World Sphere - 230 -

Chapter 230:

I was most surprised by the organization of the war camps below—uniform rows of blue, red, and black tents filled valley after valley of rolling green hills. The bugbears were even practicing in formations like a real army.

We passed over one of the conquered towns, and with my telescopic eye spell, I could see a number of bugbear patrols walking the town while the humans appeared to be going about their day. I couldn’t read the mood of the people, but there were no signs of destroyed buildings or destroyed landscape. This indicated they had surrendered without a fight. Against such an overwhelming foe, it was probably a good idea.

Callem didn’t have a spell to zoom in, but he relied on his yellow eyes and ability to observe and interpret details even from this height. “The enemy clearly plans to stay here for the long term.” Callem frowned. “The most worrying part is that bugbears shouldn’t be this organized. They are intelligent but feral fighters and usually don’t work well in large groups. An alpha can only control so many subordinates…” he trailed off. “I don’t think I saw any alphas—no single bugbear was larger than the others or seemed to be in charge.”

In dungeons, bugbears were considered tier two creatures mostly due to their brute strength and toughness. They were tall, hairy goblinoids with thick muscles. They usually had crude armor, while the ones we passed over had uniform hardened leather, likely from a creature found in the Endless Dark. To produce so many sets of armor, they had to have a massive manufacturing base or have been preparing for this attack for decades. I had to admit that bugbears were a good choice for building an army.

“Do you believe the mind reaper is controlling them?” I left the question open, knowing Callem shared the same limited knowledge about the ancient species.

Callem seriously considered the question. “We need to observe how they fight and if they react as a single hive mind.”

“I don’t plan to get close enough and risk anyone for that today,” I said as I accelerated the Maelstrom away.

I moved the Maelstrom a good distance away, closest to the flank I had planned to attack for the Sadians. We wouldn’t get any support, but I intended to keep sending lightning elementals into their ranks until they responded. The Maelstromsettled behind a high ridge about twenty miles from the camp. The reason for landing was that I worried if we stayed above the battlefield, whatever grounded the Sadian ships might find us. If it is a null-field bomb, we need to figure out how they’re delivering it so we can plan how to defend against it.

As the ramp descended, the invisibility on the Maelstrom terminated. The Skyguard spread out from the ramp, taking sentry positions. “Aelyn, take the helm in case we need to leave in a hurry.” Aelyn looked disgruntled at being sent to the bridge, but it could be the most critical position in this fight. All I was planning to do was cast one spell over and over anyway.

My tier five lightning elemental spell was my strongest spell at level 19. For my evolutions, I chose dragon form, increased intelligence, flight, stun, lightning attack, siphon 1% aether, a second elemental, and a third elemental. At level 19, I boosted the siphon aether ability to 3%. Since the elementals were entirely created from my own aether, the siphon aether ability allowed them to sustain themselves by draining the enemy. It would be less useful against bugbears, who rarely had aether cores, and if they did, they were small.

The rocky ledge concealed the Maelstrom on one side, while a thin forest hid us on the other. I summoned all three lightning elementals. Their blue draconic scales shimmered with lightning arching from scale to scale. Their bodies were slightly smaller than Adrial’s, who held her nose up at the creatures. When we hunted in dungeons, she always tried to outdo the elementals.

Callem was here to assist and offered advice. “Impressive spell, Storme. Distribute them and strike from three different angles. According to Sadian reports, the invaders lack powerful magic, so your summons should be able to devastate their ranks.” Callem reached out to touch one of the elementals. I tried to warn him that he might get stunned by the contact, but I was too late. Lightning crackled from the scales to Callem’s hand, yet he neither flinched nor was stunned. “That is quite unpleasant,” he said quietly.

I gawked at Callem, but moved to take his advice. The problem I had with attacking a target so far away, was I couldn’t direct the elementals after they left the range of my voice. They would have to rely on the commands I gave them. I sent them off, spread out, and my order was essentially to attack only the bugbears and attack anything that attacked them.

My only connection to the elementals was a feeling of their remaining aether; when that expired, I would lose the connection and the elemental would disappear. After a brief reset period, I could summon a replacement. “We have engaged the enemy,” I said as I felt the aether drain drastically from the elemental on the right. The elemental was either being attacked or using its breath weapon.

The elemental in the center suddenly vanished, and I was not even sure if it had had the chance to attack. If they had used their aether disruptive attack, it would have drained the elemental instantly. A scary thought: if the attack were used on me, my biggest asset —my large aether core —would be wiped out instantly. An echo of an explosion passed over us from the fighting. “That was not one of the elementals. I wish we had a scrying mage with us to see what that attack was.”

The third elemental on the left was now engaged in heavy fighting as I felt the aether fluctuating. It must be engaged in melee with the bugbears, gaining as much aether as it was using in the fight.

I felt the spell reset and recast the third elemental, sending it back toward the center. My aether reserves were already under half, but that was only because I had invested too much in the creation of the first wave of the elementals, thinking they would last longer. I was probably not going to come close to wiping out ten thousand bugbears.

The left and right elementals started to lose aether faster than they could replace it, and I frowned as the center elemental vanished again before ever engaging. Once again, the elemental’s loss was followed by a rolling boom. If they were using aether-tech null field bombs, then this was a good trade-off for us—a replaceable summons for an expensive piece of aether tech. However, I was starting to think the Sadian’s guess was incorrect.

That rolling thunder was not a bomb, but more akin to a clap of lightning—or something breaking the sound barrier. The elemental on the right drained itself of aether and vanished. I had only given general orders, but the elementals seemed to have a preferred method of attacking. I wondered if the elementals had personalities. One of the right-hand preferred to use the breath weapon, while the one of the left had replied to melee combat.

I knew there was an evolution for the spell that created a permanent sentience that was reinstituted for every summons. It would take two more evolutions of the intellect aspect to reach it, though. I would have to confirm, but I think that would apply to all three elementals. It was something to consider later.

I waited until I could send two elementals together toward the center, investing much less aether in them this time since I expected them to be destroyed quickly. When they flew away, I waited anxiously, and both elementals vanished simultaneously without ever attacking. The same rolling, echoing explosion reached us.

“It has to be a weapon, and not a bomb,” I voiced to the others.

“Do you want me to scout?” Bleiz questioned eager for something to do. Bleiz had a tier three invisibility necklace, but I would not risk his life for this. Finding out what was causing the aether void should be the responsibility of the Sadians.

“No, we are leaving very soon,” I said, which got surprised looks from Callem and the others.

The elemental on the left finally depleted its aether, and I lost connection to it. The good news was that my lightning elemental spell had reached level 20 just from twenty minutes of combat. For my final round of attacks, I resummoned all three elementals and sent them left. We had the most success there, and this attack was intended only to cause as much death and destruction as possible. “Everyone on board. We are leaving,” I shouted. The Skyguard quickly retreated from their sentry positions up the ramp, and I followed, mildly disappointed at the lack of effectiveness of my assault.

I ushered Aelyn out of the seat to take control of the Maelstrom. Instead of flying up, I sped away from the enemy, staying close to the ground, and activating the Maelstrom’s invisibility. We had only remained on the ground for thirty minutes, but with magic, that would have been more than enough time for them to locate the origins of the elementals. I circled wide, quickly gaining elevation. I was torn about doing a flyover to get a view of the damage the elementals had wrought.

I stayed three miles above the lowlands as the Maelstrom zipped over the field. The elemental that had attacked the right side had left large scorch marks across the camp. In the brief pass overhead, I didn’t see many dead bugbears, but several tents were burning. The units here were moving together in small groups to confront the ongoing attack from the elementals. The center of the encampment, which had already taken down four elementals before they could even attack, was a hive of activity. Clearly, spellcasters were here erecting magical defenses. Light reflected off aether shields, and hastily summoned earthworks faced the direction of our assault. The bugbears were manning barricades and earthworks. Still, there didn’t seem to be anyone leading the defenses.

The invisibility runes on the Maelstrom were only tier one, and I believe we went unnoticed as we flew over the central camp. Detection magic generally needed to be one tier higher than the illusion magic to detect, but not always. With many evolutions, you could evolve a tier one spell to detect a tier two or even three illusion. They either didn’t have mages actively seeking us, no spell with a range to detect us, no spells of a high enough tier, or a combination of those. Still, I was uneasy about the Sadian reporting that their skyships had been lost without knowing how. I planned to upgrade the invisibility runes on the Maelstrom sooner or later. Higher-tier artificing would draw more aether, but the Maelstrom had no lack of reserves. When Remy returned to the Sapphire Passage, I would have him get me the runes if they were not available in Llorth.

The final camp was still engaged in a fight with the three elementals. It was chaos, with most of the tents shredded or knocked down and bodies were everywhere. Two of the elementals choose to fight on the ground, surrounded by hundreds of enemies. Normal weapons would not be able to do much damage to their scales, so this was a solid tactic. The third lighting elemental flew overhead, targeting concentrations of troops with its breath weapon. This forward unit was half a mile from the center of the camp, and it looked like small units were coming to reinforce, but the army had not yet sent any mages forward to help. That was why the elementals were still wreaking havoc.

I resisted the urge to circle and study the fight, flying back toward Skyholme. The elementals were already close to running out of the aether I invested in them. A few minutes later, the elementals fell one by one as their aether reserves ran out. The butcher bill was likely less than a thousand bugbears, and I might have wasted my one chance to launch a surprise attack on the invaders.

The lightning elemental spell did manage to reach level 21. At level 23, not only would I get to pick a new evolution, but there would be a quantitative strengthening of the spell as well. Gaining two levels for a little more than an hour of casting was remarkable for a tier five spell. It had taken over twenty delves to bring the lighting elemental spell from level 18 to 19. Maybe fighting innumerable foes would be a regular thing for me.

I dropped Callem off at Skyhold, letting him deliver the report of our sortie. I hadn’t fulfilled my promise to eliminate ten thousand bugbears, but there had been over fifteen thousand in my estimation in that one encampment. The scope and organization of the forces were beyond my expectations. When I landed at the academy, Aelyn, Adrial, and I left, while the Maelstrom returned to the Black Spire. Aelyn is staying with me and reminding me that I still haven’t cooked her a dinner date.

Selin was in her office, and I had questions. “Can you open a communication with Logan? I want to know what the Guild knows about the happenings in the Endless Dark,” I said, sitting heavily in a chair.

“Did it go that well? The rumor is the High Mage of Skyholme went down to ‘handle’ the invasion himself,” Selin said with a smirk.

Aelyn defended me. “Storme definitely got their attention, but one man against an army of a hundred thousand takes time. What have the Sadians done besides retreat?” I nodded to her in thanks and would cook her whatever she wanted this evening.

Selin sighed, as she had clearly been joking. She opened a drawer to bring out a communication stone with a tier six indigo aether crystal embedded in it. When she activated it, the runes glowed, indicating the connection established, but no one answered. “Logan?” Selin asked the stone every twenty or thirty seconds. I knew if you stored a stone in a personal dimensional space, you could feel when a connection was made. However, if you stored the stone in a spatial ring or other artifact, you would not be aware of the connection.

Just when Selin looked ready to give up, the Adventurers Guild Overseer’s voice came through. “Sana! I was just thinking about you the other day! Things are crazy currently, and I cannot visit at the moment. First, the World Walkers and now the eruptions from the Endless Dark. I will have to reschedule our…”

“Umm, yes,” Selin interrupted Logan. “I am here with Storme and Aelyn. Storme has some questions he thought urgent.”

Logan cleared his throat. I knew the man was married, but whatever he had with Selin was their business. “Ah, how is the seeding for the second evolution of your remarkable dungeon progressing?”

I moved closer to the stone. “Steady. We are holding off with the aether crystals like you advised,” Aelyn said.

Very good. Have you reviewed my notes on trying to get an aether crystal mine on a new level? The probability is low even if you follow the theory, but it is still possible,” he said hopefully. Logan was the Overseer for dungeons at the Adventurers Guild, but also collected data on other dungeons. Dungeon evolutions were a hobby of his.

“Storme can’t afford it,” Aelyn said teasingly.

“We can talk about dungeons another time. I want to know what the upper management of the Adventurer’s Guild knows about the Endless Dark. I was in the Sapphire Passage and was told the mind reapers had returned and were responsible,” I said, getting to the point.

There was a period of silence while we waited for Logan. When he did speak, he sounded uncomfortable. “There are very few cities in the Endless Dark that will host a Guild Hall. Our knowledge doesn’t extend very far in the Endless Dark, and that world is ever-changing.” He sounded like he was sipping water. “We had considered the mind reapers might have been responsible for the World Walkers, but numerous teams of platinum adventurers found no evidence.”

“How have they been able to amass such large armies with no one knowing about it?” Aelyn asked, leaning in.

“The Endless Dark is called Endless for a reason, Aelyn,” Logan said sharply. He pulled back slightly with a sigh. “We were aware of the cities organizing, but had no idea it was to this scale.”

“Do you know their objective?” I asked.

A short silence before Logan answered in a hushed tone. “Some of the emerging armies have issued demands, but not all. A dark gnome army near Heliphas wants to be recognized as citizens and given land to build cities on the Inner Sphere. Black scaled kobolds near Theras Mountain Range are demanding mining and dungeon access on equal terms with their blue-scaled cousins. A number of emerging armies are focused on settling old scores.”

“How are you finding them organized then? Are there leaders? The bugbears attacking the Sadian Empire are organized, but we didn’t see any clear leader on the field of battle,” I stated.

“You have bugbears over there? Most unfortunate. However, the Ophelan are dealing with deep trolls. The negotiating armies are doing so through third-party representatives, so I cannot say for sure who is leading them. The Adventurers Guild also only receives information that leaders are willing to share. We do not believe it is the mind reapers, and I ask you not to spread such a rumor.” He quickly added, “Unless you can present evidence that it is to us.” I felt the overseer was being very cagey by his tone and hesitancy. By the look on Selin’s face, she was thinking the same.

“Thank you for your time,” I said, ending the communication. When the stone’s runes faded, I looked to Selin. “What do you think?”

Selin chewed her cheek. “If you study the histories of the Sphere, it is a cycle. The invasion seems more organized than in the past, but it is expected. The admit, the use of the World Walkers preempting the conflict has created some devastating points of conflict.”

One of my communications in my dimensional closet told me someone was trying to reach out to me. It appeared in my hand, and Callem’s voice came through clearly. “Storme, the war council requests your presence to coordinate their attack.”

“Callem, I will be there shortly,” I said, and exchanged the communication stone for a piece of aethertech. Maybe it was time to talk with Malik.

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