140. Development - 36

140. Development - 36

I ran back to Zolast after dropping the team at Town Maell, doing my best to ignore my worries about the potential danger they were about to face. I had trained them and empowered them and, if necessary, they had a team of guards they could mobilize to assist their escape if nothing else.

Hopefully, that would be enough.

It had to be.

Despite running as fast as I could, I was still quite a bit of distance away when a grand explosion filled the skies, one that was not inferior to the mana bomb the Greens tried to use against my outpost.

I ignored the temptation to dump some stat points to Speed to move even faster and kept moving at my original pace. Zolast didn't send me a message asking for help, which suggested that it was not an immediate threat against him.

Unlike the younglings, I trusted him to know exactly what kind of threat he could handle, and in which circumstances it was better to retreat.

It turned out to be the correct call, as when I arrived on the battlefield, I was met with a surprisingly calm view just a small group of cultists being slaughtered by the advanced military force of Baron Maell.

And, a smoking hilltop filled with burnt corpses.

Rather than stopping to examine the view, I approached our hiding spot, still pulling the carriage with me. Zolast was just returning to the wards he had built, the satisfied smirk on his face suggesting he had played something more than a small role in that explosion.

"I see that you went for a walk," I said as I pulled the cart under the wards, and opened one of the crates, not bothering to hide my own smile.

Working with truly competent people was always a pleasure.

"Something like that. I noticed that whoever built those layered mana wards didn't pay much attention to one of the overlapping sections, so I decided to give them a hand."

"Good work," I said. Zolast said nothing about whether what we had done was enough, and started placing the mana stones I brought along the silver runes he had created as the center of the defensive ward. "Anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"It's better if you watch," he answered. "It's a touch complicated."

"Understandable," I said as I turned my attention to the fight against the cultists who had raced down the hill. However, the fact that the ones with hidden armor were still waiting at the hilltop was not a good sign.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

It meant that Zolast's trick didn't ruin their plan, merely creating a setback.

While Zolast continued to work on the ward, I turned my attention to the hill. Particularly, towards the marks left by the explosion. It was mostly gathered around the edge, but spreading inward. I might not be an expert when it came to magic, but bombs and booby-traps, I was quite familiar with.

Reading the explosion pattern was easy.

"I'm guessing they had some kind of magical explosion that was designed to spread outside, and you fiddled until removing that directional aspect," I said.

Zolast frowned playfully. "No one likes a know-it-all, Mister Hero. But yeah, that's what I had done. A nasty plan they had."

"Any reason why you decided to trigger it early?" I asked.

"Our genius baron was getting restless, and decided to set up a charge. He looked determined to sweep all of them at once," Zolast explained.

I sighed. "Tell me he's one of the terrible nobles when it comes to strategy," I asked.

"Unfortunately, he's one of the better ones," Zolast sighed. "Most of the time, their problems are resolved through duels, with occasional assassination attempts sprinkled in. There are good commanders within the royal family"

"But the army they could command is limited in number," I completed.

"Exactly," Zolast said and turned his attention back to the defensive bulwark he was creating though it was still unpowered to avoid attention.

I continued watching the battle, ignoring the desperate, crazy screams of cultists as they threw themselves against the army that mowed them down easily. But, the more I watched the ease of the army taking down the cultists, the worse I frowned.

They were weak. Even weaker than the kidnappers I had to deal with who targeted the villagers constantly. They were sent in just enough numbers to bog down the army without breaking their confidence.

My guess: they were waiting for the rest of the army to appear. Whatever plan they had, they wanted the rest of the army to be there for it as well. I did my best to ignore the cries of the cultists being slaughtered, disgusted by the nature of the tragedy.

As I waited, I decided to make some last-minute preparations. I was going to be a brave knight and I needed the Strength to back it up.

[+25 Strength]

[-25 Stat Points]

Just like that, I was strong enough to match a lot of people that managed to reach level hundred.

[Class: Hero

Level: 46

Experience (0/118,117,440)]

[Health (540/800)

Mana (60/200)]

[Experience: 0]

[Authority: 17]

[STATS

Resilience: 50

Vitality: 40

Strength: 60

Agility: 35

Speed: 30

Perception: 50

Memory: 10

Charisma: 50

Attunement: 10

Concealment: 25

LOCKED]

[Stat Points: 100]

[SKILLS: Archery of Destruction (0X)]

[ABILITIES: Elevated Life - Intermediate - Human

Heroic Party (2) ]

[Alignment: Unaligned]

As I finished the assignment, a red flare filled the hilltop as the containment wards broke.

And monsters started to spew out of the tunnels.