Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley Read online

  "So, what's the plan? Attack from two sides? Or do we just ram straight at 'em?" Virer asked.

  "I vote for the simultaneous attacks. I like its symmetrical advantage. We disorient them and divide their attention." Courant added.

  Mamelon looked at Earat, and asked his opinion.

  "What about you? What do you think?"

  "Don't look at me. I've never been in a battle of this magnitude. The largest skirmish I've been in, involved only twenty people, and that was fifteen of us versus five of them."

  "Alright, why don't we go for broke. I also want to see the Bowed Fishermen's attack power."

  She looked to her two second-in-commands and said.

  "Courant, gather your division of a hundred men and take the left side. Virer, you do the same on the right. I'll take the center."

  "For our battle formations. It'll be Knights then Shamans then Bowed Fishermen, I presume?" Courant asked.

  "Yes, and make sure that we don't have any casualties. I promised Sierra that I'd increase our guild." stated Mamelon.

  "Are you sure it's Sierra that you're worried about, and not a certain Flame Knight?" jived Virer.

  "Hmmp. Why would I care about what you think?" Mamelon answered back and briskly walked towards her bronze jackal.

  "I'm not talking about me, you ninny. I'm talking about Ilad. Argh! Come on, Courant. Let's just finish this already." said an annoyed Virer.

  "You know you deserved that, right?" Courant said to Virer as they walked towards their own mounts.

  Each attack division comprised of eighty Bowed Fishermen, twenty Iron Knights, five Shamans, and three Elemental Knights. They gathered in their designated locations and waited for further instructions.

  With all three attack divisions in place, Mamelon signaled the start of the aardwolves slaughter. Virer and Courant's sides attacked together.

  The resting aardwolves were taken by surprise. The beasts howled as they warned their kin for invaders. A series of howls echoed throughout the monsters' open den.

  Virer and Courant performed their roles admirably. The Iron Knights banged their weapons against their shields and created an irritating noise which taunted the aardwolves into a frenzy.

  The monsters' attention were solely focused on the Knights, and allowed the Bowed Fishermen to release their arrows at their own leisure.

  It took twenty arrows for a sole aardwolf to die, and the Bowed Fishermen coordinated their attacks well. Shamans diligently healed the tanking Iron Knights with Shallow Heal while they blessed the Bowed Fishermen's arrows with Lesser Fire Enchantment. The specialized Fishermen's Bow Fishing ability gradually gained experience as they continued on with their attacks.

  As Virer and Courant's attack division fought against the aardwolves, Mamelon's men laid dormant and camouflaged. She waited for the right moment to strike.

  Five minutes into the battle, and the two Elemental Knights' divisions killed a total of sixty aardwolves. Yet, after their successful attack, the two divisions slowly retreated by twenty-meters.

  The Aqua Knight snickered as the aardwolves took advantage of their gained footing and pushed her army back even further apart. Little did the beasts know that this was her intention from the start.

  Mamelon's lieutenants created a gap as they retreated from the divided pack of aardwolves. When the distance between the monsters became fifty-meters, she raised her Charnel lance into the air and yelled. "Charge!"

  Her division of 125 men and women ran out from their hiding places, straight into the gap between the two divided aardwolves pack.

  Mamelon's Bowed Fishermen used their advantageous position and attacked the exposed backsides of the aardwolves. They dealt twice their normal damage and even got in some critical hits.

  The third division's sudden attack confused the rampaging aardwolves. Mamelon's Iron Knights not only defended their division but played a more offensive role.

  They used their shields to push back the aardwolves who turned to face them and then pierced the striped monsters with their long spears.

  The aardwolves who changed position to defend against the Aqua Knight's strike force were targeted by Courant and Virer's Bowed Fishermen. Painful back attacks came for the beasts no matter where the monsters faced. With Mamelon's complete strategy in play, it took them ten minutes to wipe out the 500 striped monsters.

  As Mamelon's men collected the aardwolve's loot, she asked Earat to lead them to his friends' barricaded cave. When they got to the entrance of the blocked cave and removed the rocks, they were greeted with an empty cave instead of finding Earat's friends.

  "Well, where are they?" Mamelon asked.

  "Louche said that they were bored with waiting. So, they logged out for a while. They'll be back soon."

  Courant and Virer exchanged suspicious looks. Before they could say anything, Earat called out the Aqua Knight and grabbed Mamelon's attention.

  "We could wait for them here or we could go to the village that gave us this subjugation quest."

  "Sure, why not? I'd also like to get some supplies for my men."

  As they walked out of the cave a Sonstwelter appeared out of thin air. It was a Rogue Halfing equipped with brown leather armor, studded with black metal spikes.

  "Earat, you really did it," said the Rogue.

  "Louche! Great timing, bud." The Scout turned to Mamelon and her lieutenants.

  "Everyone, I'd like you to meet, Louche."

  "Thanks for wiping out the aardwolves for us. The name's Louche. Nice to meet you all." The Rogue then gave a dramatic bow.

  "Looks like it's just me who's logged back in time. Were you guys headed to Ennui village?" Louche asked.

  "Yes, we were." Virer answered sternly.

  "Great! Mind if I join you guys? I'll just send my friends a message to come to Ennui village when they're back." stated Louche chummily.

  "Actually, I do." The Flame Knight shot back.

  Virer pulled Mamelon and Courant to a corner and whispered to them.

  "I don't trust these guys. They seem really suspicious."

  "I dunno? I'm not getting a bad vibe from them." Courant chimed in.

  "Virer, would you feel better if we asked Baldaquin to test them with the Circle of Truth?" Mamelon asked.

  The Flame Knight nodded. The Light Wizard, Baldaquin, inscribed a casting circle inside the cave. Virer didn't allow the Halflings to step out without getting tested.

  When Baldaquin finished the casting circle, he asked the two men in question to step inside it. The elderly Light Wizard then placed his hands on the casting circle and said.

  "Just a reminder, there are consequences if you don't answer a yes or a no. Now, let's begin."

  Then, the casting circle of truth was engulfed in a bright white light.

  "Do you have any hidden agenda towards Mamelon and her men?"

  "No, of course not. We're just happy that she helped people that she didn't know."

  As soon as Earat finished his answer the casting circle of truth turned green, but an electric bolt attacked the two men inside. They were electrocuted for 10,000 damage points each.

  Virer and Courant laughed hard. They always amused themselves with the people who couldn't follow Baldaquin's instruction. Partly because they were once victims themselves.

  The elderly Light Wizard's wrinkles contracted. Mamelon clearly heard his irritation as he reminded Earat and Louche once more.

  "Tsk. Like I said, limit your answers to yes or no. Do you understand?"

  Both of them answered. "Yes, yes, yes, yes."

  This time, the casting circle of truth turned green without the electric shocks.

  Baldaquin proceeded to ask more questions about their identities and intentions. All of which they passed with green colors. He nodded at Mamelon which meant that they passed his questions, but Virer had one last question for them.

  "Do you know anything about Smoke's guild?"

  Both Earat and Louche looked at each other and a
nswered at the same time.

  "Smoke? The famous DarkElf? I didn't know he had a guild."

  Earat answered which made the casting circle of truth, lit up with green electricity and electrocuted them for one last time.

  As both of them passed Baldaquin's questions, Mamelon agreed to go with them to Ennui village.

  They only traveled for an hour to get to a barren land with hundreds of excavated holes. She observed that there were pickaxes and carts full of dirt near the holes.

  Ten more minutes and they saw a settlement with less than twenty small wooden huts. She wondered why the Halfling had taken them there.

  As she was about to ask why Earat, a notification window popped up.

  + Entered The rundown Village of Ennui

  Formerly a gold mining village. It used to hold up to 2,000 residents. Until a horde of aardwolves came and plagued them. This village currently has a population of thirty.

  Mamelon saw Louche head for the hut in the center. A muscular, middle aged woman came out and greeted the Rogue.

  "Greetings, Elder Tapang. My Friends and I have done the impossible. We've slain all 500 aardwolves."

  Louche said as he pointed to Mamelon and her 325 men.

  "Are you sure?" Tapang doubtfully asked.

  Mamelon called for her regiment to display their loot. Her men laid out 308 aardwolf pelts, 402 aardwolf fangs, and 392 aardwolf claws which they collected earlier.

  "Praise Cuezaltzin! As agreed upon, let me reward you with these three Gold Divination Rods and six gold nuggets. With the aardwolves gone, I'm sure we could revive this village in no time."

  Louche hurriedly grabbed the rewards, but Earat pulled him back. He then turned to Mamelon and said.

  "You should get the reward. We may have started the quest, but there's no way we could have finished it without your help. Although, I do hope you remember that we did defend this village and start this quest."

  "Wait, what? Oh, hells no!" Cried out the Rogue.

  Mamelon smiled as Louche profusely protested.

  "Thanks, Earat, but Louche is right. You guys deserve this reward. Although, I wouldn't mind if you could spare us one of the Gold Divination Rods and one nugget?"

  "Yeah, sure. Let's go with that." Louche quickly answered.

  Mamelon received their share of the quest reward. Before they could leave, Earat stopped her for one last question.

  "Do you think we could join your guild?"

  * * * * * *

  After Smoke settled the misunderstanding with the Centaurs, he secretly called Ichaival and Espion and asked them to follow him from a safe distance. Although, the Centaurs stopped the attack, Smoke wouldn't take the chance of placing Ichaival and Espion in danger.

  His new found friends, aged twenty to twenty-eight, were their village's leaders in training. Smoke and the Centaurs journeyed back to their home village of Pferde.

  Since Smoke could glide, Rudel suggested that they fly to his village while the rest of the Centaurs follow them on the ground.

  Igniz orbited around Smoke as they flew. During their flight, Smoke kept on staring at Rudel's two massive wings. The white feathered wings spread wide at a wingspan of eight-meters, from Rudel's horse half.

  "From the looks of it, I guess you've never seen a Volataur?" Rudel asked.

  Smoke struggled with the wind resistance from their flight, but he shook his head and answered. "No, never. I've never even heard of a Volataur."

  On the other hand, Rudel spoke with ease. The wind pressure did not bother him at all.

  "That makes sense. There's only one in a thousand Centaurs that are born to be Volataurs, because of this we're given the right to be the village elder."

  "So you're the village elder at Pferde?" Smoke asked.

  "No, no. Our current elder is called Deropa, but I'm next in line after he dies. There's only three Volataurs in Pferde at the moment."

  "That's good to hear." said Smoke.

  Smoke's mind began to scheme on how to make the Centaurs into their allies against Duke Burmistrz.

  He was distracted from his thoughts when the Volataur asked him a question.

  "By the way, I'd like to ask how you managed to keep up with me when we fought using Earth Manipulation. I've never seen anyone last as long as you."

  "Hm. Let me check. Status Window."

  Character: Smoke

  Level: 102

  Job: Beggar

  Race: DarkElf

  Alignment: Neutral

  Money: 20,000,000 zecs

  Fame: 887

  Titles: (+ to all stats)

  Condortl Savior (+2)

  5th Swordsman To Knight (+1)

  King of Maneators (+4)

  Pet: None

  Life: 165, 850 HP

  Mana: 192,991 MP

  DEX: 605(+27)

  STR: 145(+27)

  AGI: 30 (+517)

  VIT: 10 (+104)

  INT: 140(+37)

  Wisdom: 90 (+37)

  Leadership: 100 (+7)

  Charisma: 25 (+7)

  Luck: 999

  Attack Speed:25(+71)

  Movement Speed:65(+15)

  Defense:2,513(1/4)

  Weapons:

  Power Chainsaw Bow: 135-148(1/4)

  Attack: 7,888-8,548 (1/4)

  Chain & Sickle of Dasende: 245-257(1/4)

  Attack: 11,135-17,348 (1/4)

  Elemental Resistance:

  Elemental Affinity:

  Fire: 85%

  Dark: 54%

  Poison: 44%

  Wind: 25%

  Water: 20%

  Earth: 20%

  Lightining: 20%

  Fire: 75%

  Earth: 60%

  Poison: 20%

  Wind: 5%

  Lightning: 5%

  Equipment Effects: (1/4)

  *Hooded Cape of Cologus

  +20% Earth Affinity, +20% Wind Affinity,

  +20Strength, +20 Dexterity

  *Claws of Chiropterra

  +15% Earth Affinity

  *Heart of ReenTe

  +30 Vitality

  *Sable Wizard's Surcoat

  +510 Defense, +10% All Resistance, + 15% Bonus EXP

  * Lunar Gravity Boots

  +15 Movement speed

  * Wise Ring of the Dire Fox

  +30 Intelligence, +30 Wisdom

  *Beggar Belt [1 stone]

  Skill Effects:

  * Agility of the Horned Rabbit (Agility + 510)

  * Cooking (Vitality + 67)

  * Dual Wield (Attack Speed + 71)

  * Knife Mastery (Knife Damage + 66%)

  * Bow Mastery (Bow Damage + 84%)

  "I have over 190,000 Mana. Maybe that's the reason why I could keep up?" said Smoke with uncertainty.

  "Hmm, that is sort of high." Rudel looked unconvinced. "What about your Mana regen?"

  Smoke happily obliged him because he wanted full intimacy points with the future Elder of Pferde village.

  "Alright, let me check that too. Regen Window."

  HP Regen: 14/second

  MP Regen: 100/second

  "One hundred Mana per second?" Rudel replied in disbelief. "But your HP regen is really low. I'm guessing you focused your stat growth on, Intelligence?"

  "Yes, I did, but now I'm growing my Wisdom." Smoke replied.

  "And what about this dark ember sprite? I've only seen the red and orange ones. How did you get him?" asked the Volataur curiously.

  "Funny thing really. I was out looking for an electro stone, but got Igniz as a treasured friend instead." replied Smoke proudly.

  Rudel whistled loudly. "Earth Manipulation, Flight, Wisdom, and a trusty dark ember sprite. I knew you were the special person I was looking for."

  "Huh? What do you mean?" asked Smoke .

  "I'll let you speak with Deropa, and he'll tell you all the details." said Rudel.

  "Alright. I have a couple of questions, but I'll save them for later when I meet your elder."

  After an hou
r of flying, they finally saw the Centaur's village. Pferde stuck out like a sore thumb. Only the village and the muddy roads that came out of it broke the lush green fields around Pferde.