Chapter 40: Strike from Shadows

I could feel the Librarian’s eyes on me as I walked out of the cave, moving as fast as I could while I could still stay concealed. The biomancy-based detection trick I had figured earlier worked wonders, allowing me to avoid the horde that was circling around the cave. Their discovery of the cave was inconvenient, but also inevitable. After layering that many defenses, it was hard to hide.

The undead and the necromancers approached the cave in a disorderly way. The undead horde was as fresh as ever, but the necromancers were showing the signs of exhaustion, both mental and magical. Despite that, their confidence was obvious as they moved to their destination, thinking that their victory was a given. Even better, only around half of them were a part of the attack force.

I slipped through the cracks in their formation, then started searching for my target. I had arranged the defenses of the cave for a full assault, and with their numerical disadvantage, I doubted that they could crack it without sacrificing their resurrected monster horde, and since they think that they were in the cusp of victory, I doubted that they would be that wasteful. So, I was calm as I searched for my target, the leader of this little ambush.

I found him on the back of the formation, sitting on the shoulders of a bone dragon, raining orders to other necromancers. He sounded panicked, which was understandable. He seemed like a middle-management type, making it likely that his small army was a loan, or a part of his mission, and he had to explain the loss of so many high-level necromancers against two targets. I doubted anyone that ruled a band of necromancers could be classified as merciful.

So, his death was basically charity, I noted with a smirk as I stayed hidden just twenty feet away under the shadow of a rock, magically hiding my signature, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. I stood still as I watched him order a probing assault, mindless skeletons triggering the first layer of defenses before disintegrating among a flash of fire and earth. He frowned before calling the second and third waves, this time in different formations, minimizing the impact of the explosions but not giving them a chance to recover as well. The initial ambush was not a stroke of luck, I realized. He was really proficient when it came to tactics.

Too bad that he was wrong about the game we were playing. I waited until he was focused on talking with yet another necromancer, his attention split between the formation and the discussion, before I dashed forward, as silent as a shadow, my sword in hand. I was already behind him when I flared my magic, coating the sword with a thick layer of arcana energy, sharpening the edge to an unimaginable degree for a split second.

That split second was all I needed to decapitate him. His eyes widened in shock as the blood spurted, showing that, unlike my other target, he wasn’t a lich. Just to be sure, I drove the sword to his head and let out a thick rush of flames, bright enough to melt the sword while turned his head into ashes.

[-142 Mana]

The biggest threat was gone, but that didn’t mean that I could relax. The other necromancer who was getting orders stood frozen, unable to react for a moment. Then, he opened his mouth, whether to cast a spell or to call for help, I would never know, because I stuffed my melting sword into his mouth, silencing him forever. It wasn’t the simplest way to die, but also, they deserved it.

I grabbed the sack of the leader and checked to see whether the book was in there. Since it was precious enough to be bait, I didn’t want to risk it leaving back. I even flicked it open, but unfortunately, it was in an alphabet I had never seen before. Pity, as I would have liked to know what the book was about.

My assassination attempt wasn’t exactly silent. Most of the necromancers turned to face me, their hurried attacks cutting through the air. I responded to them with a deluge of magic missiles, it wouldn’t hurt more than sting, but after my previous displays, it would force them to the defensive.

[-43 Mana]

While they were trying to conjure shields, I dashed forward, hitting the group on the flank, using their allies as a barrier. Fire and earth and life energy flew from my hands boundlessly, forcing them to defensive, burning one or two of them. It was aggressive and wasteful, but defeating all of them was a pipe dream, the best thing I could do was to intimidate them enough to pull back while I regenerated mana once again. The assault took a minute, but draining me almost to the limit.

[-1300 Mana]

Just as I was planning to pull back, a bright explosion of light exploded from the cave. A huge ray exploded from the cave, cutting through the horde without losing a spark, and disintegrating two necromancers in the process. I looked to see the librarian standing at the entrance of the cave, her robe dancing with the wind, like she was a part of the legend.

I hoped that our enemies were too distracted to notice the paleness of her face. I knew for a certainty that she had used the last scrap of her energy in that spell, and was struggling to stand on her feet.

But after failing the ambush, suffering under a series of counter-ambushes, losing their leader, and pincered between two formidable mages, the morale of necromancers finally plummeted. One of them dashed away, and it seemed like the signal, because the rest started running as well, choosing different directions. They seemed to think that the best idea was to avoid our attention. To reinforce the idea, I started following the largest group, puttering them with fireballs which looked much more impressive than they were actually dangerous, even if it drained the most of my remaining mana.

When I returned to the cave entrance, I was met with a dangerous sight. Without the necromancers to control them, the undead horde was charging toward the cave entrance. Most were destroyed ignobly, failing to account for the traps, but one of the bone dragons was too durable, and had managed to break through it, attacking the librarian.

She managed to defend herself, but not without a cost. She was using flares of light to deflect the dragon’s claws. It was a simple spell, likely costing one or two mana for each casting, relying on her reflexes to work. But in her current state, even one point of mana was too costly, losing color with each casting. If I didn’t know any better, I would have mistaken her for a zombie. Her robes were ruined by the dragon’s claws, leaving bloody gashes behind.

I dashed forward as fast as possible, taking attacks of the zombies instead of delaying even for a second. Even then, I was almost too late. When the dragon swung its claw to a dangerous strike, she raised her trembling hand, but no light came out. There was no time to cast a spell, and I doubted I had the mana to deflect such a strong strike. I was running in fumes as well. I tackled her out of its way, taking a bad gash in my back in exchange.

[-264 HP]

The position I found myself in would have been rather romantic if it wasn’t for the bleeding, exhaustion, and the undead horde trying to kill us. When I met her eyes, however, I found dazed disbelief. The temptation was simply too much. I leaned down and stole a fleeting kiss, pushing a bit of color back to her face.

[Achievement: Seductive Stranger. Melt the heart of an icy maiden with the irresistible charm of a mysterious savior. +3 Charisma, +1000 Experience]

The achievement was a nice surprise, especially since the sudden boost in my charisma giving me a few points of extra mana and a dash of extra strength just when I needed it. I grabbed her and rolled away, the claw collapsing the area I had been holding just moments ago. When I stood up, I was holding her in a bridal hold, dashing as fast as I could while using the extra mana to connect the array once more. I managed to step into the emergency tunnel, but not before I received another painful gash to my back.

[-326 HP]

“It’s payback time, you bony bastard,” I gasped in excitement as I flared my mana, once again emptying my reserves. The rush of mana triggered an inactive node in the defensive array, and a second later, the cave exploded into a true cacophony. It was a pity that I couldn’t return to destroy the stragglers, but neither I nor the librarian was in a good state, and my mana regeneration perk was about to expire. Spending that mana for healing and saving the rest for emergencies was a better idea.

Thirty minutes later, we were far enough from the canyon that I started to feel safe. I couldn’t say that the risk was completely gone, but after the last disaster which cost them their leader and —hopefully— the most of their horde, I doubted that they would try to follow us. I would have welcomed her opinion about the next steps, but she was limp in my arms, exhaustion and wounds long caught up with her. I had taken a quick break to cure the worst of her wounds, but she was still spent.

My first instinct was to return to school, but that was not viable. She was in tethers, and we know for a fact that there were enemies in the school. Doing so would end in a nasty assassination. So, I started looking for a nice cave we could stay hidden. Luckily, even if the necromancers changed their mind and continued searching for us, it was easy to handle without the endless numbers of the horde to help them.

When I found a cave with a hard-to-notice entrance with a reasonably close underground water reserve —elemental magic was useful for more than just combat— my mana pool was almost completely full once again, so, it was very easy to carve several runes on the cave to hide us from the dangers, as well as regulating the temperature and cleaning the air. If I was going to stay in a cave, I’m going to make it as comfortable as I could. I even created a large pool in the middle by digging a small water reservoir, which was needed to clean our wounds.

My first focus was my damsel in distress, even though she had skipped the risky period. The sooner she recovered, the sooner we could act. Her eyes fluttered open when I lay her on the floor —softened as much as possible using earth magic— and looked at me with an expression of shock. “We’re alive,” she murmured, her whisper almost impossible to distinguish from the rustle of the leaves.

“Yes,” I said with a bright smile, bringing the full impact of my charisma and my seduction experience to the game, and I was happy to see another fleeting blush on her face. “You have performed amazingly, like an angel of vengeance, beautiful and bright.”

“Shut up,” she murmured shyly, which surprised me quite a bit. It was hard to imagine the figure that intimated everyone with her sheer presence as shy. Though, considering just how comfortable she had been dressed in just an illusion, I ruled it out the general shyness, which meant my kiss truly had worked wonders in penetrating her defenses, though literally saving her life heroically likely helped.

“Now, for something uncomfortable,” I said with a soft smile, and she looked worried. “About your wounds,” I added, and her expression turned to panic. I let her stew in it for a moment before continuing. “I need to remove your clothes to cure you.”

The expression of shock on her face was spectacular. She looked like a teenage girl receiving her first catcall rather than the legendary mage ruled one of the most important locations for the civilization with an iron fist. “But…” she murmured, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten under the rush of adrenaline. She tried to stand up, but the only thing she was able to do was to shift in her place before the pain invaded her face.

“Yeah, that,” I said, trying to look equally shy at the prospect.

“Can’t you do it over the clothes?” she asked, her voice tiny. “The other healers do.”

“I’m not primarily a healer, and I can’t take the risk. I can try to bring you back to Silver Spires if that’s your preference, but…” I said, leaving it lingering. We both knew that returning back without the full recovery was a death wish.

“I don’t…” she murmured, her gaze finding my face once more, but her inquisitive gaze failed to penetrate the shy surface I was doing my best to reflect, leaving my dirtier thoughts inside. I watched as she tried to make a decision before sighing in defeat. “Okay.”

[Achievement: Meritorious Medic. Not all good deeds go unrewarded. +3 Wisdom +1000 Experience]

I had to hide my smile as the notification rang. Two achievements on the same day were definitely welcome, though I would say they were well-earned. I looked somber, because I was pulling a knife, her clothes were stuck to her body with blood and grime, and trying to remove them otherwise would have been more difficult. She said nothing as I removed her clothes with smooth and methodical slices, leaving her body clad in her underwear, though wounded and covered in dirt, it wasn’t exactly an erotic sight yet. The system seemed to agree with me, considering there was no experience reward.

“Now, take a deep breath,” I even as I put my hands on the biggest wound in her body, looking dangerous despite the scab, and let my magic flow. With the latest improvement of my biomancy skill, it worked even better than I was hoping for, her internal wounds disappearing one after another, her bruises leaving their place to beautiful alabaster skin, though still dirty.

However, as I continued to cure her, I sensed a certain emptiness, like something was missing. Then, I realized that I couldn’t feel her mana. It was suspicious considering it had been more than an hour since the last combat, and she must have recovered a bit for now. I decided to test her. “How’s your mana recovery?” I asked her.

“Still in progress,” she said, but I was still healing her, so it was impossible for her to hide her heartbeat picking up speed. I continued to look at her, still expecting an answer. “Is that really important?” she added.

“Might be, I’m not sure how it’ll affect your recovery,” I answered, which was partly true. More importantly, I wanted to learn why she wasn’t recovering yet.

She stayed silent for almost a minute while I continued to heal her, when, she whispered. “It’s a special ability of mine, I can overdraw my reserves until I hit negatives, but then my regeneration slows down until it climbs back to positives,” she answered somberly.

“For how long?” I asked, afraid of the answer, dreading the answer.

“The worst until now was three days,” she answered, which wasn’t the best answer to receive, but still manageable.

Then, I remembered the last scene, where she had overdrawn so much that she wasn’t able to cast even as a simple shield. “And, if we compare that time to now, how will it compare?”

Once again, silence ruled the room while I continued to heal her. “This is much worse,” she answered in the end, then, continued with a small whisper. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

I gently cupped her chin and raised her head until she was looking at my eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m here as long as you need me,” I said in a selfless, heroic tone. With the situation I found myself in, she was the only ally I could trust, and if I was going to stuck protecting her for a while, seduction was a good way to pass that time.

“I…” she murmured as a blush covered her body, even visible through the dirt. “Thank you…”

Her reaction was interesting. Combined with her power and her standoffish attitude, it might be that she never had to rely on others, at least to a degree of total helplessness, and she was reacting it in a very interesting way, promising quite a bit of enjoyment for me. I just smiled in response before grabbing a piece of fabric and drenching it in the small source of water I had created earlier.

She stammered once more as I pressed it on her shoulder, dragging gently, getting rid of the dirt to reveal alabaster skin underneath, making her shiver. “What – what are you doing?” she gasped, trying to look scandalized, but unable to keep her innocent arousal hidden, hinting her lack of experience.

“We need to clean you. Otherwise, you run the risk of infection,” I explained.

“But, I’ll be…” she murmured, unable to finish the sentence.

I spoke compassionately, though hinted shyness as well. “I know it’s hard, but we need to do that. We don’t know just how weak your body will be with no mana after all those wounds. What if you get an infection?” She still looked like she was about to argue, so I continued, doing my best to sound hurt. “You don’t trust me,” I stated despondently.

“No! NO! I trust you,” she rapidly answered without even thinking, and rewarded by my best shy smile, unaware just how artificial it was.

“Okay, but feel free to tell me if you feel uncomfortable, okay?” I said before pressing the fabric on her arm. Then, I chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked, a bit cross. I had no doubt that she would have been crossing her arms pointedly if she could move in her own power.

“We still haven’t met,” I answered with a chuckle. At this point, revealing my name wasn’t exactly a big risk. “My name is Caesar,” I said.

“Titania,” she murmured, once again shy.

“A magnificent name for a magnificent woman,” I said, enjoying the way she blushed as I gently cleaned her arm. Maybe tending her as she got healed was going to be more interesting than I had assumed.

—

[Level: 17 Experience: 151150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 30

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 15 Intelligence: 20

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 24

HP: 1309 / 1309 Mana: 1321 / 1836 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration