Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Announcement

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Saros the Gnome Inventor watched as the Miststorm Riders poured into the city. They rode through the destroyed sections of the walls. Their horses leapt over the fallen rubble. But before they could even reach the first row of houses, the [Magitech Tinkerer] tossed a little sphere that way.

“Explode for me, will ya?” Saros called out. He snapped his fingers as the [Bandits] looked down.

And the metallic ball detonated. It exploded into a flower of crimson flames. It enveloped the riders as they fell from their horses, burning and writhing on the ground. But there was no crater. The cobbled ground was lit ablaze, yet wasn’t shredded open. There was no rumbling of the earth or blast of shockwave that was typical of even the smallest of explosions.

The gnome dug into his Bag of Holding as he grinned, before producing another small sphere.

“Who else wants some?!”

A guard stood behind Saros, staring with wide eyes. “What is that artifact...?”

“That’s the Gnome Inventor you’re talking about,” a second guard said with a grin. “He probably handcrafted those spheres in his laboratory himself, so there’s no point asking about it. It’s probably a top secret project.”

The first guard gasped. “Woah. Are you saying we’re witnessing the first of its kind?”

“For sure. Also— they’re called magitech tools, not artifacts.”

Saros found his eyes twitching. He spun around and yelled at the two idle guards.

“What are you doing, you damn morons?” he screamed, and they jolted. “Go and help your friends out!”

“R-right!”

“Yes, sir!”

They both hurried into battle a moment later. Saros shook his head and grumbled.

“Humans and their stereotypes,” he sighed. “Just because I’m a gnome, doesn’t mean I’m a damn inventor.”

He really hated it whenever someone would just assume that a weapon or artifact he was using was some kind of magitech tool. Even if he was swinging around a literal dagger, humans would somehow construe it as a newly-engineered weapon.

However, the most annoying part was that the stereotypes were actually right for once. This was a new project he had been working on ever since he arrived in Whiteridge from the Frozar Mountains.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

After selling the necronomicon to a... slightly shady individual for a hefty sum of gold coins, he ended up with the funds to purchase a lot of new parts and components to create this little metallic sphere. He called it the Blooming Grenade.

All he had to do was press a button at its center, and a mechanism would activate. It was a magitech tool because it required no input of additional mana to activate, instead utilizing the mana previously stored inside its crux crystal. That was the main distinction between magitech tools and ordinary magical artifacts.

An artifact was a tool imbued with magic itself. It was already enchanted to carry out a specific task, and its user either had to activate the magic with their own mana in the case of scrolls or one-time use equipment, or it was a passive effect that didn’t need any activation.

Meanwhile, all magitech tools had a crux crystal built inside of them to store an external source of mana. It could be mana collected from the environment, or mana poured in by its creator. In any case, the crux crystal would be the source of mana so the magitech tool could operate, whether it was turning gears or powering a rune.

The only blessing was that the Miststorm Riders had decided to lay siege only to the eastern section of Whiteridge. The Gnome Inventor was expecting the [Bandits] to attack from all directions, at which point, a lot more destruction would have occurred. But for whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Perhaps the Guardian Angels really are watching over us... Saros shook his head, dismissing the thought. He stepped forward and looked back towards the pervading mist. While only the streets of Whiteridge were obscured by the white blanket, everything beyond the city’s walls were indiscernible. It was an impenetrable canvas, through and through.

He waited for the next wave of [Bandits] to emerge from the mist. About a thousand of the Miststorm Riders lay dead. Maybe more. But they were an organization of thousands. So surely that couldn’t be all of them.

And yet, even as Saros continued gazing into the white abyss in wait, nothing happened.

“Think they gave up?” Skye finally said, breaking the silence.

Deon frowned. “I doubt it. They just lost a thousand of their men. If anything, that would only upset them.”

The Silver Shade shrugged casually. “Then doesn’t this mean they’re planning some—”

And a powerful explosion interrupted her. It ripped through the western section of Whiteridge, an entire block of the city destroyed in a single blast. Saros, Deon, and Skye stared with wide eyes as a massive column of smoke ascended. The thin white mist blanketing over the street shimmered with a soft orange tint.

The raging flames rose high, and a second smaller explosion tore through another street. The three A-ranked adventurers exchanged a glance, before nodding at each other.

“Let’s go!” Deon said as he rushed forward.

Skye scooped up Saros and dashed ahead of the Virtuous Guard. The three of them quickly made their way through Whiteridge, reaching the other side of the city as more blasts echoed, tearing apart houses.

They arrived just before a large crater at the center of a junction. Dozens of city guards lay scattered at the site. Their charred bodies still wisping with smoke, freshly burnt. A pair of figures waited there for the A-ranked adventurers.

A young man and a young woman. They stood side-by-side, equally as tall as each other. They both had black hair, and they wore the same dark robes. Saros narrowed his eyes at their path of destruction.

“Be on guard— they’re at least A-ranks!” he called out as Deon stepped forward.

The Virtuous Guard just raised his halberd with a glare. “That is enough, you monsters! We won’t let you take any more innocent lives!”

“We are not monsters,” the two figures replied at the same time.

It was almost eerie. They both tilted their heads, then turned to face Saros as he leapt off Skye’s shoulder, their actions completely in sync.

“I am Ruven,” the young man said.

“And I am Ava,” the young woman said

Saros reached for his Bag of Holding, readying himself for battle. As he did, they simply spoke at the same time once again.

“We are the Graceful Twins,” they said in unison. “And we shall kill you.”

With that, they raised their arms and unleashed a massive fireball at the three adventurers.

MelasD

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