Chapter 171: What help is a river?

The group ran with all their strength, arriving quickly at the river as they reached the top of a small hill: it was the river bed. Without hesitation, they continued to run for the river. The Vargr riders having closed the distance to just a hundred meters, slightly less.

The river was not large, nor was it deep.

Storing his spear, Eldrian jumped right in, finding it to only reach his knees. He had hoped it would be deeper; maybe it might have forced the beasts to find a new route. This would not do.

The river was also not wide, only around ten meters. Pushing onward Eldrian ensured that he did not surpass the group of women they had saved and were escorting.

"Go! Put all your strength into getting across!" Eldrian shouted, as if accomplishing this would save them. As he watched the women help each other across the last stretch, Eldrian heard the splash of water as the Vargr also reached the river.

Dammit, if only I knew... Eldrian cursed as he thought of all the things one could do with magic and a river. So many options, yet he had no way to accomplish any of the ideas which flew through his mind.

Eldrian, a meter from the edge, suddenly heard the whistle of an arrow. Turning he hoped to see a Vargr slowed and die from the attack. The targetted Vargr did not wish to die for Eldrian. It dodged to the side, through the water as if it was nothing.

The orc on its back was not as lucky as the Vargr. Unable to keep its balance it fell and the arrow struck true. This did not matter in the slightest, the orcs were the least of everyone's concerns.

Crap. Crap. Crap.Eldrian's head spun as everything slowed down. His mind searched for answers... For a hope to save everyone.

As everything slowed he stepped out of the river and kneeled down. Vivian and Sabrea took to his sides. Hoping to use the slightly slower speed of the Vargrs, to take them down as they tried to come to the dry land.

What can I do? Eldrian asked himself, finding that he was surprisingly calm at this moment. He realized that things seemed to be moving slower than normal. He could clearly see the Vargrs' vicious snarls as they sped across the river. The water seemingly parting to give them less resistance.

As Eldrian watched their actions he observed their wet fur. Soaked with water. Seeing this his thoughts all jumped to one conclusion:Lighting.

It was not something he had ever learned how to cast. He had no idea what mix of mana was needed to cast it, nor did he have a spell module to grasp onto. Still, it was the only thing he could think of to save everyone.

As Eldrian realized this he also realized how much he grew to care for everyone. The group of women excluded; since he had hardly had any contact with them.

He certainly did not want Sabrea and Floyd to die, having grown fond of both of them. Even Margit and Terlas, he did not wish to see them die. He felt he could call all of them friends after having spent over a week with each of them.

The most important was Vivian. Thinking of her Eldrian realized he really could not stand to lose her. He did not know why he cared so much and found it strange. When he thought of her death he felt his throat constrict and his heart pained.

I am here... Not be be useless! So think goddammit! Eldrian shouted as his thought reached this point and the first Vargr jumped to exit the river.

Vivian and Sabrea did not allow this, they had no idea what the plan was. Yet they followed Eldrian's lead. At least this way it took slightly longer for the Vargr to encircle them.

Vivian took the first Vargr, her now well-known fire attack, not ending it in one strike. She cut deeply into the Vargr's shoulder and caused it to collapse, yet it was still alive. Growling at her and stumbling to recover its footing, Vivian struck again. Ending its life in two attacks, where normally the attack would reap multiple lives.

What is lighting?Eldrian asked as he shut down everything in his surroundings. Missing how Sabrea tried her best to follow Vivian's example. Requiring five strikes to kill the first Vargr, allowing another to come out without any trouble.

Calmly Eldrian continued to talk to himself.It is a charge, energy, and an electrical current. But what does this mean? It ionizes, but what does this mean? It forms in clouds through static, but what does this mean?

His questions seemed dumb and nonsensical, considering their situation. Yet these questions helped Eldrian connect and remember things he had recently learned and what he had forgotten. Having continued his earnest research of what energy is, whenever he had time, Eldrian knew he did not know the answers. He only hoped he knew enough for something to come of it.

What does charge mean... Is it when electrons lose energy? No! Is it when electrons move? But why... What are electrons? Eldrian stopped thinking of this as he thought about the magic he hoped to call.Is it wind? No... Is it fire? No... Then what?

His thoughts reaching this point, Eldrian felt a strong hit against his shoulder. A piercing pain assaulted his mind. Block it out!He shouted to himself as he gritted his teeth and continued to focus. The pain he felt was not limited, it felt like something had pierced his shoulder in full glory. He did not care, other than gritting his teeth.

Eldrian did not hear Vivian's warning scream, nor her shout as she went berserk to kill the orc who had injured him. He was in a different state. It was not quite the abyss of magic, but it was similar.

Wind and light. A crazy amount of light, to give energy... To...Eldrian coughed a mouthful of blood as he tried to finish his thought. This caused him to lose his special mental state, luckily he had reached the conclusion he had needed. "Cause movement!" He shouted through the blood, as great fatigue assaulted him.

How?Eldrian asked in desperation, thinking of the beautiful pictures of lighting strikes he had seen.

Thinking of the image and his own imagination, Eldrian tried to imitate what the heavens did. Stretching out his one good arm, the other unable to move, Eldrian thought to himself.

Ions. I need ions...He did not know what this would be in mana, so he took a guess. He guessed that it was some wind with a large amount of light mana. He begged his body to follow his thoughts, he begged his mana to listen.

Slowly a purple glow extended from Eldrian's outstretched fingers. Reaching the river in a matter of milliseconds.

GO!Eldrian shouted to his mana, wishing for almost all of it to be in the form of light, only a little bit of wind and fire mana mixed in. GO!

Eldrian let all his mana flow out of him in one go, yet it was not enough. The Vargr's closest to him stumbled for a second. Recovering quickly from the mild shock.

"Moooore!" Eldrian shouted as he saw another Vargr exiting the river.The current is too low! Too low!Eldrian shouted internally as he wished for more energy.

"Mooore!" He shouted again as he thought of stamina. What was it, if not energy? "Gooo!" He shouted, finding himself falling to the ground in exhaustion. His one hand extending towards the river as his face fell directly into the mud.

More! I need more!Eldrian realized as he saw that this again only caused some slight shock to the Vargrs. Some of their fur was smoking, but that was not enough!

More! He shouted and turned towards his HP, quickly draining it almost to nothing. Doing so caused him to feel pain like back when he first used the Magic Crystal to cast magic. It was terrible, but not unbearable.

Even with this, the Vargrs were not killed. They had clearly been hurt, but they were still alive. Recovering they all shifted their gazes to Eldrian. Fear and hatred clear in their gazes. They cared not for the others, only wishing to kill the bleeding elf who had caused them so much suffering.

Grasping for straws, for any type of energy, Eldrian received a notification of XP gain from a kill.

"X-p-p-P" He stuttered through the pain and blood. He wished with all his might for even more energy to come from him. Use my XP, my levels! He shouted towards his heart, towards his mind. Towards his very soul.

This shout echoed in Eldrian's mind as he lost consciousness and everything turned to darkness.

As he fell into this state, a massive blinding flash of light appeared. Shooting Eldrian's body backward, lighting erupting into the river.

Eldrian's body was thrown into the group of women behind him from the explosion. He broke through their group, causing many of them to fall to the ground and cough up blood. Whatever his body had hit, broken from the impact.

Eldrian's body was but a mangled mess left at the side of the river.

...

Waking up Eldrian did not understand why he was in his real body. The headset over his head. The worst thought quickly came to him.

"Nooo!" He shouted, trying to log back in right away.