Wolfe flipped open the lens covers on the scope and watched in amazement as the sight self-adjusted for the distance to the target and wind speed. It looked like a zombie, a mundane soldier with half his face torn to shreds and blood soaking his uniform.
Wolfe activated just the [On Impact] and [Gravity] spells, then aimed at the zombie and smoothly squeezed the trigger. Despite the fact it was equipped with what was called a silencer, Wolfe found that the weapon was actually still rather loud. Not loud enough to be heard from across the lake but loud enough to be easily detected if there was someone nearby.
The bullet hit the zombie in the chest, crushing its ribs and blowing a hole out the back while flinging it to the ground like a broken marionette.
The figure in green didn’t hesitate and began to run again, leaving the body behind.
Wolfe was satisfied with his good deed for the day and was about to head back when more movement caught his attention, followed by shouting and drawn weapons searching the trees on the far side of the lake.
One of the soldiers draped a blanket over the zombie, and Wolfe realized he had made a minor miscalculation. That wasn’t a zombie. It was an injured enemy soldier.
Wolfe moved back a little so he was behind a log and watched the soldiers with [Detect Hidden]. They were mad. Really mad. He couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, but he did pick out “How did she get a gun,” followed by gestures of denial and random pointing into the trees.
Maybe it was an escaped prisoner? Not that it really mattered. You were supposed to shoot enemy soldiers. That’s why they were called enemies, right?
Speaking of which, they had gathered into a tight cluster back to back and were lifting binoculars to search the area.
Wolfe slowly shifted so his rifle was exposed, letting the white cloth of the armour spell keep it hidden from sight as much as possible.
Again the scope calculated the necessary adjustments, and Wolfe activated all three enchantments before sending the round their way.
His target ducked slightly as the bullet flew, causing him to take the shot to the head instead of the upper chest. His skull vaporized a split second before the [Fireball] exploded, burning the backs of his comrades to charcoal and setting the bodies alight with unholy flames.
That was convenient. In a few minutes, there would be nothing but ash for anyone to find.
Wolfe waited until it was nearly dark, but nobody came looking for them, so he crawled back into the cover of the stand of trees and returned to the bunker to report his findings.
“Did it work?” Priya asked as soon as he entered, pure curiosity on her face.
“Better than expected. We can call this one a resounding success, and the scope makes the process idiot resistant.”
“I think you mean foolproof.”
“I said what I said.”
Priya chuckled while Stephanie rolled her eyes at him and moved to the Witch’s lap to rest.
“If there was one group of soldiers this close, there we’ll be many more nearby. The mundane armies rarely operate in small groups except to infiltrate, so we will have to be careful about attracting the attention of a whole Company before we have identified their camp’s location and how to avoid it.
We can start on that tomorrow and also keep an eye on the destroyed vehicles. If they’re planning to stay in the area, they will come looking for everything that they can scrounge, just like we did with the monstrous pigs.”
Even without magical heat, the deeper chambers were much warmer than the first one that they had made near the surface. Wolfe wasn’t sure if the heat was normal for a deep underground bunker, but he was enjoying it.
Even sleeping alone, he woke up warm and rested.
Priya was sleeping while Stephanie kept watch, of sorts, listening for movement outside their hideout. The entrance was hidden behind a wall of actual rock, not an illusion or magical ward, so they shouldn’t attract any attention, but you could never be too safe in the Wastes.
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm
[Do you want to watch the camp, or are you coming out to join the search party today?] Wolfe replied.
[Priya is eager to search for any lingering stragglers from her unit, so I will watch the cave. She might have to get closer to reach anyone, though. The witches all retreated when they realized the gas wasn’t just smoke.]
Priya woke up with her alarm only a few minutes later and immediately switched to snow-patterned armour, leaving no doubt that she intended to head out immediately.
“If you want to send a report back and try to contact the unit directly, I will go search for the army unit that the guys I shot yesterday were from. Then we can meet up at lunch and work out a plan.
We’re not incredibly far from the original camp, so anyone who can make it there could get to us within a day. That means reinforcements shouldn’t have a problem finding us if I find a large enough force that they will want to deal with it.” Wolfe suggested.
“Then I will search for edible monsters instead. They won’t have any more news today than they did yesterday since the injured units, including ours, will still be retreating to the city.
This isn’t the first time we have been gassed by humans or suffered a plague, though this one is different than usual. The treatment will change, but the quarantine camp outside the walls of the city will still be the same.”
She paused for a moment, then continued. “Are your witches still able to reach you?”
Wolfe thought about that for a moment and realized that he still felt most of them drawing mana from him, but it was only a trickle, which seemed to be the limit of what they could get at this distance. The link also felt fuzzy in an unnatural way, and Wolfe was certain that some of the witches had come close to having their link broken by the nerve gas that the mundane army had used against them.
“Most of them. I can’t tell them apart at this distance, but at least six of the nine are still able to use my mana at the moment.” Wolfe replied.
“You can work on that after you find the enemy camp. Try to keep all the links active. It will help the bond grow. If you can get them more mana, they should figure out that you are alright as well. They might be holding back in fear that you will need all the reserves you can get.”
Wolfe nodded in agreement. “We’ve got our plan then. Stephanie will watch the cave while we are out so nothing nasty gets in. We don’t need any surprises this soon into our time in the Wastes.”
