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An Otherworldly Scholar - 163
🕑 Added 2024-09-27 23:28:13 +0000 UTCThe Lich’s arm exploded but my mana barrier stopped the shrapnel. Beneath the hardened chitin and bark-like skin, muscle and bone protruded from the wound. Green blood spurted from the wound. I couldn’t tell if the Lich felt pain but he stumbled back, speechless. Maybe he was merely shocked by the violence of the explosion.
Maybe the smart move was to give him the Access Rune, but I had sworn to protect the orphanage. After Janus’ betrayal, a harsh realization had settled in. I needed to be in control. I couldn’t let others decide the future of the orphanage, and of all those who desired control, I trusted the Lich the least. No matter his pretty words, he was still an undead abomination.
This wasn’t a fight I could win without taking a gamble. I channeled my mana but the System refused to obey. I knew I had to override it despite [Foresight] yelling in my ear about what a bad idea this was. The lancets of the Mana Stalker had damaged my left hand—my ring finger had lost its movement, and the rest felt stiff—-so even if the enchantment backfired, I wouldn’t lose much. In the worst-case scenario, it would explode, and I’d die a painful death. I tried not to think about it.
I engraved the Vampiric rune on the palm of my hand.
The orc chrysalimorph swung at me, but I anticipated the attack. Despite the sheer strength, the undead were painfully predictable. I sidestepped, jumped on the orc’s back, and clung like a hungry mite. I buried my fingers into the chrysalimorph’s black eyes and activated the rune. It felt like grabbing burning coal.
The chrysalimorph’s mana crackled as flashes of green and gold light blinded me. The skin on my hand turned to ribbons as the foreign mana shot through my body. Arcs of mana damaged my arm in slow motion. I engraved a Reinforcement rune on the back of my hand and a Recharge rune up my forearm. I felt how my hand hardened, almost like I dipped it in liquid concrete and let it dry. It worked. The Recharge rune served as a buffer and absorbed the mana before it could harm me but the rune filled up too quickly.
If my guess was correct, undead weren’t susceptible to wounds and exhaustion because their bodies were merely vessels for their true beings. Physical wounds didn’t affect them naturally. However, mana drain would. Despite [Identify] being unable to show me the full description, all the other undead we encountered had a mana drain weakness.
The orcish chrysalimorph roared and flailed its arms, trying to get rid of me, but its movements were slow and erratic.
“Jackpot,” I muttered.
The chrysalimorph’s mana felt like a thousand needles against my skin. I tried to channel it into a mana blade, but the chrysalimorph’s mana refused to bow to my will. The System must have had a failsafe that prevented its users from using other people’s mana. Even the environmental mana was out of bounds. The Aias Sword, however, could drain mana and turn it into a spell. I needed to carve another rune to use the chrysalimorph’s mana but I didn’t have anything strong enough to damage them. The Fire rune only scratched the Lich’s armor, and it was my most powerful one.
I pulled more mana from the chrysalimorph’s body. The Recharge rune was almost full. The magic circuit was overflowing. I needed to avoid a misfire, or I would end up like a charred piece of coal.
“Obey me!” I shouted.
The green and golden mana arced through my body, burning my skin. I aimed at the Lich and discharged the mana. A storm of lighting exploded from my fingertips and the smell of ozone burned my nose. The sky above the forest darkened as bolts shot outward in every direction. Trees burst into flames, rocks exploded into splinters, and the forest was laid to waste. A thick arc of lightning hit the Lich, leaving a smoldering mark in his armor. I gritted my teeth and poured more mana into the storm. The energy ripped through me, tearing my muscles and threatening to cook me alive. I had no time to carve more Reinforce or Insulation runes. The ground trembled beneath me as the orc chrysalimorph became a hollowed out husk.
My vision blurred, and the edges darkened as I pushed my body to its absolute limit.
With a final surge, I directed every ounce of lighting toward the Lich. The crackling bolts struck his body, shattering the bark-like skin. The creature shuddered violently, his bright blue eyes oozing poisonous hatred as the energy coursed through his elven chrysalimorph body. He took a step forward. Then another. His skin crumbled like old dried-out leather, but he pushed forward. Desperation clawed its way up my throat, but at the last moment, the glow of his malevolent eyes disappeared, leaving an empty vessel behind.
My arms lost strength, and I fell from the orc chrysalimorph’s back into the humid ground.
I felt feverish. Fading away. The pain was a distant reminder I was still alive. The forest was silent, but I thought it might be due to hearing loss. I tried to focus my eyesight without success. The orc chrysalimorph was a white and green mountain lying on the ground. A few meters away, in the middle of the clearing, the Lich’s body remained still, the bark skin open and breaking up in several spots. No one moved.
[Foresight] informed me I was wounded, bleeding even, but I couldn’t move. For a moment, I thought I had burned out my nervous system, but I could still feel pain. It was distant, but it was an old familiar feeling. Almost soothing. My sight darkened.
Something moved in the corner of my vision. A figure entered my field of view, threading gently, almost like a fawn trying not to alert any predators. The figure was dressed in beige and green, and I nearly missed it against the background. It pulled its cloak back, revealing a cascade of silvery hair.
“Elincia,” I muttered, but no sound came out of my mouth. “I’m here.”
Another figure entered the clearing—a second elf—and they crouched over the Lich’s body. They exchanged words, but my ears couldn’t make sense of them. I felt like I was inside a water bubble. I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t hear. I could barely breathe. My vision darkened, and my field of view reduced to the size of a quarter. I was sinking, and I wasn’t sure I could resurface.
The figures stood and approached me. They turned the orc chrysalimorph over, but the creature remained dead. A slight sense of pride filled my chest. I wanted to know how many combatants in Farcrest could deal simultaneously with two high-level monsters. I could probably count them with the fingers of a single hand.
“He’s alive!” The voice came to me distorted.
“After all of that?” The other person said, examining my vitals. “He is alive! Should we kill him? You saw what he is capable of. He might be dangerous.”
I decided to call him Asshole Elf for the time being.
Elincia clicked her tongue and put her war hammer aside. When did Elincia get a war hammer? She was more of a bow girl. “He freed Evindal, we can’t let him die.” She rummaged through her potion pouch.
“Hurry up, I’m kinda dying down here,” I muttered.
“Don’t talk.”
Elincia put something against my lips, but it wasn’t the bitter liquid I had expected. She opened my mouth and put a soft bolus inside. Then, she pressed my jaw, and a sweet juice dripped down my throat. I almost choked, and I was too weak to cough even, but it ultimately passed down.
“You should’ve given him the baby bird treatment,” Asshole Elf said.
“Shut the fuck up, Hallas,” Elincia replied.
Yes, Hallas, shut the fuck up. I thought as I fell unconscious.
______________
I woke up to the hushed voices of the elves. When I opened my eyes, everything seemed too bright. After a moment, I noticed it was daytime, and the sky was blue again. Dozens of minor pains assaulted me, but the healing bolus seemed to work like a high grade potion because there was no trace of the burning sensation around my left hand.
Hallas was sitting beside me. His skin was pale, almost luminescent. His cheekbones were high and sharp, and his jawbone was narrow, although unmistakably masculine. His eyes were black with a tint of purple, and his hair was long and silvery.
“I’m sorry, human. We had to cut it,” Hallas said.
Elincia—that wasn’t actually Elincia—slapped Hallas on the back of his head.
I raised my head to find my arms and legs in the right place. My left arm and most of my chest were wrapped in bandages. My right hand was also bandaged, but at least my fingers felt responsive. I let my head drop again, alleviated. I was alive, and my limbs were still attached to my body. I called that an absolute win.
I laughed, but it was decidedly painful. “Good one, asshole.”
“See? He gets the joke,” Hallas said.
“He might be a warrior but don’t assume things,” Not-Elincia said.
The resemblance was uncanny, although Not-Elincia was distinctively more elvish than my Elincia. Her skin was smooth, without the faint freckles and the little wrinkles around the eyes product of years of looking over a dozen rowdy orphans. Her nose was slender with a slight upward tilt, and her lips were almost as pale as her skin. The eyes, however, were the same almond-shaped pools of bright emerald.
“I think he likes you,” Hallas said.
“It happened that she looks just like the girl I like,” I replied, using my good elbow to straighten up. I overestimated how ‘good’ it was. The orc chrysalimorph’s mana had traveled up my left hand and through my chest before shooting from my other hand.
“You have the same eyes.”
Not-Elincia glared at me, more surprised than offended. “Are you hitting on me?”
“Sorry. I’m a taken man,” I said.
“And rejected by the human you just saved. You can’t make this shit up. I’m starting to think the problem is you,” Hallas jokingly said.
Not-Elincia clutched her war hammer. The head of the hammer was a detailed fist grabbing a spike, and the iron shaft had delicate filigree that resembled vines and leaves. It was stylish, although it seemed too heavy for her elvish frame. [Foresight] warned me not to mention it.
“Shut it, Hallas,” Not-Elincia said, crouching beside me. Under the cloak, I saw the glint of shining armor adorned with the same filigree. It looked expensive. She bowed. “I’m Pyrrha Snowdrop, from the Elven Kingdom of Tagabiria. We deeply thank you for releasing Evindal from the Warden’s control.”
“Evindal?” I asked.
“Evindal was careless. He got himself killed and let the Forest Warden steal his body before we could give him a proper burial,” Hallas said, bowing his head. “I’m Hallas Edelweiss, and I too, thank you for your assistance. The idea of one of us walking as a puppet to the Forest Warden repulses me.”
I nodded.
“Raise your heads. You shared your medicine with me. I’d say any debt is settled,” I said. They didn’t seem to be bad guys, but I couldn’t help but be a bit wary of anyone traveling the Farlands during a Monster Surge. Given their equipment, they weren’t normal travelers but soldiers.
I felt the System prompt before it appeared.
Lupine Chrysalimorph slain.
Vulpine Chrysalimorph slain.
Cervine Chrystalimorph slain.
Insectoid Chrysalimorph slain.
Avian Chrysalimorph slain.
The list continued for a while, but no elven or orcish chrysalimorphs appeared. Despite destroying their bodies, the Forest Warden and the Lich remained alive somewhere. Several months passed between my first fight against the Lich and his return, so I hoped it was the same this time. The System prompts cascaded before my eyes, and I gained three more levels despite killing more than twenty monsters with similar levels to mine. Progression was starting to slow down. I was two levels away from hitting the Lv.20 softcap.
Leveling up felt nice, and it almost washed away the terrors of the fight. Almost.
A thought crashed through my consciousness. The kids. I stood on my feet. Despite dealing with the Lich and the Vessel of the Forest Warden, the kids probably still had to fight with undead or animalistic chrysalimorphs. I had to make sure they were okay.
“It's nice to meet you. I’m Robert Clarke, a Scholar. If you ever visit Farcrest, you can stop at Lowell’s Orphanage for tea,” I said, putting my sword in its sheath and shuffling north. The elves watched me in disbelief as I left, but I ignored them. Although pleasant, they hadn’t jumped into the fight to help me.
I channeled a bit of mana. The Corruption in my chest didn’t react. That was good news. The damage of the corporal runeweaving had been merely physical, which could be fixed with magic and potions. I wondered if I was forever stuck with the Vampiric rune on my left hand, but I didn’t dare to activate it. My arm was too wounded to put more strain on it. Any further experimentation would have to wait.
“Robert Clarke! Wait!” Pyrrah caught up to me.
Her voice was different from Elincia’s. More melodic and ethereal. Almost like a small water stream and the accompanying bird song. Still, I preferred Elincia’s sassy voice.
“You don’t have any gear,” she pointed out.
“I will be meeting my companions soon,” I replied.
I continued walking while Hallas and Pyrrah dragged back and exchanged hushed words. [Foresight] recognized some of them. They seemed to be discussing my powers, ignoring that I could hear them. Humans weren’t known for their keen senses, after all.
“He said you look like his girl. Use that. Convince him,” Hallas hissed.
“What? I haven’t flirted with anyone in thirty years, Hallas! I’m not qualified for that! I’m a warrior, not some courtier!” Pyrrah replied.
“Evindal would’ve done it without complaint!” Hallas said, exasperated.
“Don’t guilt trip me!”
“Then do it! We will have no chance against the Forest Warden, and we can’t risk the humans getting a seed!” Hallas massaged his temples. “You are charming, Pyrrah! Just don’t be too much of yourself. Tone it down a bit and he will fall for you. I swear.”
Pyrrah groaned in resignation and caught up to me in an instant. I acknowledged her presence but remained silent. [Foresight] was focused on picking any sign of the kids while I still had to decide what to do with the elven pair. My old self might have jumped headfirst to help them with the Forest Warden, but the more cynical part of myself advised caution.
“Hey,” Pyrrah chuckled awkwardly.
I heard Hallas slapping his face a few meters behind us.
“Hey,” I replied.
It didn’t seem like the kind of answer she expected.
“So, you like hiking? I heard this part of the forest is great at this time of the year,” Pyrrah said.
I raised an eyebrow, it wasn’t like I was in the Farlands for pleasure and Pyrrah seemed to realize her mistake.
Pyrrah stammered. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s not great after almost being killed by the Forest Warden. Without the monsters, the peace and the silence of the forest can be great. I can be very silent and peaceful.”
My eyes fell on the war hammer.
“Please ignore it.” She tried to hide it beneath her cloak. “It’s not like I like to smash things. I’m a huge fan of reading, actually. I read a lot of books all the time. Scholars read a lot. We can read together one of these days. Maybe?” She mumbled.
Hallas fell to his knees, and Pyrrah blushed crimson. If I extended my hands, I could probably feel the warmth radiating from her face. She kept her gaze on me, nonetheless.
“You haven’t read anything in quite a while, have you?” I asked.
“No, I haven’t,” Pyrrah lowered her head admitting defeat.
My cynicism might have increased during the last week, but I felt a hint of pity for her. It had nothing to do with her sharing Elincia’s face. The dating world was as cruel as the Farlands, and I couldn’t help but appreciate her effort, even if she was trying to fool me.
“Can I start again?” Pyrrah asked.
“What would you say if I let you start again?” I replied out of curiosity.
She scratched her chin. “I’d invite you to catch frogs with me in the marsh. Their legs are luscious.”
“Would you bring the hammer?” I asked.
“Yes?” She squinted, trying to guess the right answer. “No. Of course not! I mean. Who do you think I am… yes?”
Hallas whined, and I started to realize why Pyrrah wasn’t particularly popular among elven males. At least the conversation had given me enough time to come up with a negotiation strategy. Although not a foe, I couldn’t say for sure that they were allies. Hallas even suggested killing me after the fight. Our relationship was merely transactional. They wanted my strength, so I needed to demand something of a similar value.
“Pyrrah is joking,” Hallas pushed his way between the two of us.
“I’m sure there is at least one human interested in roasting frog legs… somewhere out there,” I sighed, trying to be supportive. “I heard your conversation. You want to kill the Forest Warden.”
Hallas recoiled and put his hand on the grip of his knife.
“You have a wonderful hearing,” he said, pushing Pyrrah behind him.
“Is it your turn to try to flirt with me?” I said. “Because I also heard you talk about Forest Warden seeds.”
Hallas stepped back like a cornered cat.
“I don’t recall mentioning anything like that.”
“You mentioned that they couldn’t fall on human hands. What’s the deal with them?”
Hallas held my gaze for what seemed an eternity, not letting his knife go. “That is a secret I can’t share, but let me assure you, Forest Warden seeds aren’t used for nefarious purposes. We aren’t the reason the Forest Warden decided to appear here and attack you.”
Hallas didn’t lie. The reason the Forest Warden appeared was the Lich reanimating it. I wondered if the seed had something to do with the medicine bolus they had given me. I remember it was sweet and fruity, although I didn’t get to see it. A Forest Warden seed sounded like something that could sprout a powerful magic tree.
“Don’t worry. I know you aren’t behind the Forest Warden’s appearance, and I will not harm you if you don’t harm me,” I said, showing the palms of my hands.
Hallas let out a sigh of relief. [Foresight] told me his aggressive demeanor was due to fear and I could see in his eyes he didn’t want to pick a fight with me. He let go of the knife.
“I’m guessing that seed is very important and very valuable. So, if you want my help, you will have to pay the right price.” I continued. “In advance.”
Hallas patted his jacket and the unmistakable sound of coins reached my ears.
“Good elven silver minted with the delectable face of our king, a whole pouch,” he said.
I recognized a good door-to-door salesman when I heard one. However, I had little use for silver right now. I wondered if I could get another [Sadistic Haggler] status out of the negotiation.
“Unless you can turn those coins into a sword, silver is useless in the Farlands,” I replied. “I want that medicine you used on me. Half of it. I will promise I won’t sell it or even reveal its existence if necessary.”
The elves exchanged a glance, however, Hallas spoke before Pyrrah could open her mouth.
“We can’t defeat the Warden without Evindal, Pyrrah, we need him if we want to complete our mission. Even if that means sharing the grapes.”
Pyrrah wasn’t happy but Hallas pulled a pouch from under his cloak and showed me six almost perfectly round crimson fruits. I couldn’t help but notice they were the same color as the Scion Pods. He put three of the red fruits in a separate pouch and offered them to me. I examined them.
Holone Grapes. [Identify] Alchemy ingredient. Brewing ingredient. Cooking ingredient. Edible. Named after the famous gardener Holone Bloodthorn, the Holone Grapes have powerful medicinal properties and can cure even the most grievous wounds. Magic Concentration: High.
Interesting. Having a powerful curative item without needing an Alchemist or a healer class seemed extremely useful. I wondered if the Forest Warden seed had anything to do with these Holone Grapes. The color of the fruit at least matched with the color of the pods, but it could also be a complete coincidence.
Hallas stretched out his hand. “So, we have a deal?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I said half, not a quarter.”
Pyrrah was startled and almost fumbled her Holone Grapes pouch as she tried to get a grasp of it. A moment later, I had two more Holone Grapes, for a grand total of five, and several apologies. I dismissed their worries with a wave of my hand and focused on the grapes for a moment. If I could save a couple and bring them back to Elincia, maybe she could make a super high rank potion. Maybe even an original recipe. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them if one of the kids were wounded. The most important part of my mission was to bring everyone back safely.
“We have a deal,” I said with my best salesman smile. “Now follow me.”
“Where are we going?” Pyrrah asked.
“I need to find my team,” I replied.
Hallas seemed hesitant. “Would they ask us for extra payment?”
I shook my head, which did not reassure Hallas at all.
“Do any of you have a detection skill? My team must be traveling north, there are four of them, one is an elf, so his footprints might be hard to catch,” I said.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Pyrrah said, kneeling on the mud and putting her hands together like she was praying. She was the spitting image of Elincia, so I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy towards her. Maybe I was just bad at telling female elves apart. Orcs back at Dassyra’s camp seemed all too similar to me.
Pyrrah sang a song and I noticed the mana moving through her body. She wasn’t using a skill, but doing real magic. It was beautiful. The next moment she opened her hands a flutter of white butterflies flew to the sky leaving trails of silvery particles. The spell was similar to Ilya’s [Spirit Animal], but it felt completely different.
“They will tell me if they see something,” Pyrrah said.
“Let’s go then,” I replied.
We traveled north for an hour. The Forest Warden’s root system became smaller and thinner as we abandoned the valley. Hallas had a spell that compelled the ferns and brambles to move aside as we passed. The plants uprooted themselves and walked away. It was strangely cute. I felt like Moses crossing the Red Sea. There was no sign of chrysalimorphs or undead, which meant the Forest Warden and the Lich were gone, at least momentarily.
A white butterfly perched on Pyrrah’s finger and she raised it near her ear.
“There’s a group ahead. Four of them,” Pyrra said.
All the exhaustion of the day suddenly washed away and I rushed through the forest. I crossed a clump of ferns without even waiting for them to move to the side, and emerged into a wide animal trail. My heart drummed inside my chest. Until this moment, I hadn’t realized how much I loved the kids. They weren’t just my students but my family. Nothing had prepared me for what I saw. Firana hung from a pole, hands and feet tied together, carried by Wolf and Zaon. Ilya led the way.
“Is that how you treat your classmate? This isn’t The Lord of the Flies,” I said.
The kids jumped and Firana almost ended up on the ground.
“She was hell bent to turn around and fight, so we had to… adopt some countermeasures,” Ilya casually explained.
“Are you okay, Mister Clarke? Are you wounded?” Firana asked, her face upside down.
I sighed. “I’m fine. Please, untie Firana.”
The boys lowered the pole, almost apologetically, and let the girl go. Then, they rushed at me and trapped me in a tight group hug. My ribs complained. Their eyes were bloodshot almost like they had been crying until not so long ago. How long was I out? If it hadn’t passed a day, the Holone Grapes must’ve been stronger than I expected.
“This is your team? They are kids,” Pyrrah said behind me.
“Are they all yours? How many wives do you have?” Hallas added with a grimace of disgust. I wasn’t sure if it was due the presence of kids or the mention of a harem.
Questions showered upon me left and right, but before I could start answering, Zaon raised his voice above the shouting match.
“Someone is coming!”
We turned around just to see a squad of orcs emerging from the thicket. It still surprised me how silent they were considering their hulking bodies. They surrounded us with their weapons high. Despite the spears and cleavers, their presence was great news. We were in orc territory at last. I let out a sigh of relief as I recognized the one in the front, or [Foresight] recognized it for me. He was one of Dassyra’s warriors back at the orc outpost.
“Little One?” I asked.
“Handy Assistant?” The mountain of an orc replied, but his eyes promptly jumped to the side. “Wolfie?!”
Comments
ND_JackSparrow
Tagabiria? Ah, that's the nearby Elven Kingdom that the King of Ebros wants to open Trade Routes with. Both helping bring their fallen comrade to peace and, in the future, helping them kill the Forest Warden to reclaim the seed will surely do a lot to raise their opinions of him. If Rob is smart, he can leverage that to raise his own political importance by acting as a bridge for diplomacy with the Elves. Without knowing the current situation back in Farcrest, he may need that political power to help combat Jansus. "Getting a seed" from killing the Forest Warden? Very interesting. The very name "Forest Warden" seems to imply that they are a guardian of the forest; maybe it originally was designed to defend Tagabiria but got corrupted into being a monster? And by recovering the seed they hope to "purify" the Warden? Speaking of seeds, I wonder if Rob will be able to cultivate any of those Holone Grapes. Having so few of them, it seems almost wasteful to try and brew potions with them ... then again, that could lead to a high risk of them being stolen, which would be counter to his promise to keep them secret. Also, if the commercial routes do end up opening, he may be able to purchase more in the future. With any luck, Rob's second victory against the Lich will bring the surrounding lands some respite from the monster surge. Hopefully he can return home to the orphanage soon; with his ring off, Elincia has been thinking he's dead for FAR too long.
Ben Bass
TYFTC! That was an epic battle, and shows some of the ‘off book’ options that Rob can do. I wonder if that is one of the reasons he was given the runeweaver class. I wonder if those grapes have seeds, being able to plant those would be absolutely nuts.
andreas
especially since we now have a melting pot of various races, magics and modi operandi. Probably all united in the will of defeating the Lich.
Logos
I'm really enjoying the story. The fight with the lich was epic, and I'm happy they've finally found the orcs. Can't wait for the next chapter!
