A red panel appeared, relaying the new skill’s information.
[I feel the power coursing through my veins! Let me out, Carter!] Joshua demanded.
Do you even have veins?
[SEMANTICS!]
After Joshua’s brief rant, I decided to check on my main companions' profiles and see how far they had come.
As expected, Kril is by far the strongest out of any of us, but how did Azazel’s power rating jump so high?! He’s even stronger than Lioren now…
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“Azazel, what exactly were you up to?” I asked as the Dragon changed forms, leaping up to hang around my neck.
“I had a… let’s call it a dragon quest,” He answered mysteriously. “Anyways, I’ve evolved into a Baby True Dragon now, so I should be a lot more useful in fights!”
“Do you have a class?” I inquired.
The dragon shook his head. “Beast-type creatures don’t get classes; we have instinct trees instead.”
“Instinct trees?”
“It’s hard to explain,” Azazel contemplated for a moment, rubbing his chin with a clawed limb. “Essentially, we naturally earn certain skills as we level up, and they evolve through race-specific quests.”
“So you, Lioren, and Fang all have these instinct trees?” I clarified. Azazel nodded in agreement.
Next, I had to figure out what our plan of action was. Investigating the Elven settlement seemed like a good first step, but it was also hard to determine whether or not we were ready to handle them at our current levels. I felt confident defeating the foot soldiers we had encountered back in Ossara’s forest, but if we had to fight someone on Lirien’s level…
[Can we just kill them already?]
So much for thinking things through, huh?
[Shut up.]
“Cedric,” I started, turning to face the small demon beside me. “Could you gather everyone for me? I’d like to tell them something.” The blue-haired demon nodded, rushing off to find our other friends.
“Alright, everyone, the first most important thing is that we have found a way to counteract that Elf’s poison attack,” I said, addressing the small crowd around me. The moon floated above us, illuminating my companion’s faces with silver light. A simmering bonfire lay between us, small chunks of meat that my companions had hunted cooking above it. “In the swamp to the south, there are these crocodile creatures that rarely drop an Antidote.”
Zorrack smiled cheerfully, now back to his normal self. “It fixed me right up!”
“I want you and Fang to work on getting as many of those as we can,” I ordered, gesturing at the warrior and his Warg companion. “Lioren and Azazel, I want you to go with them, but let them do most of the killing. They’ve fallen a bit behind in Exp.” The Ashmane nodded his affirmation while the Dragon at my side continued to chew the chunk of meat he was feasting on.
“Next, Kril, since you're small, I want you to scout out the human settlement to the north.”
“Why?” Zorrack questioned, mouth filled with meat and juices dribbling down his chin.
“I know Eldros said it would be fine, but I want to make sure that they don’t pose any sort of threat to us, and I also want to figure out if they have anything that could be of use.”
“How about me?” Cedric asked quietly.
“I want to see what you’ve been up to,” I answered with a glimmer in my eyes. “Ossara, do you mind staying here and keeping guard? Since you’re the strongest, I feel most comfortable with you back at home base.”
“Of course, Lucivar. Although I would warn you not to aggravate the Elves just yet. They may not realize we have reallocated ourselves to your domain, and it would be best not to reveal our position.”
I nodded in agreement, standing from my seat with finality. “Alright! Have a good night, everybody!”
Morning came in a flash, and as soon as I woke, I saw Cedric’s small blue eyes staring right into mine.
I jumped in surprise before shouting. “Hey! Watch it, man, you almost gave me a heart attack!”
The small demon recoiled backwards at my sudden outburst, then turned a bright red. “S-Sorry! I was just excited,” He said sheepishly.
I got up, ruffling my hair before making my way out of the Warg’s Den. A few houses were being worked on for my companions and I. Ossara and Viressa insisted that we needed a fortress, so I allowed them to begin plans on that endeavor.
“You happen to get any interesting skills or items since I last saw you?” I asked as we walked towards the forest to the east.
“You’ll see,” Cedric boasted, smiling confidently. It wasn’t long before we ran into a group of forest creatures to test our skills on. A group of spider-like creatures with fangs dripping venom. They were large, and my skin crawled as I observed them stalking through the foliage.
“I got this,” Cedric said, pushing past me. Then, he turned invisible.
It was eerily silent for a moment, the group of spiders pushing past leaves and brushing against branches being the only sounds that I could hear.
Cedric struck.
[Greater Agility]
The small demon was ferocious, immediately cutting into a Silkweaver and severing three of its legs. The insect hissed, biting at Cedric with venomous fangs, but he was already gone. A bone-white dagger sank into the spider’s head as its body crumpled to the ground.
The other Silkweavers were now alerted to Cedric’s presence, activating a skill of their own.
[Web Shot]
A swarm of nearly invisible silk shot towards the demon, but in a flash, he shredded the attacks to pieces.
[Shadow Imbue]
[Afterimage]
His small dagger was enveloped in darkness, and in his wake was a blurry copy of the demon that mirrored his movements a split second after he did. It was hard for me to keep track of him, despite my increased power rating and cognition passive, as the demon leapt from spider to spider, killing each one with a single blow. I watched a Silkweaver fire a Web Shot at one of Cedric’s afterimages, but the attack passed straight through and landed on one of its friends. Cedric capitalized on the immobilized creature, decapitating it with a single blow.
It only took a few moments before the last spider fell. Cedric sheathed his blade, casually walking back towards me.
“Impressive!” I complimented, patting the demon on the shoulder. He smiled gratefully as we continued forward.
“Were any of those your class skills?” I wondered aloud.
“No, my class skills happen to all be passives,” He replied. “One of them gives me bonus damage if I attack from behind, the other lets me see weakpoints, and if I hit them, I get a crit bonus, and I have an evasion buff.”
Are class skills the same for everyone with the same class? I wondered, but there wasn’t really a way for me to find out unless Kril chose the same class as one of my companions.
I need to ask what class he chose.
I shelved the thought for another time.
Suddenly, Cedric stuck out a hand, stopping me in my tracks. He held a finger up to his lips, signaling me to be quiet, and I noticed movement ahead of us.
“The Elves?” I whispered.
The small demon nodded. “Their settlement is right up ahead, but… It’s bigger,” He responded nervously.
I crouched down, almost kneeling in the bushes as we slowly approached, then my jaw widened.
The Elves had created a miniature fortress on the outskirts of the forest, filled to the brim with soldiers scanning the foliage for any intruders. Two huge wooden towers stood on either side of the wall facing us, with a massive stone gate in between. Iron bars with spiky tips were raised in the air, allowing the Elves to pass freely into and out of the fortress. I could see glimmers of wooden buildings inside, as well as a decently sized stone keep. The Elven architecture was distinctly elegant, each house molded from whitened wood with beautiful archways and blue roofs. Windows were outlined by brown beams, and the keep at the center was lined with intricate crenelations and huge, towering… towers.
[Nice one.]
A dirt path streamed from the gateway, flowing in multiple directions, some back towards where I assumed the Elves' main territory was. Horses pulling wagons filled with supplies crossed along the pathways, each mounted by armed guards. Another path led directly to our left, and I could see a pair of Elves making their way towards us.
“How did they have time to do all this?” I questioned, but Cedric just shrugged.
I heard a voice, and I strained to hear the passing conversation of the two Elves. They wore the same golden armour of the Elven soldiers that had attacked Ossara and her people.
“I’m sick of this, I just want to go back to Ilvereth already!” One of the Elves exclaimed.
“Calm down, we’ll be back as soon as we find these stupid forest spirits,” His companion replied.
“Why are we even doing this anyway? We haven’t messed with Ossara for years!”
The second Elf shrugged, then began to whisper. I strained my neck, only barely able to hear their conversation. “I heard the King may be working for someone.”
“High King Calenvir?! He would never stoop so low!”
The Elf shrugged again, and the pair passed by without me being able to catch any more of their conversation.
“Working for someone?” I said quizzically, glancing at the small demon beside me.
“Could it be… Luminarch?” Cedric responded, quivering at the name.
I sat in silence for a moment. “But why would Luminarch want to work with Elves? He seems a little too selfish for that.”
“He did say he planned to open the Umbral Gate and bring the demons from Hell to the Mortal realm,” Cedric reasoned.
Does he need them as sacrifices? Then why use them to attack Ossara?
“He did say he would have had trouble fighting Zerethiel, Seraphael, and Kyr. Perhaps he’s afraid of getting caught?” I wondered, thinking about what Lunarius had said back in the Moonwake Jungle. That Primordial feared being found out as well, perhaps Luminarch is biding his time?
“I’m not sure,” Cedric began. “But, this place is a lot bigger than the last time. We should probably get going—”
His words were suddenly interrupted.
“Who’s there!” An alarmed voice shouted. It was the same Elves who had passed by a few moments ago.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, readying my claws.
We’re too close to the settlement, if we fight here, they’re bound to find us…
[Let me out, I’ll kill them no problem.]
Will you do it quietly, though?
[Eh, who knows?]
“Come out, now!” The second Elf warned, stalking closer to me and Cedric.
I jumped from the bushes, slamming a claw into the first Elf, killing him instantly. Cedric followed directly after me, but his blade only managed to partially pierce the Elf’s armour.
“Intruders!”
Shit.
Cedric slammed his blade downwards, killing the Elf in one swift motion, but I could already see a number of soldiers streaming out from their settlement's walls.
The small demon's eyes met mine, and in silent agreement, we took off into the forest.
[What’s this weird thing below me?]
[Who the fuck is gonna vote on that?]
[Pathetic.]
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