Soul of the Warrior

Chapter 124: Precipitous Shift

The sun was blinding after so many days of traveling exclusively through the night and then followed up by several days in a dug-out tunnel. It had only been mid-morning when Reivyn and his two platoons emerged to finish their last jaunt to the suspected teleporter.

Reivyn crawled forward on his belly, alone. He had instructed the two platoons to form up and hide just out of sight, and he would go do the inspection himself. His Stealth Skills weren't anything amazing, but those coupled with his Spells allowed him to seamlessly blend into the desert landscape. He wasn't taking any chances, though, and so he slowly crawled into position.

He could clearly Sense and hear the activity in the base in the distance, but he didn't raise his head just in case someone with a powerful Mana Sight Skill could detect anything from his slow movements. The base that he was approaching was actually on completely flat land, and there were no raised or lowered elevations to take advantage of for either attacking or defending.

It's like a mini version of the snakemen den, Reivyn thought. It makes sense to choose such a neutral ground for a staging area, if that's what it is. Someone looking for it on the map would subconsciously disregard it for several reasons. Not only is it far away and not part of the circle being formed around the desolate sands, but it has absolutely no strategic value at all.

It took Reivyn two hours to crawl along the dusty ground, concealing himself with as minimal Mana usage as possible. He could have wrapped his Mana in the Veridical Affinity, which would have shielded it from anyone who didn't also have the Affinity unlocked, but it would have cost magnitudes more Mana to maintain, and he didn't think the added speed would cover the expenditure. He didn't know how much Mana he was going to need to accomplish his goal, and he would definitely need to use it at that time to avoid being spotted.

Reivyn finally made it to his destination just outside the makeshift palisade. He needed to be able to see farther at this point, so he calmed himself down and added the Veridical Affinity to the mix. He went from a low crawl to a squat, and he began moving along the edge of the palisade, looking for the target.

The walls weren't perfectly made, and one shouldn't expect them to be if it wasn't going to be a permanent base. Everything about the camp exclaimed "temporary launch point." These people were here to accomplish a specific goal, and then they would leave. There was no telling what that goal was, how many people would be harmed, or what the lasting negative effects would be.

Reivyn had to err on the side of caution, though, because everything he had seen about them indicated they cared nothing for human lives.

He made his way a quarter of the way around the camp when he finally spotted something suspicious through the gaps in the wooden poles making up the palisade. A large metallic structure, forming a "V" shape could be seen in the distance. There were some permanent, heavily armored guards keeping watch over the area, the likes that Reivyn and his men had not run into before.

If I had to guess, those guys would have "3's" under their helmets.

Reivyn needed to get a better view of the structure, so he silently climbed over the wall, careful to not rustle anything in his passing. There were guard towers and patrols on the outside, but they weren't anything special, and there wasn't much activity inside the palisade that he could see. It appeared that most of the enemy soldiers were resting.

After descending to the ground inside the wooden wall, Reivyn finally got a good look at the metallic object. With his high Perception, he was able to see intricate carvings all along the entirety of the large metal poles sticking out of the ground. His Runes Skill notified him that they were a powerful Mana conductor. He switched his Mana Sight Skill on, and the world became a jumbled mess of colors.

The dominant color surrounding the structure was a purple-black. It oozed around the metal poles, but at the same time, there were pockets that remained stationary, stretched between the poles up until about the halfway point. To Reivyn's perception, it seemed like there was lightning coursing through the strands, but it wasn't a bright white. It was a deep black, almost like the inverse.

My instincts and Skills are telling me that that's concentrated Space and Void Mana, Reivyn thought. It makes sense if they have to travel such a long distance. It would require less power, though still an incredible amount, to breach the void and make a connection that way if the distances are incredibly far apart.

Brief memories of taking flights in a giant, metal tube up and around on a globe to save on time and distance flashed through Reivyn's mind.

I have no idea what Tier this Spellcraft is, but it's time to see what my Deconstruct Skill can do.

Reivyn reached out with his will, wrapping his Mana in Veridical to mask it from any spying Mage's Mana Sight, and he connected to the structure through his Skill. Information poured into his mind. Esoteric calculations and complicated Mana theories threatened to overwhelm his mind, but he bore his will down on sifting through all of that to focus only on the Mana weaves and knots.

There were thousands of patterns interconnecting to each other to create even larger patterns, coalescing into one powerful image that contained the intent of the Spellcraft. Reivyn ignored the masterful work, and he focused only on the Runic weaving. The knots employed were far more complicated than anything he had been introduced to in the Tier 1 Magic Academy, but he hoped that it would only be a matter of time before he could make some inroads on them.

If he could unravel the knots and snip the weaves, it didn't matter how intricate the patterns were, or how mind-consuming the information was, the entire thing would unravel. He would have to destroy the physical representation of the poles, as well, or they could just power it back up with enough time and energy. Something told Reivyn that he didn't have the power to do that until after he destroyed the Runic Spellcraft, though.

Reivyn didn't have any time to waste, and he began to run his Mana through the weaves and knots like a needle, forcing it into the tiniest of gaps that he could find. He spent what felt like hours loosening the knots, one at a time. He didn't know what would happen if he destroyed a knot and wasn't ready to move on yet. He could alert a powerful Space Mage, if they were still around, or even just anyone if he acted rashly. He chose to lay the foundations for the total destruction before he began though.

He used his Mana like a scalpel, and he left nicks and cuts in the weaves between the knots. It was grueling work, and it wasn't just the heat of the sun beating down on him that caused him to sweat profusely. Without actually destroying things, though, it seemed like his Deconstruct Skill wasn't actually drawing on his Mana too intensely. The greatest expenditure came from masking it with the Veridical Mana.

His Mana pool was steadily declining, though, and he had to make sure he hit the sweet spot between doing enough prep work to get the job done, and not using too much to spend all of his Mana and leaving himself vulnerable.

Reivyn didn't waste his concentration checking the time in his System, so he didn't know the exact amount of time that had passed, but eventually, he felt like he had laid enough groundwork. His Mana pool had reached over 7,000 after reaching Level 23, but he still blew through 4,000 points before he was satisfied. It was a long, deliberate expenditure, though, so he wasn't going to be in danger of a backlash unless he used the last 3,000 all at once.

Something pulled at Reivyn's awareness as he resumed threading his needle through the knots. He didn't just wriggle his Mana through this time, though. Instead, he left a long tether like he was actually sewing string. He wrapped his line around where he had left the nicks and cuts, too. He tried to ignore what was pulling at his awareness, but it finally interrupted him enough to notice what it was.

The strands of Void and Space Mana that had been connecting the two poles in the "V" structure had initially only reached about the midpoint, but now there were strands connecting all the way to the top, and the ones that had existed before had been filled in, leaving a large, gaping hole in Reivyn's Mana Sight vision.

Tremendous power coursed through the entire structure, and Reivyn could see a figure slowly materialize in the void, drawing closer to stepping through to this side of the teleporter. The figure was slightly taller than average, and it was covered in shining mail from head to toe. There was a large, pink plume coming out of the top of the person's helmet.

A sense of dread filled Reivyn at the sight of the approaching figure, and he poured his Mana into his intricate Deconstruct Spell threads. He felt resistance, but he kept pushing with his Mana and will, and eventually, the spots he was concentrating on flexed and tore through hundreds of knots and weaves all at once. Reivyn felt lightheaded, but a sense of relief flooded him at his success.

It wasn't over, though.

Reivyn could still see the Void, and the figure took a step forward to try and breach into the location. It seemed like they hit a glass wall, though, and they bounced back into place. The person looked around with what Reivyn thought was confusion before Reivyn felt a large amount of Mana burst from the individual.

The glass wall holding the person back shattered, a surreal vision to Reivyn. It was like the very air itself broke.

The figure stepped through the portal.

Reivyn's Danger Sense began screaming at him, but he hadn't finished his mission. The energies contained in the teleporter, as well as the power that was used in the transfer, began to run wild. Reivyn scooped up the rampant Mana with his will, and he directed it back at the structure.

The metal poles crumpled like tin, and parts were even severed. The entire structure collapsed in a heap of billowing dust and Mana.

The figure with the pink plume's head snapped in Reivyn's direction, and a finger pointed in his direction. The heavily armored guards turned and immediately drew weapons and sprinted at Reivyn. Reivyn hastily constructed a layered Mana Shield in front of himself. He angled it so it wouldn't take a blow head-on, but would instead deflect it, out of instinct.

His instincts and Danger Sense had been right, as a red beam of Mana materialized from the finger of the armored figure and moved at the speed of light to connect with Reivyn's shield. It was deflected away, but the amount of power blasted Reivyn backward through the wall of the palisade. The wood splintered and chipped as it disintegrated from the force of Reivyn crashing through it, and he tumbled along the ground for tens of yards before coming to a stop.

Reivyn's entire body screamed in pain, and he hastily checked his vitals.

Health: 4,488/6,360 (6,670)

That one deflected blast had taken over two thousand points of Health off of Reivyn. He was wearing his heavy, magic armor that granted him an additional 310 points. He had camouflaged it just like his men, so it didn't appear to be of ornate workmanship. Reivyn didn't know how much damage he had taken from getting thrown through the wall and launched across the ground, but he guessed it hadn't been more than several tens of points total.

He scrambled to his feet and took one last glance at the figure and springing soldiers. The newly arrived soldier seemed to want to launch another attack, but they swayed from side to side, nearly collapsing to the ground. The person bent over, and even from this distance, Reivyn could see copious amounts of blood pouring from the mouth area of the protective face mask in the helmet. The person collapsed to one knee, holding themselves up with their arm, as several soldiers and attendants rushed to their aid.

Reivyn had time to throw a Sense Threat Skill at the armored person.

???? ?? ??

Danger Level: Fatal

Reivyn didn't wait any longer, and he turned and scrambled in a half-sprint, half-jog toward his waiting platoons. There was no need for secrecy any longer, so he launched a flare Spell into the air to notify them to be ready to move.

There was a large distance, several miles, between Reivyn and where he had left his soldiers behind some gently sloping hills. Even though Reivyn was running at a much slower pace than his Stats would allow as he struggled with the pain, he was still keeping ahead of the chasing armored soldiers. He hadn't used his Sense Threat Skill on them, so he didn't know their approximate strength. He only assumed they were much stronger and smarter fighters than the rabble they had fought against so far.

Reivyn not only kept ahead of his pursuers, but as he was able to increase his speed as the pain faded, he pulled ahead of them further and further. Reivyn hadn't run in an all-out sprint for a long distance in a long time, so he didn't know how much ground he could cover or how fast, but he realized it had become a lot since his Stats had exploded.

It took him less than ten minutes to sprint across the three miles of open terrain that had taken him a couple of hours to crawl across. He didn't bother going around the gentle slopes of the small hills, and he ran straight to where his waiting platoons were. The pursuers were now several hundred yards behind him, but they hadn't given up.

Reivyn ran over the hill, and he immediately spotted his troops formed up in a defensive formation. He could see visible signs of relief on the faces of the soldiers as he charged down the hill to them.

"Move the platoons forward a little bit," Reivyn Commanded the officers. "I have some pursuers about a minute behind me. If we get close enough to the slope, they won't have time to stop before running headlong into our formation."

"Yes, sir!" Jekle and Laris saluted.

The two men ordered the platoons to jog forward a bit, and they settled down to wait for the enemy to come charging over the hill. They only had to wait about twenty seconds after getting into place.

Thirty armored soldiers crested the hill, and Reivyn could see the surprise in their eyes at the sight of the waiting pikes leveled at them. Reivyn had been right, and they didn't have enough time to arrest their forward momentum on the downslope.

These soldiers were much better than any they had fought before, but thirty against nearly a hundred wouldn't be enough. Also, just because they were much better than the unarmed enemies with the "1's" on their heads didn't mean they were superior to Reivyn's own troops.

Laris didn't even have to be told, and he ordered his platoon to advance and flank the pursuers that had run up on First Platoon. They couldn't help but engage the soldiers, and they didn't have time to regain the initiative to disengage before they were enveloped.

They lasted longer than the normal platoons of enemy soldiers, but only by about half a minute. They were summarily put down. Out of curiosity, Reivyn approached one and flipped his helmet off. His suspicions were confirmed, and a large "3" was branded right in the middle of the dead man's forehead.

"No time to bury them," Reivyn shouted. "Turn and rush back to the plateau. Most of the soldiers still in the camp were resting, but there was a new arrival that I'm sure will be able to rouse them and use them efficiently. Move, move, move!"

Jekle and Laris got their platoons formed up, and they ran them back where they had come. They had been cautious in advancing to their position earlier in the day, so it had taken them a couple of hours to March from the plateau to where they had been waiting. Running back at speed took them only half an hour, less than a quarter of the initial timing.

Reivyn didn't say anything about his mission while they ran. He focused on his breathing and keeping his Stamina expenditure steady, and he didn't want anyone else to waste more than they had to with talking while running either.

Reivyn's Danger Sense began to pulse as they finally approached the plateau, and he could feel the relief in the soldiers as they neared the tunnel they had dug. Reivyn frowned and gathered mana into either of his hands, keeping his head on a swivel for an impending ambush.

Something reflected the sun from atop the plateau, and Reivyn looked up as the soldiers ran to the cliff. His Perception zeroed in on where the light had come from, and his heart sank as he made out the shapes of hundreds of enemy soldiers hunkered down on top of the cliff.

Without hesitation, Reivyn launched the Spells he had been accumulating up at the top of the cliff. A powerful Plasma Beam extended from his right hand, and he swept it across the length of the cliff that he could reach. His other Spell was a combination of Fire and Wind, and a huge ball that cost 500 Mana shot up and exploded over the heads of the enemies on the high ground. Fire whips and Wind blades lacerated those outside of the blast zone.

"Enemies on the cliff!" Reivyn shouted. "Just sprint to the cave! Don't stop!"

Reivyn didn't use any subtlety, and he simply blasted the doors open. The enemy hadn't expected to be spotted, and they hadn't expected the platoons to charge into the cliff face. They had been prepared to stop them from scaling the wall, but Reivyn's soldiers simply disappeared into the earth beneath them.

"Keep going! Run, run, run!"

The soldiers lit some torches as they ran. Reivyn didn't waste his Mana on assisting them, and he didn't need to. The platoons sprinted through the tunnel in good order. They had smoothed the shaft of the tunnel out meticulously, and nobody tripped or fell.

The plateau was only several miles wide, and they began to emerge into the open air on the other side in no time. Reivyn was positioned between the two platoons, but he stopped after exiting the tunnel, stepping to the side to encourage the men to keep going.

His Danger Sense once more pinged, and he looked up to see a barrage of Bolt Spells come flying down to the exposed men of his platoons. Reivyn acted on instinct and wrestled control of the Spells away from the Mages that had cast them, and he turned them back on their Casters. Explosions rang out from up above, and shrapnel of loose rocks and gravel rained down on their heads.

Almost all of the soldiers had exited the tunnel when Reivyn's Danger Sense went haywire. He looked up and saw a boulder crashing down right into where his men were exiting the tunnel.

Time seemed to slow down for Reivyn. He sprinted forward while creating lassos of Air. He threw them into the tunnel and wrapped the remaining men up with them, and using his tremendous Strength fueled by adrenaline, he simply yanked them out. He wasn't able to move all of them out of the impact zone though, and he unstrapped his shield and braced himself on the ground.

He tried to reinforce himself with his Mana, but it wasn't enough against the giant rock. It smashed into him, and he held it at bay with his shield for one whole second. His legs were driven a couple of inches into the ground, and all the bones in his body creaked in distress. It was enough, though, and the last of his troops used the moment from the Air lasso to dive out of danger.

The giant boulder's weight and momentum proved too much, and with the assistance of the Mages on top continuing to drive it down, it smashed down on top of Reivyn, crushing him to the ground.

He screamed in agony as his bones shattered, and he felt like his body was on fire. The weight of the boulder only held him down for a fraction of a second though, as several soldiers who had seen what was going on, but were too far away to get there on time, slammed into the boulder, shoving it off of Reivyn.

The light returned to Reivyn, and he mastered his pain, shutting his mouth and gritting his teeth. Arms scooped under his arms and lifted him. He hissed in pain at the jarring movement, but he didn't complain or tell them to stop. The soldiers dragged him with them, and Reivyn got a good look at the top of the cliff as they escaped.

There, on the top of the plateau, surrounded by armored soldiers, was the new arrival with the pink plume. His hand was outstretched in their direction, and there was no mistaking who had been responsible for that last boulder attack.

How did...the...whazit... Reivyn's thoughts were a jumble, and his vision was getting darker along the edges as he was finally picked up and carried on someone's shoulder.

"Keep going..." Reivyn gasped out to whoever it was. "Don't... stop..."

Darkness descended.