“Kill them now,” Hisako called out in a fierce voice. “The spell will only last for ten minutes. Do not let them escape!” She began casting again, and the sprites began imbuing arrows, sighting on the ten or so monsters that could now be clearly seen. Since the monsters had stopped their laughter, even those that had remained stricken after Yoshi used his Talent were able to shake off the monsters’ Fear effect. Led by Sion, Terrod, Caulder and the Battle Leader, they started hunting. Richter’s attention remained on his familiar and the arrow he was imbuing.
The aura around the arrow had progressed from the barber pole appearance to the continually moving black and gold yin-yang. Blue-white lightning danced across the aura. It was time. Richter sent a message to Alma to bring the creature towards him. She had been weaving between the trees, buying the precious seconds Richter needed until he was ready. The dragonling banked sharply around a trunk, staying just ahead of the monster’s grasping talons. The thing cried out in frustration at being unable to catch the nimble psionic.
At her master’s order, Alma put on a burst of speed and flew towards the warband. The monster was furious enough now that it barely noticed flying out of the safety of the trees. It did notice the strangely glowing arrow pointing at it, however. The monster started to veer off and flee back into the relative safety of the dark. That was when it learned that Alma had never actually been prey.
In a feat of extreme agility, Alma flapped hard and then tucked her wings next to her body. A yellow aura surrounded her as she flipped head over tail, until she was facing the screaming face of her pursuer. She took one moment to wink at the monster, something she had seen Richter do when he was trying to be particularly obnoxious, then a bolt of lightning shot from her body into the open mouth of the monster.
The spell might be called Weak Lightning Bolt, but striking the enemy flyer in the face was a critical hit! The lightning surged down its body, and between Alma’s high level, her 50% bonus to Air magic and the vulnerable spot where the creature was struck, the spell overwhelmed the monster’s defenses; it was stunned!
With her wings folded in, Alma’s body dropped like a stone. The monster’s body passed over her, falling as well, but on a higher trajectory. After falling five feet, she spread her wings again, catching the air, and flapped to gain altitude. The night was cut by her shriek of victory as Richter finished the ambush the two had psychically planned.
Correcting slightly for the change in his target’s speed, Richter finished a slow exhale and released. The black and gold arrow sped towards the senseless monster, striking it in the face with a resounding BOOM! Echoing detonations sounded around the globe as the sprites brought down more and more of the creatures, but again, Richter’s focus was only on the monster that had dared to attack his familiar. The five hundred mana he had imbued into the arrow had struck like a Mack truck and arrested most of its forward momentum. Richter stumbled slightly. The near depletion of his mana pool gave him a horrible headache and his vision blurred. With gritted teeth, he focused and his vision cleared. The monster fell almost straight down, and he used Analyze.
Name: Winged Koolari Disposition: Anger
Winged Koolari are a type of living dead that hunt by inducing fear in their prey. Pack hunters, their manic laughter will make even the bravest adventurer abandon reason and run screaming. The intellect of these monsters makes them especially deadly.
Level: 34
Health: 168/940 Mana: 211/240 Stamina: 294/360
Strength: 31
Agility: 35
Dexterity: 28
Constitution: 74
Endurance: 36
Intelligence: 24
Wisdom: 22
Charisma: 5
Luck: 12
The fucking thing was still alive! Between the five hundred mana he had invested, its helpless Stunned state and scoring a critical hit to its head, Richter had been sure that it would have died in one blow. And what the fuck was a level thirty-four undead monster doing loitering around just outside of the boundaries of his village?
The koolari slammed into the ground. It had tumbled as it fell and one wing was snapped in multiple places upon impact. It lost another forty-three health. The battle continued to rage around him, and Richter was about to hit it with another arrow, but before he could draw another arrow back, Alma attacked. Her body glowed golden before latching onto the back of its head. The blue-white crystal began to flash with an inner light as she used Brain Drain.
Richter’s heart began to beat faster in panic. As soon as Alma latched on, the koolari overcame the Stun effect from Weak Lightning. The monster was ridiculously resilient. At the seventh rank, her Brain Drain was still too weak to incapacitate any creature over level thirty-one. The koolari began to reach back to pull the small dragonling off.
Before Richter could react, he noticed a small blue-white crystal floating near its head. The crystal flashed, and the creature’s body locked tight. Surprised, Richter used Analyze again and was astonished to see its health, mana, and stamina dropping at a prodigious rate. Her Brain Drain had never been so effective before. The chaos seed’s amazement grew as he read the battle prompts.
Richter hits Winged Koolari using Enhanced Imbue Arrow...
Winged Koolari resists Mind Fog.
Winged Koolari resists Stun.
Winged Koolari succumbs to Psi Crystallization.
Alma attacks Winged Koolari with Brain Drain! Presence of Level 1 Psi Crystal increases strength of all psychic attacks and powers by 100%.
That was how she had done it! Her ability to stun creatures had been doubled to potentially take out level sixty-two monsters! From the rate that the koolari’s health was falling, it also doubled the rate of her Brain Drain. His enhanced subskill was already proving its worth!
In no time at all, the winged koolari slumped to the ground, dead. Alma rose into the air, while a rainbow-colored ribbon of light swirled around her. The dragonling cried out her victory to the air while she went hunting for more prey.
More screams had echoed out in the night. The koolari, seeing that they were trapped and could no longer hide in the darkness, went on the attack. Guards and sprites alike cried out as talons raked their bodies. The warband was not helpless, however. Yoshi jumped high and sliced through the wing of a koolari that made the mistake of swooping too low. It fell to the ground and was quickly stabbed to death by other members of the war party. Two more had been brought down by well-placed, imbued arrows. As strong as the monsters were, once they were on the ground, they were easily overwhelmed by sheer numbers and hacked to death.
The battle went on for a few more minutes, but soon enough, all of the monsters were brought low. The last three tried vainly to escape after the rest of their pack was slaughtered, but they still couldn’t overcome the power of Hisako’s spell. Richter shouted that he wanted them alive, and one by one, imbued arrows struck their wings and forced them to the ground. After that, it was a relatively simple, if dangerous matter to shoot them until they were within inches of a true death. Alma would swoop in afterward and drain them, capturing their souls as well. Prompts filled Richter’s vision.
Know This! As a Battle Sergeant serving beneath a Battle Leader, you are entitled to keep 50% of the total War Points earned.