The explosive boom when the arrow impacted was like the loudest crack of thunder he had ever heard. The mist worker’s body shot backward, slamming against the white stone of the cliffs. The white and blue lightning extended out for five feet in all directions. Mist poured out of a large hole in the worker’s body and it crumpled to the ground.
Despite it just being an automaton, Richter dismissed it. Seeing his creation so damaged touched a chord. Once it’s body disappeared though, all he felt was excitement. A cry of worry rose from the from villagers that were only two hundred yards away. Sion stood by with his mouth open. Richter grinned sheepishly as his astonished friend and checked his combat log which was the whole reason the mist worker had had to be sacrificed.
Mist Worker suffers from Mind Fog.
Mist Worker is Stunned.
Mist Worker cannot be Psi Crystallized as it is a friendly summoned creature.
Mist Worker hit by Richter for varied damage. Damage Type(s): 32 Physical + 132 Magic (Force) + 5 Water Magic. Physical damage reduced by Physical Resistance (50%) to 16. Total Damage: 153.
“Oh yeah,” Richter breathed out softly. “Daddy likes.”
The damage his enhanced subskill could do was awesome. Of late, he had preferred close quarters combat which let him use his elementum blades. The stopping power of his short swords just couldn’t be denied. With this new improvement to his ranged abilities though, he might need to rethink his approach in future battles.
Richter walked over to the spot where the mist worker had been, hoping to retrieve his arrow, but it had been destroyed. He shrugged, knowing it had been a long shot. There was only a 20% chance of retrieving special arrows at his current rank of initiate in Archery, and that was in the best of cases. The explosive power of his imbued shots would most likely always destroy any missile. Besides, that wasn’t the point. His new subskill let him combine imbued shots with enchanted arrows!
Sion was still watching him with wide eyes. “How did you know that would work? All that mana could have backfired into your face.”
“That’s true,” Richter admitted, “but we need every edge we can get for this fight that’s coming. Besides, that was just step one.”
“Step one,” Sion asked confused. “What is step two?”
“Wellll,” Richter said pulling another enchanted arrow out of his quiver and offering it to Sion. “Depending on how you look at it, step two is actually the easy part.”
The sprite took the arrow with a curse and seriously considered using it on his friend.
CHAPTER 17 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
Ultimately, Sion agreed to try. Richter initially tried to convince him by appealing to his honor and duty. “Do you really want the meidon sprites to have to fight hundreds of goblins without the best weapons they could have? We have to be sure that it’s not a fluke.” When that didn’t work, he went with the tried and true. “Don’t be such a pussy!”
Though scientists have never been able to properly explain why it worked, the ‘Don’t be a pussy’ had always been logic’s trump card. It had never let Richter down before and it didn’t this time either.
Snarling, Sion took the ice arrow and imbued it with his entire mana pool. It streaked like a blue comet towards the cliff face and detonated with an ear-ringing BOOM. A smear of ice was left on the cliff face, but more importantly, it didn’t blow up in the sprite’s face. The meidon had been sure Richter was finally going to be the death of him. After it turned out well though, he threw a fist into the air and gave a loud, “Wooohooo!”
Richter laughed and clapped his friend on the back. He told Sion to let the other meidon sprites know about this potential game changer, then the chaos seed looked around. Evening was approaching and dusk was soon to follow. It would be time to leave soon. Terrod and Caulder should be getting his fighters together even now. The rest of the villagers were now making their way up to the meadow to shelter for the night.
He was about to head back down to the Forge to enchant more arrowheads for the sprites when Hisako stopped.
“Are you ready for what is about to come?” she asked. The question wasn’t a challenge. It also wasn’t meant to pump him up, like teammates did before a big game. The Hearth Mother asked it quietly, as an invitation to listen. She understood the pressure of leadership. Hisako knew what it meant to send warriors to die. The Hearth Mother knew what thoughts were roiling beneath his surface.
Richter looked back at her, his jubilation from his new subskill fading. He understood what she was talking about without further clarification and he appreciated what she was doing. She was right. He realized that one of the reasons he had been going nonstop since waking up was so that he wouldn’t think about exactly what she was now bringing to his mind. The truth was, not all of his people would be coming back. Risking his own life was easy, but there would be widows and orphans after today, and all because he decided to involve them in affairs beyond the borders of his domain. Did he really have the right to send his people to war? Should he just keep his people safe within the enchanted mists?
Hisako didn’t interrupt him as he thought it through. She could tell by looking at his face that her question had had the desired effect. Richter was finally facing the reality of the upcoming battle. It was no small skirmish. It was the entrance of his village into a war. Far better that he face the choice now, and go into battle fully committed… or not at all.
Richter’s mind was racing, so he did what he always did when faced with stressful times. He breathed. Closing his eyes, he regulated his breath, and by extension, his heartbeat. He breathed in, letting his lungs fill with air, stretching his chest to smooth out knotted muscles. He breathed out, envisioning the breath carrying away toxic thoughts. Inhale, exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Seven times he controlled his air and committed to this singular moment in time. With the seventh exhale, the emotions that had been flooding up from where he had pushed them down settled. The answer became clear.
He had not founded the village to hide away from the world. The Mist Village would be a force for good in The Land. Richter could not in good conscience leave innocent people to be sacrificed if he could do something about it. He could also admit that his motivations were not purely altruistic. The goblins had already shown that they could penetrate his defenses. So far only in low numbers and slowly, but what if they had more power? What if this Bloodstone could be used for exactly that purpose? What if a thousand green-skinned warriors showed up outside of his village gates? He shook his head. It could not be allowed. History had shown again and again that ignoring evil because it did not affect you was a short-sighted and often deadly mistake.