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Two days later :
Ralf Kaliker lets out a silent sigh as he continues to wait on his knees beneath Cromwell's throne. The False Familiars attack had not only resulted in the destruction of most of Cendri, which was responsible for a good portion of the capital's food production, but also the death of Earl Tatiana, someone who while not completely invested in Cromwell's rule, supported it nevertheless.
Her death had weakened his position, as despite the united front the Reconquista liked to present, it was just as or maybe more so unstable than the Albion that was led by its royalty.
Which how Ralf ended up here, literally on his knees awaiting his punishment... Unjustly in his opinion. There wasn't all that much he could do against such an opponent as the False Familiar. The former-slaves abilities were as nonsensical as they were effective, wandless, powerful magic with insanely short chants and unexpected effects... Teleportation was supposed to be a top-tier Square Mage spell, used only by those who had almost mastered control of all four elements.
Ralf highly doubted that such a person existed in the Reconquista, perhaps Old Osmond of Tristain who's leading the magical academy could, but that was just speculation on his part... Additionally, his battle against the False Familiar had revealed a huge weakness in not only his unit, but many others comprising the Reconquista military.
Dragon knights were regarded as the strongest and most elite units, especially if those that rode the dragons were mages... Ralf had been rid of this impression however as soon as they ran into a foe who could teleport and easily kill riders without harming the dragons.
Usually in battle, the knight dies with his mount after both take grievous wounds, but with just the knights dying and the dragons still being unharmed, it left the others in the unit to deal with the rampaging beast... Dragons were captured beasts that are turned into familiars for the knights, it takes months or maybe even years for them to bound enough to make them reliable fighters who could work together.
Since most of Reconquista's forces were Dragon knights, Ralf wondered if such a weakness could so easily be exploited o the battlefield... He doubted it, in enemy land, berserk dragons would cause chaos amongst the enemies ranks, so perhaps he was over-worrying a bit...
"Commander Kaliker." Cromwell finally speaks from his throne, sounding distinctly angry and disappointed. "Tell me, what excuses have you come up with to save your pathetic life? How is it that a whole unit of dragon knights was unable to capture a young boy and an elf? And how is it that an entire town was destroyed, not by the boy's hands, but by your own units!?" he asks, tapping the armrest of his throne impatiently.
Ralf keeps his eyes to the ground and head still, "I will make up no such excuses my lord! The boy as you describe was a far more difficult combatant than we'd been informed, and used tactics that completely countered my forces. The results could have been far worse if we decided to ignore the civilians in the town and instead chased the False Familiar... I realise this resulted in Earl Tatiana's death, but I pledged myself to Albion's people, and that is where my loyalties lie." he firmly states, knowing that he'd probably get executed for such words... Some might even call them treasonous.
Cromwell seethes and glances to the guards at the side of the room, "Commander Kaliker, did you not see how important the capture of the False Familiar was?"
Ralf shakes his head, "I do not see how his capture is above the lives of Albion's citizens." he states with determination.
Cromwell smirks, "Then, perhaps your eyes are defective. Guards, remove one of this man's eyes from his skull. Perhaps he just needs a new perspective on things?" he says, causing Ralf's body to stiffen. He doesn't move however, instead simply waiting and letting the men do what they must.
"GGRRRRAAAAAARARRRRRRGGHH!" Ralf screams as Cromwell watches with amusement, fingering his ring as he thinks about recent events... The war was essentially over now, he and his men had found Prince Wales and the enemy hadn't stood a chance.
He'd used his Ring to take control over all of Prince Wales men, and had them arrest the royal before he could do anything... He was somewhat disappointed that his ring failed to control the prince, but he supposed that Brimir's purest lineage had some advantages that others did not.
A couple minutes later, the guards throw Ralf's body at the base of Cromwell's throne, blood streaming from an empty eye socket. He simply kneels against however, not saying a word.
Cromwell smiles, "Do you see now, Commander Kaliker?"
...
Ralf grits his teeth, he was a man of his word, a knight. And that meant he refused to lie, even despite the pain shooting through his body at the loss of an eye. This man wanted him to forsake the people to try and capture a slave who they tortured incessantly for their amusement... What kind of justice is that? What kind of rule would the people be subjected to?...
He looks up and glares with his single eye, but somehow manages to stifle the stream of insults threatening to spill from his mouth. "I see, Lord Cromwell."
Cromwell nods, "And you recognise your pathetic failure for what it is? Both unsightly and dishonourable?"
"I do... Lord Cromwell." he says, doing his best to hide the venom in his tone.
Cromwell nods, inwardly trying to decide on whether or not he should mind-controlling the commander to preempt any foolish attempts to get revenge. In the end, though he decides not to, as it's simply too much fun to play with this 'chivalrous personality'. He wondered what it would take to make the man forsake his vows... He grins, "Then, as soon as your men have recovered from this recent incident, I want you to dismantle any remaining loyalists. With prejudice. Do you understand?"
Ralf nods one final time, "I do my lord."
"Good. Now be on your way, I have no more time to attend to one such as you." Cromwell says while casually waving him off, not realising that such an action infuriated Ralf far more than the loss of his eye.
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While Ralf was receiving his punishment for his failure, Michael and Tiffania were celebrating their success, even if the mission hadn't gone exactly as planned.
After the duo had escaped from the burning Cendri and gotten a good distance from it, Michael was forced onto his knees in front of Tiffania to accept his punishment. His complete disregard for the innocents in Cendri had bothered her, and it didn't need to be said how disappointed she was that he still didn't seem to actually care about the people he'd affected.
So, after they'd had a long, long talk, in which neither could find common ground on this subject, she punished him... With a flick on the forehead.
...
Yep... It couldn't be understated though, that flick stung for like, two seconds!
Anyway, after they'd escaped Cendri, they'd kept to themselves, making sure that they weren't being tracked or followed. And after a couple days of walking, they reached a small town South West of Albion's capital city, called Chasata.
This was actually the first time Tiffania had visited a town in many years(Barring Cendri, but that didn't really count...), so she was visibly trembling in excitement. Michael only realised his mistake when she grabbed his arm and happily skipped into the town centre where a couple stalls had been set up.
Crappy, most likely-fraudulent jewellery vendors, unhygienic roasted meats, second-hand clothes... Despite the fact that Michael made his doubts known, Tiffania was undeterred, making like an American tourist and taking too much interest in literally everything...
She was fooled by the jewellery vendor, she ate that peculiar smelling meat with gusto, and she purchased a tower of second-hand clothes that may or may not still have the blood of their previous owners marring them... But throughout it all, Michael couldn't bring himself to rain on her parade.
Just seeing her enjoy herself like that was money well spent in his opinion, even if he doubted the quality of the goods he'd ended up having to buy for her. Nonetheless, the day soon ended with the duo buying a room at an inn, both exhausted by satisfied with the time they'd spent in Chasata.
He throws himself onto the double bed and watches as Tiffania tries on the various clothes and jewellery she bought. And yes, it was her that demanded they have a double bed, apparently not wanting to change the sleeping arrangement they'd had in the cave... Not that he was complaining of course.
So, while Michael held her hand, Tiffania drifted to sleep, allowing him to finally check up on Book of Commoners.
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Name : Michael Hunt
Rank : Common
Stats :
Strength : 15
Agility : 23.3 > 30.6
Intelligence : 15 > 16
Abilities :
[Gandalfr] : Enables user to utilise any weapon at two ranks above their current proficiency while granting them the knowledge necessary to use them. While wielding a weapon, temporarily gain +100% in all stats.
[Language Comprehension] : Enables user to understand all spoken tongues, and increase the rate of which they learn reading and writing.
[Basic Mana Manipulation] : Allows user more control over his magic, spells, and some abilities. Mana efficiency and control of power is increased.
[Pain Tolerence] : Allows user to endure great amounts of pain with little to no negative effects as a result.
Affinities :
[Lesser Water Affinity], [Lesser Fire Affinity], [Lesser Lightning Afffinity], [Lesser Darkness Affinity]
Spirits :
Shadow Shaman : Lvl MAX
Slark : Lvl MAX
Riki : Lvl 8 > 18
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Yeep, his Agility was soaring, which wasn't really a problem, but it left his other stats falling way behind. By the time he got the Intelligence gain Skill from Silencer, he'd probably be as fast as the Flash or something!
His Riki Spirit's level was nothing to be scoffed at either, despite the fact Cendri was destroyed, he hadn't actually done all that much... Killing hundreds of low-tier guards, sure, but he'd only actually killed a couple Dragon Knights, and he highly doubted that the people the berserk dragons killed contributed to his EXP gain.
Indeed, there were only a couple of levels left until he maxed out his Riki spirit, which would hopefully pave the way for higher tier spirits.
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Spirit : Riki
Level : 8 > 18
Abilities :
Dagger Specialization (Rank 3) : Massively increases speed of user's growth when using daggers of any kind.
Smoke Screen (Rank 4) : Throws down a smoke bomb, silencing enemies and causing them to miss attacks.
Blink Strike (Rank 4) : Allows user to teleport behind an ally or enemy.
Tricks of the Trade (Rank 4) : User disappears for a short duration, attacking the backs of nearby enemies throughout the duration. Once over, user reappears where he had previously been standing.
Cloak and Dagger (Rank 3) : User fades into the shadows, becoming invisible. Attacking the backs of enemies grants bonus damage based on the user's Agility. Becomes visible when attacking or attacked, cannot go invisible while enemies are observing user.
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Michael grins as he looks at his Riki spirit's status. Compared to his strength back in Cendri, he'd probably be able to wipe out the dragon knights without too much difficulty... His main problem of not being able to reach them was gone since he maxed out his Blink Strike, and with Tricks of the Trade maxed, it didn't matter how much they threw at him, he'd be able to avoid it simply by using this ability.
The maxed-out Cloak and Dagger was by far the biggest improvement however, the fade time(time since being seen and being unable to turn invisible) had lowered tremendously, and the Agility boost when attacking the flanks of enemies would undoubtedly be deadly, especially when combined with his ridiculous Agility stat.
He hadn't yet had a chance to use Smoke Screen, but the increased radius and duration would cripple any unmounted or manoeuvrable mages with ease. All in all, Michael would consider himself an absolute mage killer.
With that done, he checks on Rhasta and thanks the troll for letting him use his Serpents in Cendri, and tries to see if Slark had returned yet from the ocean... Only to find a fresh message written in the beach sand, "I ain't no slave, hairless monkey!"... The fact that Slark made sure to write his rough dialect in English amused Michael slightly, not even to forget the fish's taunts, but this was this and that was that...
With a sigh he closes the book and allows it to disappear, wondering if he and that slimy prick would even speak on polite terms. He doubted that Slark knew what polite meant, but he could dream, couldn't he?
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