179. Augmentation - 22

179. Augmentation - 22

"No, I do not know what a domain is," Zolast said as he poured himself another drink. I looked at the bottle, but he shook his head. "No drinks for you. It's your punishment for killing Tarug. Do you have any idea how much work I have to do to smooth things over?" he said.

"Fair enough," I said as I collapsed on the chair. I was still wearing my dark cloak, and we were currently in his tent, near the second battlefield. The combined efforts of Takis and Zolast had brought two spectacular victories. Minimal loss of life, and they captured the nobles that led from the front, along with a significant part of their armies. "Hopefully, the prisoners will make your life easier," I said.

"Not much," he said. "Ultimately, they are not all that valuable. Especially if the kingdom intervenes and targets us."

I sighed. "It looks like they need a distraction," I said.

"What kind of distraction?" Zolast said, looking tense.

I chuckled. "Nothing much. I'm thinking about finally putting that identity card you generated for us and visit Oniphia."

"Are you sure?" Zolast asked. "We didn't make any friends with Ralum with our performance today. They might try to target you."

"True, but this situation with the Domain is another aspect we're blindsided about. We need more information, or we won't even know what to ask the Princess."

"Are you going alone, or should we arrange an escort?"

"Alone is better. The city will be complicated enough without giving them any hostages."

"Are you sure? It's going to be tough."

I shrugged. "Sure. It's risky, but I'm already level eighty. Not to mention, our biggest fear was getting arrested. I doubt the Mayor would be daring enough to act directly, not after our battle performance. Even if he doesn't fear our revenge, he must be smart enough to realize that it would make us support the princess fully. It's the last thing they want under the circumstances."

"True," he said, and let the silence linger.

For a minute, he stayed silent. Then, he raised his hand, and another glass floated from the rack, and landed in front of him. He said nothing as he poured a drink for me.

I said nothing as I watched the mesmerizing movement of the dark liquid. It wasn't that I didn't know the risks of Oniphia. There was a reason we avoided the place for a month. Ultimately, it was the base of the enemy, with enough magical defenses to function as a prison.

Though, now that I was level eighty, my only concern wasn't being imprisoned or killed. I was confident that I could escape, but not without revealing far more of my abilities than I was comfortable with, to the point of making people ask uncomfortable questions about whether the hero actually died in the mess that happened.

A risk I had to accept.

I took a deep breath, swirling the drink before I took another sip. "It's going to be messy," I said. Zolast just nodded, which was understandable. We had discussed the potential benefits and risks of Oniphia several times.

Finding a way to train my Perception stat further had been much more challenging than training Strength and Agility. The best I could come up with was to focus on different aspects, first sight, then hearing, then mana. Occasionally, I even focused on other, less used senses like smell.

A long horseback ride with nothing to do was a suitable moment to focus on that stat. Agility, Strength, and Speed were too noticeable, and I was yet to discover a way to improve the others. And, even if I did, I'd rather improve Perception than Memory.

Since I was focusing on my senses, I wasn't surprised when I detected an ambush. It was only to be expected. Though, I was surprised when it was my sense of smell that first alerted me of the ambush. The enemy was still several miles away, but the weird smell that the cultists radiated was too distinct.

Of course, even without checking their presence, I knew the cultists were just pawns. Technically, they were the enemy of the church, but the timing of their appearance after their poignant silence was absurdly convenient.

The only question was whether they were here to actually assassinate me, or just to test me.

I could have easily changed my path to ruin that ambush, but that would reveal that my Perception was almost as high as my Agility. Considering the way Marquis reacted to my display of Agility, it might not be the best idea.

I let it go. It was likely a test as gathering a cultist force big enough to kill me even if I limited myself to what I had shown earlier was very difficult. And, even if they somehow did it, I could reveal Fekar's Speed. As long as I didn't combine it with Agility, I could act like it was a lesser class bonus.

I moved confidently, not afraid of the potential risks, even when the distance dwindled into three hundred feet. "Kill the heretic!" the cultists suddenly shouted, and a summoned giant beast appeared, charging toward me.

"Pathetic," I shouted even as I jumped off my panicking horse, a blast of Charisma enough to make sure the horse wouldn't run away in panic, my blades already drawn just as the cultists started attacking me with a mixture of spells and arrows.

I met the charge of the summoned beast halfway, dodging the arrows at the last possible second while delivering hit after hit to the beast, swaying around it to avoid its attacks.

Not using Strength truly made a difference. As the Holy Crusader, I could have taken down the beast in two sharp swings, while an Agility-first approach meant I had to dance around it for almost five minutes while constantly dodging the attacks.

The only challenge a slight one came from my absence of Destruction skill. Without its help, the destruction of mana was far more dangerous. Luckily, unlike the past, I had Intelligence Stat to help me with fine control, allowing me to maintain a thin shield to stave off its corrupting effect.

I could have quickened it if I really pushed myself, but I did not. After all, I had all those observers trying to test my limits. Instead, I played with the beast for five minutes without letting even an arrow touch me.

[Invader Slain]

[+1,391,831 Experience]

[+12 Authority]

"Now, let's get rid of the garbage," I said as I rushed toward the cultists, who charged to their deaths. The entire ordeal took five minutes, and not once, I acted like I struggled, treating it as a leisure break.

I would be too busy in Oniphia to deal with a bunch of reckless nobles that wanted to try their luck. My display here was a warning to them. I hoped that they heard it.

They wouldn't enjoy the remedial class.