“Ek vili drepa þú allr!” (I will kill you all!”) Cynrik spat out the words in familiar Norse while grabbing the bloodied spear off the ground and facing the village below.
With eyes glowing the same shade of amethyst purple as his Húðflúr, Cynrik scanned with radar-like precision through the steam, searching for the one who had harmed Benny; seconds later, he located a fierce-looking Kobold wearing scaled armor and still standing in a javelin throwing stance. This was all Cynrik needed to see, and after charging 20 MP of Dark Mana into the spear in his right hand, Cynriks muscles bulged heavily before violently throwing the weapon while using his Wind Affinity to correct its course.
Down below in the cloud of steam, a Reptilian Kobold Warrior wore a look of concern; he was the first of his kin to spot the strange blue blob floating above their sacred pool, so being a proud and Dragon Fearing reptile as he was, he did the first thing his tiny lizard brain told him to and attacked the ball from below. However, instead of the result, he had been expecting, his attack seemed to anger this strange blue blob because it began spitting out a mist the likes he had never seen before.
Rooted in his throwing stance and scared that he had angered the Dragon God, the Kobold dared not move even his smallest finger in fear of death. His snake-like amber pupils turned into thin slits as he watched the mist descend on the whole village and bathe it in cool darkness the likes his race had never experienced.
But just when he was about to turn and run to the great elder’s home, he heard a thin whistling coming from above. Finding the noise strange, he flicked out his tongue, tasting the air while tilting his head to the side in confusion. The noise was oddly familiar, but his pea-sized brain couldn’t register where he had heard it. If he had, then he could have avoided the conclusion that came about a breath of time later.
BANG!!!
Cutting through the cloud of steam like a knife through butter and moving faster than the speed of sound, the spear blasted a hole the size of a bowling ball through its owner’s chest before burying itself from sight in a crater three meters deep.
The Kobold warrior’s brain couldn’t even register what was happening as the hole within its chest started to emit a cold dark light, spreading through his whole body, quickly decaying his flesh and armor to mush in an instant. Unable to mutter a sound, the Kobold Warrior who had nearly killed Benny died by rapid decay and a massive hole in his torso, leaving only the small gem-like Codex in the place he once stood.
The being who had thrown the spear had already turned his back and was tending to Benny once again. After firing off the spear like a railgun, he felt exhaustion weigh on his body as the Húðflúr stopped glowing and retook their usual appearance. Cynrik didn’t miss the fact that killing the source of his anger seemed to pour cold water on it, calming him down.
-Quest Updated-
-Subjugate Kobold Soldiers: 1/84- (incomplete)
-You have killed a Level 23 Tier-2 Reptilian Kobold Spearman-
-You have killed a being twice your level; rewards will be doubled.-
-You have received 46,000 XP-
-You have received 2 STR-
-You have obtained 1 KIN point.-
– A Tier-2 Fire Affinity Codex has been located.-
-Since the Host has wholly destroyed the being’s body, the System has retrieved the dead being’s Codex, duplicated it, and deposited them into your inventory.-
Unbothered by the spam of notifications from his kill, Cynrik knelt down and placed his index and middle fingers against Benny’s carotid artery feeling for a pulse. Cynrik picked out the slow pulse of blood rushing under his fingers with closed eyes, causing him to heave a sigh of relief. Silently, since the moment Benny had been hit by the spear, Cynrik had been beating himself up for not noticing the Kobold nor the spear he threw until it was too late.
In reality, it wasn’t his fault, nor the rest of the party, who, although on high alert, somehow missed the attacker, to begin with. Instead, there were a lot of critical factors in play that had compounded into them being caught unaware by the sudden violent attack. For starters, the spear itself was made from the same stone as the huts, allowing it to easily blend in with the buildings it traveled past before arcing into the air silently. Next, the Kobold attacker was initially on his way from home to the training fields and was in between two different huts, hidden from the sight of Brance and Cynrik by the bright shining stone.
The only one who could have potentially spotted him was Gabby, but at that moment, she had been facing the opposite direction, and only when she turned did she see the spear impacting her brother. All of these things together turned the brainless lizardman into a perfect assassin against the members of MyrkLys.
Cynrik had already roughly figured out that the Kobold had been in his blind spot but still felt he should have been able to at least bat away the spear. As he stood over Benny, giving him one last scan to be sure he was patched up, a random quote his Father on Earth used to say popped into his head.
“Wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up first.”
It applied to the current circumstances perfectly. No matter how much Cynrik wished he could go back and stop the attack, he couldn’t; all that could be done now was first aid.
Down below, Brance had jumped Gabby, covering her mouth with his hand while reactivating [Vanish], he could feel her tears trickling on his hand, but he didn’t dare move. Hearing movement in the building underfoot, Brance knew if he didn’t silence the girl now, they would be found. Forcefully turning Gabby’s head to face him and locking eyes with her, Brance gave her as reassuring of a look as possible wordlessly.
[Cyn, sitrep (Situation Report).]
[First aid applied, used three pots (potions), and cleaned the wound with [BlackFire], pulse is slow, but he’s breathing and alive. However, I suspect he will be out of commission for a while.] Falling back into the militaristic way of speaking they had both grown used to in their previous life, Cynrik swiftly filled Brance in on how Benny was doing.
[Copy, I’ve got Gabby under control, but there is movement below us. Plus, when she saw Benny get hit, her scream forcefully canceled my skill, and we were exposed.]
Cynrik was silent for a moment, the wheels in his head turning rapidly while he tried analyzing their current and future moves; as was typical in combat, plans could fall apart instantly and constantly needed to be reevaluated on the fly. Now was a prime example. With Benny down, Cynrik was required to make several adjustments, especially when it came to the Shaman. Without a second tank, things would get a bit dicey.
‘Tobs, what’s the maximum range of my [Shadow Veil], and can I cast it on someone with the said distance between us.’
-Maximum distance is currently 2.5 meters; as for the second question, so long as the target is within the radius of your skill, you can move separately. Unfortunately, the plan you are currently thinking of will not work unless you upgrade your Tier-0 [Shadow Veil] with skill points.-
Clicking his tongue, Cynrik pulled up his Stats and saw he only had 52 SP left over. He only slightly regretted burning the 75 points on his [Shadow Sewing] earlier but quickly collected himself since there was no point in crying over spilled milk. Not dwelling on it longer, Cynrik shifted his attention to his skills and brought up [Shadow Veil].
-Tier-0 Shadow Veil: 0/25-
-Shadow Veil – The user cloaks themselves in a thin mist of shadows to reduce their presence from anything within 5 levels of themselves.-
– The user can complete or receive one attack under the veil without deactivation; any more than that, and the skill will forcefully deactivate.
-Active range 2.5-meter radius with the user as the focal center.-
-Cost 25 Mana Points to activate, 2 Mana Points per second to sustain-
Although Cynrik had been using the skill as a type of stealth, as time went on, he noticed creatures would sometimes look in his direction, and if he moved, they would perceive him, which severely limited his maneuverability. Luckily he had learned [Shadow Leap] recently and had used it to clear the distance of the village unseen, but now, it was time for an upgrade.
Making a pushing motion on the invisible notification window, Cynrik pumped 25 points into [Shadow Veil], triggering two more windows to pop up, one for confirmation and one detailing the changes his skill had undergone.
-You have assigned 25 Skill Points to your Tier-0 Dark Affinity Skill Shadow Veil.-
-Your Skill [Shadow Veil] has evolved into the Tier-1 Dark Affinity Skill [Cloak of Shadows].-
Cynrik took things one step further and, without reading the description, applied 25 more points. Once finished, he smirked while reading the effects of his new skill.
-Tier-1 Cloak of Shadows: 25/50-
-Cloak of shadows – Upon activation, the user congregates the ambient Dark Mana particles with the support of the Mana within their Codex to conceal themselves or up to four other beings. The concealing effect of this skill hides the target’s sight, smell, and sounds from outside beings within a strength gap of 1.5 Tiers.
– The user can complete or receive up to three attacks under the Cloak without deactivation; any more than that, and the skill will forcefully deactivate.
-If this skill is activated in predominantly dark places or at night, +15 points to AGI and DEX beings under its effect.
-Active range 50-meter radius with the user as the focal center.-
-Activation Cost: 35 MP +5 per additional targets.-
-Sustaining Cost: 2 Mana Points per second per target, the more distance between the focal center and targets under the effect of this skill, the higher the drain of MP.-
[Brance, adjustments have been completed, I’ve upgraded my [Shadow Veil], causing it to evolve into the Tier-1 skill [Cloak of Shadows,] extending its range to 50 meters.] Cynrik quickly cast his new skill and was marveled momentarily by the strange sensation that reminded him of when he entered the Shadow Realm for a second before picking up the unconscious Benny on his shoulder.
Turning around and facing the village below, his eyes met Brances, and he continued speaking.
[En route, I will deposit Benny on the roof of a building within my new range, allowing him to stay hidden and safe from our battle. The breaching procedure is the same, with the exception that I will be blowing open the door with a skill before moving around to enter from the side window; nothing else changes aside from the loss of our OT.]
With that said, Cynrik kicked off the ground, leaping down the hill and making his way towards one of the huts he had designated as Benny’s drop point.
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