Chapter 257: Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 257: Calm Before the Storm

Surprisingly, even after another day went by, there was still no sign of the massive monster army. For some reason, the Giant decided to turn and went around the capital by about fifty kilometers to the north.

The King was at first happy to have avoided a potential disaster, however after the scouts came back, his expression darkened considerably.

The horde stopped north of Auralba and waited there as many more of those little monsters gathered. Hundreds of thousands of Goblins swarmed the land, devouring any living being in sight and leaving the land in shambles.

The scouts did their best to figure out how many monsters would attack, and a conservative estimation was about half a million Goblins.

Another tenth of that would be Hobgoblins and another tenth of that was the number of Orcs. They numbered in the thousands!

Even the massive Ogres and Orc Shamans joined the horde, and more of them were coming every hour.

It was a massive headache!

"So, basically" The King held his head in frustration. "We can expect an army a million strong in a few days knocking at our door?! That's horrible!"

His war advisors and other intellectuals in the throne room didn't know what to say. Even if they called forth every reserve soldier in the capital and even add the King's personal guard in the mix, they would still be outnumbered about ten to one!

"We'll have to employ that strategy it seems," The King sighed and gestured to one of his men, "Get in contact with the Guild, we don't have much time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

***

Gerald slept well. He was out for nearly twenty hours as his body slowly repaired itself. It was not a perfect recovery yet, but at least he could move his limbs now, even though it still hurt.

As for the others

The dirty job that fell on Sera required more than just simple manpower and a strong stomach. The gates of Auralba were sealed as the city expected an attack at any moment.

Minutes dragged on and soon they turned into hours. The entire day went by as Gerald was coming to grips with this interesting branch of magic.

He wasn't sure how the creature could attack his mind and make him hear stuff, but he now at least understood how to make life-like Illusions and manipulate Light much better. He could almost create perfect Invisibility now if he really concentrated.

Of course, that was if he was stationary or just moving slowly. Anything faster, like running, and he would be immediately discovered.

"Not bad, not bad!" he nodded, satisfied with his magic capabilities. "You did good for today, get some rest." He fed the Pixie and let it take a breather. It was extremely exhausted after a full day of magic exercise.

***

The following day he received the news that his request was completed, and the goods were safely stored away.

A storage facility was rented near the northern wall, basically, just a big open warehouse that now had a few wagons of manure stored inside.

"Good, excellent!" Gerald rubbed his hands together. "Get a few people to refine it according to these instructions." He handed over a piece of paper with a detailed explanation of the specific steps required to extract what he wanted.

"Big brother Gerald," a girly voice called. Stretching his neck to see who it is, he noticed it was Qiona.

"What is it, my dear?"

"I managed to create the potion you wanted!" Qiona handed over a vial and smiled proudly.

"Already?" Gerald took the potion and examined it. "Verry good, the quality of this Mana Elixir seems to be excellent! Good work!" he praised.

Qiona blushed a bit and hid behind her hands as she giggled happily. "Now that I have figured out how to make them, I'll be able to make many more!"

"Excellent!" Gerald exclaimed. "Just focus on making these for now, we will need them for the war. The rest are not as important at the moment."

The little Dark Elf girl nodded happily and left his room to produce more potions. She enjoyed her work and was learning tons of new stuff every day. It was the best environment she could have wished for.

And Gerald got himself a good and reliable worker, it was a win-win, really.