Mercy
"When are we going to reach the target, sir?"
The inquiry came from a gentle-faced man, tall and slender with kind eyes.
He wore a white robe with a black leather belt.
The belt fastened the robe to his body tightly, making him look even skinnier, and a single white symbol was engraved on his belt.
The symbol is an open white eye, with a golden pupil in the middle.
"We have around 10 minutes till we get there; according to the reports, all of the disappearances occurred around the cave."
The one who answered was a large, burly man with a coarse voice that sounded like a voice burnt by inhaled ashes and smoke.
Considering the fact he was in a burning village not too long ago, it was understandable.
His outfit comprised of a thick leather shirt, tight on him with several waist-hugging straps holding it all in place.
His muscles are defined but not overly bulky, showcasing strength and agility. His skin is a smooth, pale hue, and his pointed ears peek through a mane of long, flowing hair.
His pants were made of leather but the knees were plated with some blue metal, with a volcanic look that resembles obsidian.
His eyebrow was recently cut in the middle, and a long, thin scar that reached just above his left eyelid appeared there, sinking its mark on his skin.
"Are you sure we'll be able to capture them alive? Forget capture, can we even kill them?"
Said a female elf with a slender, petite frame, exuding ability.
Her physique is graceful, and judging by the bow on her back, she's trained for swift, nimble movements rather than brute force. Her attire is lightweight, optimized for speed, and she wears a finely crafted quiver on her back. Her hair is styled short to keep it out of her face, and her keen, observant eyes are always focused. Despite her small stature, she moves with quiet confidence and wields her bow with an exceptional awareness of their surrounding.
The leader of the trio raised his scarred eyebrow, surprised at the question.
"We've been hunting bears and fighting in small skirmishes with those bastards for years together.
We lost some battles, but we learned our lessons. If you and I keep faith till the end of the fight they'll surrender soon."
"You do remember that each of those times we lost was against god's children? And more than that, they are known to develop extremely fast. Even if we can find them, who knows if the three of us can take them out at this point."
In such a tense atmosphere, the girl's eyes narrowed, and her usually steady hands trembled slightly as she gripped her bow.
Her eyes dart nervously between her surroundings and her bow, fiddling with the handle to remind her she's armed.
"Do you have a bad feeling, Alyssa?"
"I think that considering the fire mage who killed Bronn and Tim is in that cave, we can't expect him to be defenseless. He must have made several traps, or at least decoys to take a cheap shot at us."
Thinking about such a terrible fate like the one their teammates faced half a year ago against that fire mage in the elven kingdom, they started to doubt this campaign.
'the amount of times we were sent against the children of god is unseen throughout the continent.
We shouldn't take it easy; we lost 2 of our warriors last time, and they were silver-rank warriors.
A normal bronze mage can win against several bronze warriors on his own, but to kill 2 silver warriors? And doing it in the heart of our empire, surrounded by numerous bronze warriors? That is ridiculous power.'
"We should retreat. If there was only one bronze then we could take him out with the element of surprise, but considering that there might be two of them now... I can't say we'll take them out on our own, even with your healing Gabriel."
The embarrassed elf mage stood with a flushed face, his typically composed demeanor faltering. He fidgets with the hem of his robe, avoiding eye contact.
"Then it's agreed? We're going back, Hans?"
The elven warrior stands on the edge of the dense, shadowed forest looking lost in thought. His usually calm demeanor is painted by a fleeting flicker of uncertainty. The surrounding silence is punctuated only by the distant rustle of leaves, and the moist smell in the air.
"Yes Alyssa, it's beyond our level.
We need to ask his highness how to handle the situation.
I can't let the squad suffer further injuries or even casualties for nothing.
And We can't keep on sending adventures. Ever since the guild posted that bounty we saw more than 20 bronze warriors going missing.
It means they're likely as powerful as a well-trained bronze mage, maybe even both of them are."
Hans looked deeper into the woods, taking in the silence of the trees.
The trees are gnarled and twisted, their bark soft and dark as a result of the moist darkness that envelopes the trees.
Mist clings to the overgrowing plants, the distant chirping of birds heard from the direction of the cave.
'I have to get the squad to a suitable level, otherwise we'll be slaughtered by their spells.
A simple bronze child of god can be equal to a novice silver mage so underestimating them is only appropriate for the disheartening fools who marched to their deaths against them.
I find it hard to believe they knew where the enemy was when they died, as the fire mage hid in our tunnels for almost a month without any of us suspecting him.'
"Alyssa, we need at least some kind of new information to support our claim.
Do you see anything strange in particular? We mustn't retreat without a reason."
Her emerald eyes scanned the terrain with practiced ease. Clad in muted green and brown leathers that blended seamlessly with the surroundings, she was nearly invisible among the towering trees and ferns.
As she advanced, her sharp eyes detected subtle disturbances in the forest floor. A misplaced stone here, a slightly bent twig there...
Each small detail was a clue. She knelt beside a cluster of ferns, brushing them aside to reveal a barely discernible tripwire camouflaged with dirt and leaves.
Between two hard branches that were planted and hammered deep into the ground was a wire made of twine looped around the branches and formed a small but thick line.
'according to the maps, the cave is around 300 meters forward.
If they managed to conceal traps and not have them discovered and reported it means that they're quite new.
Most adventures in eldranor know to look for traps before taking a bounty.
It looks like there are fresh footprints too, most likely this early morning but not before as the rain would have washed it surely if it was before then.'
Taking a few more moments to think, Hans and Gabriel were on guard seeing the trap in front of Alyssa.
Gabriel took out of his vest a healing elixir he made for this scenario, especially for quick uses in case of sudden attacks.
The disadvantage is that while using the elixir, one's body can lose quite a bit of energy that will be used up in the accelerated healing process.
'being tired is better than being dead.' thought Gabriel.
"Alyssa, we need to get out of here now. This can't be the work of that fire mage alone; there are several footprints here and some weird sunken rock formations."
What Hans didn't know is that those dents in the grass were made by Gaia's steel minions.
But the most important thing they didn't know, is that they're being watched right now.
....
"Are you sure they're near that trap? I don't want to blow it for nothing, we will just attract more attention..."
The boy's golden pupils shrank in anxiety, knowing this was a very difficult outcome guessing game.
A couple of minutes ago one of Gaia's minions was harvesting mushrooms in the forest, like he did for the last few days under her orders.
Only now, he sensed a couple of people in the forest.
While the steel golems can't see or sense their foes, they can sense the seismic waves in their surrounding.
Although very vaguely, they can sense that people are approaching the cave.
Most of the animals nearby have stopped coming near the cave so it was safe to assume only elves were anticipated there.
"Fang, I can assure you that Gaia's Intel isn't incorrect. She showed me how good her golems can sense our unwanted visitors...
If she says that there is a minor movement in the forest, it can't be some pigs. They stray away from here knowingly, you know it yourself since you're going to hunt further than usual lately."
The bearded man has sat on his chair at the entrance to the cave.
His right hand aimed towards one of the upper pipes, his left one lifting the chair to reach the pipe's entrance.
His leather sleeveless shirt has been dyed red with berries Gaia found nearby; his brown leather pants were made to be as agile as possible, so Fang cut up several lines through the leather to make it more stretchy.
The last part of his new outfit was a pair of leather shoes with steel soles made by him and Fang together for the three of them.
They all wore something along those lines, but Fang chose to dye his shirt purple and stay with his old leather pants.
In the main room entered a beautiful double-horned woman with a beaming smile on her face.
Her clothes consisted of the same black dress she always wore, and her only change in clothing was the new shoes isgram made for them. Her hair was moist, and her horns were still wet from her shower.
She recently built a small underground room, and to her pleasant surprise, she found out the cave had an underground water reservoir.
She shifted the room to match her desires, and after two days, she made a round jacuzzi-like bath under Fang's advice with a metal tube leading upwards into the cave.
She sunken the ground in the underground room and blocked the reservoir with a strengthened steel wall.
From the wall to the bath there was a tube leading into the pool, connected to the reservoir.
The tube was made with a bronze-looking metal accompanied by a valve used to control the water flow.
"Well well, if it isn't the sleeping beauty... Have you had fun in your new bath?"
The bearded man remarked with a sly smirk.
"Yes, you should try showering too once in a while. It will clean your awful smell, but too bad it can't solve that awful personality of yours."
"Hmph!" Grumbled the dwarf, going back to his talk with Fang.
"Well, Gaia, while you were dozing off in the shower, fang and I were planning a way on how to deal with the intruders."
Gaia's smirk vanished, and now a serious and determined look in her eyes replaced it.
"I suggest blowing some traps. We'll surely chase them away this way." Said isgram.
"And then what? We'll wait for them to come back with even more people. Or worse, stronger people? Use your head, little man; I thought you had some brains in there."
"I can't imagine you have a better way, or did you plan to submerge them in your bath instead?"
"ENOUGH! You two should shut up for once and let me take action. I will go into the forest and use my scout to get a better view of them."
"Stop being ridiculous; you can't go alone. It's too risky." Said the dwarf with an insulting tone.
"Isgram, we should accompany the idiot don't you think? Maybe if they'll see 3 of us they'll leave us alone once and for all." Said Gaia with a resigned look on her face.
"The only way this ends is them marching with a small army towards us. We've all been leveling our skills lately and have been considered a threat as individuals. If they see us three together, they're going to categorize us as some sort of dangerous cancer. If we blow the traps, we'll scare them, but they won't get an accurate estimation of our power levels.
By the elven standard, fang can be considered a bronze mage and you and I Gaia can be considered almost silver thanks to your ability to manipulate the battlefield with your earth abilities, the versatile minions-making spells you have, and thanks to my combat experience, and offensive fire spells.
If Fang grows and starts building his undead army, we'll be able to scare them to such an extent that we'll be able to negotiate peace with them.
After all, we're not the only chosen ones in this world.
We all agreed to protect our kind, am I right?"
Both Fang and Gaia nodded their heads with a smile on their faces.
"Good. Now, we need to change things here. I don't have any power lust, nor do I feel like being in charge is fun.
I think Fang's development needs to be our most important matter right now.
Fang, your ideas are good, but you're not experienced enough to call the shots, my friend. You are thinking from a position of power correctly. Making peace, holding talks, and deterring the opponent. All good ideas.
Yet, both Gaia and I can see how dangerous and far more unrealistic right now.
For now, we need to build our strength.
There is a saying from my old world:
"Peace is made with strong enemies, not weak friends."
Now, do you two agree with me calling the shots around here?"
Gaia nodded hesitantly, but deep down, she knew that politics wasn't her forte. She knew how to use brute force to overwhelm her opponents, building walls to keep them away from her while sending golems to fight.
On the other side, fang sat and thought deeply.
If he lets isgram control the battle plans for the group, he'll have much more time to practice and meditate.
He'll lose control to gain power.
Fang straightened his look towards Isgram's face and looked deep into his eyes, peering into his soul.
"Isgram. So you promise me your only concern will be the well-being of all of us?"
Without any hesitation, isgram nodded.
"I do. I swear in the name of the gods that my only concern going forward will be to protect our kind. Gaia, do you accept my leadership?"
Gaia got up from her chair, Although shorter than Fang she was still taller than isgram.
She walked to him seductively, shaking her hips displayed by her long dress.
She reached him and put her hand on his cheek and smiled at him.
"If this is the man who leads us to battle, then yes I do. Finally, you've been behaving like a real man. Though don't be mistaken, I will continue playing with you oh my fearless leader."
She said it all with a mocking smile, yet she seemed actually happy.
"I appreciate it. Now get back to your seat before your leader punishes you."
Isgram said mirroring her smile.
Fang was too busy wanting to throw up from the cringe.
"Guys, this is gross. Do whatever you decide with the traps; keep me updated, though.
I'm going back to meditate."
{Name: Fang
class: Mage level 1, necromancer level 1.
Race: elf
age: 16
level: 3->4
HP: 30->60
MP:192->204
STR:6->7
INT:32->34
AGI:4->6
WIS:8->9
VIT:2->4
LUC:4
Passive abilities:
Passive MP regeneration level 3->4
resistance to magic level 1
swift feet level 2->3
butchering level 1->2
swordsmanship level 3
Active abilities:
Soul hunt level 3:
Mana cost: 40 MP minimum.
Scout Ghost Summon level 2:
Mana cost: 4.8 MP per meter.
Magic transfer: transfers MP between creatures.
Meditation level 2->4: Raises intelligence and restores MP: 13 MP per hour.
Double slash: One move, Two hits. 5 MP}
Consumer of Souls level 2: by raising the spirit of the dead, the user can absorb mana and experience
Mana cost: 0 MP.
Resurrection: by using the inner mana circles of the target, the user can reinvoke life Energy into the target.
The amount of mana used will decide the stats of the resurrected target.
Target Must have mana circles}