After clearing the fortress, a patrol of soldiers on leave ca rushing from one of the villages. We caught them in a pincer attack and added their souls to the sacrificial offering to Galbarar. After that, nobody bothered coming to the fortress for a whole day. It gave ti to ditate, recover the spent Energy and then raid the fortress.
I wrote a ritual spell circle around the fortress, with Marlowe coming after to check my glyphs. I relied heavily on my inflated [Spellcaster] proficiency, I won't lie. Once it was done, I activated it, donated a liter of my blood to empower the ritual along with more Energy.
The circle ca to life and two semicircular Force barriers started to grow from it, moving downward as if a do was closing. And it was. The barriers carved into the bedrock underneath the fortress, eating the supplied Energy like a kid eats candy the day after Halloween. When it closed down entirely, the ground underneath the whole fortress beca inert, no longer connected to the planet's lifeforce.
It was the sa thing I did with the temples of Bundeus in Auvanini and the Auction House in Sadian, but on a much greater scale. Once separated, I looted the fortress whole. The spell ended and a perfectly hemispherical hole was left in its place.
I sat to ditate and recover my Energy again. Next life I'm going to be a full caster.
Those ditation sessions gave ti to think about my quest. I reached an alarming conclusion. I'd almost jinxed this whole run.
I almost screwed myself up. Let explain.
This whole [Heritor] questline was supposed to follow the legacy of the Unicorn King. Emulate his values, so to speak. Who would judge if I did it well enough to progress? The System.
What did the System know about the Unicorn King? Very, very little. After all, the System ca to this world with the Gods, a long ti after the unicorns were extinct and their King dead.
What would the System base its judgnt on then?
Hearsay, I say!
I bet the little grubby pervasive entity was eavesdropping on what everyone said about the Unicorn King! It couldn't hear or didn't heed people's thoughts. And I could try to manipulate its decision with the very reason hearsay is not admissible in court. People lie, as a certain handicapped physician used to say.
We withdrew to my sanctum.
I spent the next five weeks preparing an enchantnt. The spear had a huge potential for enchanting, and this one was very cheap since it didn't affect System statistics. Getting it in a way the System accepted as a valid enchantnt was the real trick. I had to read several tos on enchanting, use Marlowe as a sounding board carefully as I couldn't voice my true intentions.
When I finally got a working enchantnt, my proficiency soared to the soft cap the System calls "potential proficiency" and then up by 3 points. I had four abilities to pick. One of them was the one I needed, clearly sothing the System created based on my efforts as it did many tis before with the martial arts or diseases from Earth. It forced to pick the other three from things I already did without guidance but at a much cheaper cost. I didn't mind.
Enchanter[193]:
Conceptual Enchantnts: You can enchant ideals into items, making them adhere to them and guide the user's moral compass.Storage Enchantnt: You can create pocket dinsions inside objects. Size is (Proficiency/5) cubic feet.MP reservoir: You can enchant MP storage in items. The maximum value is (Magic * Proficiency^2) MP.MP generation: Requires a magic Core shard. Item can generate MP to either refill its own pool or the users's. Up to (Proficiency/5) MP/hour.
When I picked {Conceptual Enchantnts}, it unlocked another ability to grant a pseudo-intellect to items. I didn't need it and had no ability slots left. I just wanted to put the first enchantnt in the Unicorn King's spear.
Unicorn King's Noble Heart: Item will monitor the user's intentions and show approval or displeasure regarding the Unicorn King's values of Nobility and Purity.
I activated {Royal Aura} with only 1 ter of range and behaved as a ruler should. I touched the spear and success! It humd with approval of my Royal composure and pure lifestyle. I didn't get any ssages, though. It would take more than that to fool the System.
I needed to engender a social engineering campaign. After all, the spear and I were just two actors in this roleplaying ga I got myself involved. I needed to convince others that knew about the Unicorn King. The elders at the peninsula village, and the priestess Galatea, for starters.
It won over having to seduce and please a bunch of won to the point of supre bliss by a large margin. Especially when one considered I would need to actually seduce and conquer them the old way, as using System empowered social abilities to win their hearts was tantamounts to brainwashing them. At least in my opinion.
Now I just needed to convince the spear so it would convince the System and everyone else that my version of the tale was the real one.
Starting with Talysius. I talked with the centaur chieftain for hours about the Unicorn King, steering the conversation in a way that suited my purposes.
Over the following year, we moved west across that strip of human-controlled land killing soldiers and local lords, collecting information, removing fortifications, and eliminating bandit camps as well. It made my mouth taste bitter to think I would leave the civilian population at the rcy of these roving bands of scoundrels.
I learned that the vast majority of the captured centaurs were killed in combat during the incursions into the elven territory. A few of them, mostly the children, were indoctrinated and assimilated into Pekothian society as sub-citizens.
That tidbit of information was what made hurry up toward their capital. Since our movent rate was vastly faster than the ssengers, news of our raids didn't reach the heart of the Empire. And we always knew of the ssengers sent since I could interrogate the souls of the very people that sent them. The Pekotihans didn't have access to fast thods of communication like the {ssenger Birds} the followers of Yzera used. They did have wizards and magical communication, but these were very rare.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit for the authentic version.
Our lockdown wasn't absolute. Once we got closer to the heart of the country, Marlowe inford we were within the range of good [Diviners], like his apprentices. Of course, his hubris would never admit he had soone better than him.
True to his word, once we raided a Count's castle at the other end of the human belt, we saw a punishnt army assembled to seek those raiding their settlents.
Two thousand n, mostly humans but a few half-elves, dwarves, halflings, and a couple dozen centaurs. They had two units of light cavalry which seed to integrate the centaurs very well and the rest were foot infantry with one elite magician unit.
It would take a long ti to figure out why didn't more people beco magicians. Turned out it was partially for the sa reasons we didn't have more physicists or any other cutting-edge applied science. it required a certain mindset and study the vast majority balked at. The other reason was what was necessary to unlock the Class. A fertile imagination, an ability to comprehend the symbols and their relationship, to perform complex calculations without aid, and many others.
That was one of the reasons Marlowe despised [Sorcerers]. He felt they were cutting corners by brute-forcing delicate problems. He was right, but when it's about survival, what works, works.
I couldn't even scout the army properly. They had [Hunters] or maybe [Archers], [Marksn] possibly and whenever I flew near them they shot arrows at , probably intending to make stew out of . No way they recognized as a shapeshifter disguised as a bird or the mages would try to capture .
Without much to do, I stalked this group until they stopped at camp right after dusk. I asured their camp using my [Cartographer] proficiency and picked the perfect spot. After breaking the rank-up barrier, my Attributes soared. I would now show them what it ant.
"Okay, everyone. I'll get them on my own. Nenandil, co back. Marlowe, Talysius, I'll see you soon."
I flew, invisible and phased over the camp to land on my chosen spot. I combined the {Manastorm} (set to ignore the centaurs) with my auras and started the slaughter. I threw the spear at the few that could still move, calling it back to my hand and throwing it again. The proficiency rose fast, going up even by two or three points at a ti. But I was still in the rapid growth potential my level granted. It kept bothering to pick my abilities but I ignored it.
Once those with high enough Attributes to resist my suppressing auras were gone, I started to put people out of their misery. Lowering Attribute values also lowered the potential of the {Manastorm} as it was based on the target's MP regeneration. Killing them was actually very clean. The bodies vanished into the item box as soon as they expired and the spear blocked the hole. Only a few drops of blood remained to mark where soone died. And the souls, obviously.
After the deed was done, I called the souls of the commanders and mages. I brought the cloth golems back so they could help . Marlowe with his authority as an [Archmage] to entice the dead mages to help , and Talysius to get the centaurs to join us. The forr chieftain's job was damn easy as centaur customs dictated that the winning herd could absorb the losers in case of a conflict like this. It was the sa custom that made the humans' kidnapping so easy.
My surprise strike succeeded in not letting information of the attack leak. However, the human divination spellcasters would find eventually that the army disappeared as their marching orders specified a path they should take. Not a problem, really. I would wipe out the signs of the camp and move on. By the ti they reacted to what happened here, I would've already dealt them another blow.
The spear approved of my actions. I maintained my regal poise and composure while I executed the soldiers. Maybe my plan was bound to bear fruit.
I bound the ghosts that had good knowledge of the area and the few spellcasters that wished to get what Marlowe had and barely passed the [Archmage]'s strict evaluation. The others went to Galbarar.
We approached the centaurs. They were wary of the silk chieftain and also of . My level tag, which I left exposed as a statent, was too low. But they saw gliding on four hooves over the humans' camp delivering death like a vengeful angel. They felt the {Royal Aura} and also the effects of my {Noble Specin} Perk. Only the fact they knew no such thing as centaur Royalty existed kept them from thinking I was the real deal.
I approached them and planted the butt of my spear on the ground. They were admiring the weapon.
"Greetings. I am Snowdrop, a forr mber of chieftain Enantinos' herd. I was exiled shortly before and separated from the herd before the humans struck. Now I am here to avenge and rescue our people. This is Talysius, forrly a chieftain, and now my second in command regarding centaur affairs. We defeated your band and now we offer you the choice of joining us or going on your own."
One of them approached, sizing up. "We know Enantinos. He serves the human King now. Many of us died in the last few years. You look young. Let ask, how old were you when the humans took us from the plains?"
"Not two years old. I grew with the surviving elders and shamans deep in the peninsula. Once I received my Class, I traveled all the way here on the warpath. The humans will pay for what they did."
My speech rekindled the flas in their hearts. It was good to know chieftain Enantinos still lived, although it was troubling to hear he worked directly for the human King.
"Are you a chieftain?" Another centaur asked.
I exchanged a glance with Talysius. We had prepared for this question. "No. I am no chieftain. I am the Unicorn King's [Heritor]. This spear is the symbol of my mandate to rule. I'll rescue the centaurs, and then unite the herds into a great warband worthy of our mighty ancestor. Right now I am just a war leader with these two at my side. You too, if you so wish. But once I'm done, I'll beco sothing much greater than a chieftain. I'll beco a legend among our people. And the humans of the future will grind their teeth in anger at the folly of their predecessors. None will dare anger the centaur again."
Now they were inflad. They saw my strength. They tasted my power. They heard my words. They too wished to hoof-stomp their torntors. These centaurs joined . While that complicated the logistics, they were the main reason I ca here in the first place. Unfortunately, they didn't know about my mother.
Two days later, we crossed the country borders and reached Pekothas proper. With my spectral council of advisors drawn from the nobility and high echelons of the human nation's military, I had my work cut out for . I knew which castles held more riches, and where to strike to make it really hurt.
Disaster was coming to the haughty humans that thought to enslave my kind.
Fulgen
Queen Sariandi received dire news. At first, she couldn't believe it. "Repeat the report, ranger."
"As you wish!" The kneeling elf didn't raise her head. "The humans south of the Forest were attacked. Their fortresses and keeps vanished into thin air. Soldiers disappeared, their lords vacated their mansions without warning or reason. Our patrols didn't detect carriages moving. it was as if they just ceased to exist."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, ditating to stop her head from aching. "The places where the fortresses vanished from, what did it look like?"
"As if sothing carved the earth with a spherical spoon, Your High Majesty."
Leaning forward in her throne, she asked, "What about the commoners? The people? Their villages? Were they raided? Sacked? Pillaged? Slaughtered?"
"Not that our griffin scouts could see, my liege."
She closed her eyes and wiped the tears the ford in the corners with her fingers. Then she started to laugh. The High Elf High Queen felt sorrow, joy, fear, and a sense of loss at the sa ti. Barring direct divine intervention, there was only one entity in this world that could act in such a bizarre way. Cutting the head while leaving the body alive. That was just her style.
"Call the farseers," she commanded. "We need to look into the past and see how these fortresses vanished. Send a [Wizard] on a griffin to the nearest one. I want the site thoroughly investigated."
Standing up, she broke protocol and was about to leave the throne room when she rembered the kneeling ranger. "You are dismissed. Stand, ranger. You did well, Velora. Do you think it is her?"
Looking in the eyes of her Queen, the ranger smiled. "I am certain of it, Sariandi. I would go one step further. If destroying the Forest was what motivated her to attack the humans, she would co to us. She didn't. I think she is a centaur this ti around. The humans kidnapped entire tribes, after all."
Sariandi nodded. She wanted to feel relief but she couldn't. The elder fairies' words still rang in her mind. "I am of the sa mind, my friend. Find Reynoyonyn, wherever he is. Use the fairy gates, call in favors with the fae. Bring the Poet back ho. He might be the only one that can convince her to help us."
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