I stayed focused on the bone skeletal dragon, using the full range of my melee and elemental tricks to slowly damage its limbs, while biomancy and arcana working wonders to keep it distracted. It took almost an hour for the girls to destroy the horde, while I spent almost two thousand mana to keep the dragon away from me, three of its limbs and one of its wings finally destroyed. I could have killed it, but I preferred to keep it bay not to waste the huge experience it represented, not to mention battling such a dangerous creature for an hour allowed me to maximize my skills, which was only possible thanks to my enhanced mana regeneration.

[+24 Melee]

[+28 Elemental]

[-1951 Mana]

When the girls finished with the horde, they could be mistaken for zombies in their exhaustion, stumbling forward. Amusingly, Aviada wrapped an arm on Helga, helping her walk despite her own exhaustion. It seemed that our little battle had worked wonders to resolve the animosity between them. Nothing like an extended battle against shambling undead to see the value of other skill sets.

Seeing them near, I broke the last limb with a mighty swing, leaving the skeletal dragon to collapse helplessly, waiting for the last hits. “So, girls,” I said as I turned to them, presenting the sword for them to grab. “Who wants to do the honors. First come first serve.”

Aviada was in a better condition, so she grabbed the sword first. But then, she surprised us by presenting it to Helga. “I was the one that killed most of the horde while you supported me, and I leveled up already. You deserve this.”

Helga looked at her in shock, but Aviada just nodded encouragingly. Helga grabbed the sword, but in her exhausted state, failed to lift it until I used my biomancy to refresh her stamina. It took three swings for her to crack the dragon’s skull, while her horrible lack of skill made Aviada wince. “I’m going to teach you how to wield it,” she murmured, but Helga was too distracted by something only she could see to actually pay attention to us.

The reason turned clear when she murmured in shock. “Two levels at once,” she murmured in shock, making Aviada look at me shocked. Aviada was smart enough to estimate Helga’s level, putting the creature very close to class twenty. She was shocked, the fact that I was able to play with such a formidable creature for an hour forcing her to revise her estimations upward once more.

[Achievement: Epic Encounter. Defend your girls tenaciously against a deadly foe well-above your skills. +5000 Experience, +1 All]

I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the achievement, though it was hard to argue it was undeserved. Three necromancers, backed by a dragon and a horde of undead was enough to make a small city restless, and I managed to defeat it alone with the help of two underleveled assistants. It was an achievement worthy of legends.

Too bad nobody would know. If my activities today were discovered, the faculty would do their best to control me, afraid of my potential and desiring my power. However, despite the fact that it would ruin everything in the current state of my plans, it wasn’t what I was afraid of most. A small group of necromancers would have never come closer to the school without a good reason, and moreover, raising a skeletal dragon was clearly far beyond their abilities. I wasn’t willing to bet on my survival if their backer learned about my intervention. Still, it was a pity that I had to destroy the bodies of the necromancers, along with all the clues about their source.

While the girls took a breather, I used my elemental abilities to burn the bodies of zombies and skeletons, including the dragon, then systematically dismantled the wards and the defensive walls. Luckily, the crystal that had been used to power the dragon was still in good condition, so I pocketed it. It was the most valuable loot I had ever acquired, and could be used for many purposes from powering wards to craft weapons.

On the way back, we had a long discussion on the importance of keeping the battle a complete secret just in case the mysterious leader of those necromancers had the ability to spy in the school. A dangerously likely possibility, as evidenced by the ease I had while exploring the school and taming the ladies.

We soon arrived at the school. It was a pity that girls were too exhausted for a celebratory orgy.

Luckily, I had another visit prepared.

—

[Level: 16 Experience: 133050 / 136000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1200 / 1200 Mana: 1552 / 1552 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration