Chapter 108: Hero’s territory

Chapter 108: Hero’s territory

The skeleton paladins marched out from under the large trees canopy. As the sun hit them, their entire body changed from the pure white of bones to a gilded yellow. What followed was a one sided massacre.

The full squad of Skeleton Paladins spread out around the five horse-sized salamanders lazing in the slow lava current. They waltzed right through the melting rock, not taking any damage. When they had all the beasts surrounded, they slowly tightened the encirclement until they launched their assault.

Sofia knew they would have some skills at least, but it looked like they had the full goddamn kit, complete with [Slash of light] and an assortment of the other Paladin spells. However she noticed that their mana didnt regenerate at all. Still much better than no skills. Also from what she tried, she could give general orders, but nothing too complex, much like Pareth had been at the start. She didnt worry too much about it. The Skeletons were already quite smart about how they went about things and managed their finite mana pool. They had proper group cohesion, not hindering each other during the fight. This was an actual squad of paladins, not twenty five individual ones in the same place.

The Salamanders wouldnt go down without a fight, but their attacks had no effect, little by little, the Skeletons whittled them down, until they came bringing the dead beasts back to her.

You have defeated [Salamander - lv. 92]

You have defeated [Salamander - lv. 142]

You have defeated [Salamander - lv. 133]

You have defeated [Salamander - lv. 120]

You have defeated [Salamander - lv. 78]

You gained a level!

The book had very little mist left in it, just to see what would happen, she tried to summon another group of paladin skeletons, but she only grasped air when she reached for the pages. Looking at the skeletons and the dead salamanders, she thought that maybe if she un-summoned the paladins the mist would come back. Which would allow her to summon a new batch. So she ordered for them to disappear. They had a limited lifespan anyway.

The skeletons burst into a thin mist, but it didnt gather back into the book or anything, merely spreading like real mist. Still, she tried to summon them again, but it was the same. I guess I need to wait for the book to build up the mist again before I can summon more

Lets feed the book a bit more. The five salamanders disappeared into the book, and as expected, a new page appeared. Above the drawing of five salamanders was the number 15000.

Oh, I could get used to this really fast The possibilities are endless!

Now for the real question. Do Gods have skeletons?

Only one way to find out. I have a hundred years to get ready, thats plenty of time.

Sofia flew above the lava river and explored more on foot. She tried to understand more about the book and how exactly it worked. She caught a few wild animals to conduct tests.

A single crow for 50 mana. A toad for 10. Couldnt put them both on a single page. Looks like a page is only able to have copies of the same skeleton.

After searching for more amphibians, she first tried adding just one, which made its own page. Then she sacrificed two more, creating another page. No modifying a page after it appears, and I can make the same page multiple times. What about fusing the pages. No matter what she tried, be it visualizing the pages fusing or giving an order to the book, she didnt manage to fuse pages. But erasing the pages worked without trouble, and the pages with toads all disappeared. Ill keep the crow.

At some point while they ate, Sofias crow, out of lifetime, burst into a thin white mist, startling the Hero who almost dropped her food. Sofia apologized, the girl nodded and went back to eating.

They had finished their meal, and the sun was setting, plunging the thicket in a dark but warm atmosphere. The girl opened the conversation again, she was a bit apathetic but she tried her best, Why did you come back after your trial? Theyre looking for you, you know.

They?

The King, the Church, even the Vampires, from what I heard. I wouldnt be surprised to find you on the public bounty hitlist. In fact you could already be up there, I havent left the jungle for a while now

The Vampires too? My face must not be so well known for now, no one recognized me in Mountain Hall. I presume the King wants more Heroes to fight for the kingdom, no luck for him. I wasn't planning on fighting the king and the royal guard, but if I must

Are you not going to try to stop me then? Sofia asked.

I Only hunt monsters, she said, still avoiding looking at Sofia.

I see, well, thank you for your hospitality, uh

Izuka.

Thanks Izuka, Ill be leaving since you dont look too comfortable about me being around. If you want to know, I came back to Do some cleaning.

The girl made small noises to signify she was paying attention while Sofia spoke, it was a bit strange but also cute in Sofias opinion. She looked a bit surprised at the mention of cleaning, but Sofia was convinced she completely understood what she meant.

Sofia was already up and about to leave the thicket when the Hero interrupted her, her extended hands presenting a small wood-carving statuette of a fat raccoon with a straw-hat.

Wait, Sofia. Take this, I If you show it to the other Skyreach Heroes theyll leave you alone.

So she knew my name too, not too surprising.

Thank you, I really appreciate it. Is there any place you want me to avoid during my cleaning?

Th-... The royal princess is a friend

Noted, Sofia smiled and winked, though the girl was still not looking directly at her, Be safe Izuka, it was nice to meet you.

Sofias mana sense was constantly monitoring behind her as she left, but the girl did nothing besides sitting back on her log for as long as Sofia was in range.

That was Unexpected.

Sofia flew up, examining the wooden statuette.