Chương 98: B2 Chapter 40: Expected Confrontation

Jamar Tostral stalked through the forest, for once not pulling in ambient mana as fast as her soul could bear. It wouldn't do to tip off her unsuspecting targets, who were mages and thus undoubtedly had mana sense, with such an obvious sign as the large vortex her active absorption rate would cause. Speaking of absorption vortexes… She called out to the officer a few feet in front of her.

"You're sure that this is the right direction? I don't sense their vortex yet." The soldier turned his head and spoke quietly over his shoulder.

"Yes, Scion Jamar. We are still a fair distance away, and they're spreading out the reach of their absorption. It's harder to detect, but the scouts have circled the area and made certain of it. Where we are headed is the center of convergence for the mana being absorbed." Jamar nodded, grinning manically.

"Good. Keep up the pace." She ignored his response, absorbed in her anticipation of what would shortly happen. Father gave me 2 of his best elites for this, including officer what's-his-face who's showing me the path, and they'll engage the 2 royal guards. Each of them will team up with a squad of a dozen lesser minions, which should be enough to overwhelm even royal guards. Another squad will stay in reserve, to handle whoever else House Carlos might have, or to help against the royal guards if needed.

I will take down Carlos and what's-her-name myself. Jamar envisioned Carlos's dumb face standing in front of her and slashed her twin swords in a cross right through where she was picturing his neck. She barely noticed the 4-inch tree trunk that her slashes chopped apart, and she just grinned wider when it began to topple. Perfect. Everything is accounted for, and this time I'll be the one making him look like a fool!

The underling leading her shook his head for some reason, but it must not have been important; he didn't say anything to her. Sconter cocked his head and listened intently. He was picking up a faint crashing sound in the distance, comprised largely of many leaves sliding against each other, but also several branches breaking. He frowned and reached out to the mental link Purple had provided them all. [Esmorana, I think I just heard one of the smaller trees toppling, south-southwest of camp. I didn't get any hint of a collision major enough to knock one over.] Her answer came immediately, calmly professional. [Confirmed, Sconter. It hit a few of my air-web lines, and I placed several more on approach paths. I have determined that there is a group of people, or at least roughly person-shaped creatures, approaching. They're heading for Kindar. They'll reach him at their current pace in about 20 minutes. Probing for more details would risk tipping them off to my detection of them.] Sconter shook his head. [Hold off from that. I'll investigate. Inform Colonel Lorvan while I determine whether they're a threat Lord Carlos should be alerted to.] Haftel's mental voice joined the conversation. [Esmorana filled me in. Already on it.] Sconter left Haftel and Esmorana to their jobs while he set about doing his.

He deftly maneuvered his large and heavy feet along the ground, stepping on only the hardest and strongest patches of soil with the unthinking ease of tremendous experience, and what little indentations he still made lifted back up and undid themselves as he raised each foot for the next stride. He identified gaps and weaved between branches, and the leaves that he couldn't avoid silently bent aside as he passed and returned to normal.

He wrapped himself in stealth, leaving no sign of his passage as he ran southwest, seeking to reach the intruders' path slightly ahead of their approach. In just a few minutes, he was there. He chose a large tree well beside their path and hid in its branches while he waited. His heightened sense of hearing soon picked up the steady rumble of many footsteps, accompanied with the rustling of leaves and occasional chopping noises.

His mana sense felt the approach of a sizable group filled with purpose, which gradually resolved into finer details of individuals. He reached out to Purple's telepathic bond and ticked off details as they became clear. [Haftel, I'm sensing a total of 39 intruders. The top 2 are far more dangerous than the rest; Levels 46 and 47, and their souls feel… denser than normal. Not as dense as nobles, but in the same kind of way. The rest are all in the mid 30s to low 40s, and feel normal. Except one. There's this one person who's only Level 30, but her soul is almost as dense and solid as Carlos's or Amber's. Slightly more than Kindar's. Hold on, they're coming into sight…] Sconter peered into the distance from his hidden vantage point, assessing each person as he matched them to the souls he'd already been sensing. [Some swords, some spears, most have shields, they're all well-armored so far. A couple machetes up front, clearing some of the thicker undergrowth. And…] He narrowed his eyes as the young noble appeared. [Twin longswords, enchanted well above her level. Well-tailored chainmail, also highly-enchanted. Wait, is that…?] He blinked and looked again. [Oh, wow. It's the brat who confronted Carlos and Amber near Dramos. What was her name, Jamal? No, wait, Jamar. That's right, Jamar Tostral.] Haftel's laughter rang across the bond. [She's that dedicated to getting revenge for that humiliation? What an idiot!] He paused.

[Anyway, Lorvan says this group is mildly concerning. He's sure he and Ordens can handle the 2 elites – in fact, one of Lorvan or Ordens should be a match for both elites together – but they may need our help for the rest. He is confident of defeating this group if we work together; worst case, Crown Mage Felton might have to get involved. Our call whether to disturb Lord Carlos. He is currently deeply absorbed in some kind of magecraft project, supervised by Felton.] Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. A new voice, positively oozing eagerness, joined the conversation. [Can I fight instead? I'm supposed to defend Carlos's home, and I want to try!] Purple was idly watching his best friends playing with enchanting when one of his automation rules drew his attention to Sconter suddenly running off. The big man was also paying attention to the communication bond, but wasn't actively using it at the moment. Huh.

He probably said something to someone that would explain this, but I wasn't paying attention yet, so I missed it. Carlos always says a mistake is an opportunity to learn something so it won't happen next time, but what can I do to prevent missing important conversations? He pondered that question while Sconter raced southwest. I can't be sure whether a conversation is important or not before hearing it. To make sure I don't miss any important conversation, I would have to not miss any conversations.

Paying attention to every conversation all the time would be constantly distracting, but that's what automating things is for. So, maybe an automatic rule to remember conversations? But I don't want to remember all of them, really; that would get weird and distracting, exactly what I want to avoid. Oh, right, I can put them in my knowledge repository!

Purple felt proud of himself as he set about making an automation for that – and made sure to set security restrictions on the recorded knowledge, as another bit of automation reminded him to! – while another part of himself kept paying attention to Sconter. Watching the scout in action was a strange experience.

He was hiding himself in a way that camouflaged his very existence, but at the same time he was actively sending out precisely targeted signals to his chosen allies, revealing specifically to them all the things that he was hiding from everyone else. Purple's own senses barely registered the man, even looking right at him, but at the same time, he was blatantly obvious. Purple could track the bond between them just fine regardless, though.

When Sconter started sending his report through Purple's bond, Purple's first reaction was fear. For most of his existence, intruders had meant that he was about to be forced to spend resources he couldn't afford and reduce his power to remnant scraps. Then the reality of his current situation sank in. I have friends. I have protectors. And I have… power. More power than I had ever conceived of being possible. I can help. He checked the reservoir of condensed essence he'd been building.

The process no longer required, or even involved, his attention. It was easier to incorporate aether into himself when it was already condensed into essence, so he had started a habit of condensing it externally first and only then absorbing it, and he had automated both steps. He had been vaguely aware of the condensed essence accumulating outside of his soul, but hadn't really paid attention to it after confirming that he was absorbing as fast as his soul could handle.

Now, his mind stumbled to a halt in shock as he noticed the sheer magnitude of the essence backlog. What?! How– Oh. Absorbing it is limited by my soul, but condensing aether into essence is happening all across my domain. That essence isn't part of me yet, but I can still use it. And with this much… I can do more than help. I can fight! Purple eagerly asked if he could fight.

He felt strangely restless, his mind bouncing from one person to another and back to his stockpile of unabsorbed essence, while he waited for a reply. Finally, Haftel directed a message back to him. [Those elites are too much for you. Of all the people here, only the Crown's servants can handle them. As for the rest, hmm… A Level 36 dungeon versus 3 dozen delvers of roughly comparable Level. It is… possible, but you would need a great many monsters. It takes time for a dungeon to build the strength to spawn that many. Much more time than we have been here. Then again, you have grown stronger many times faster than any dungeon I've ever heard of, so…] Purple sent a pulse of understanding and confidence. [Send Major Ordens alone and tell her the dungeon will fight alongside her, then stand ready in case I fail. It is time to test myself.] He kept one mind engaged in conversation with Haftel, discussing what tactics would be best, while three more set about implementing Haftel's advice with the wealth of essence at his command – and automating several parts to streamline and accelerate the preparations further. One more mind considered for a moment, then reached out to Carlos and Amber. The others are concerned about needlessly disrupting my friends' concentration, possibly even ruining what they are working on.

They don't know that our mental enhancement soul structures make that concern unwarranted. He caught the attention of a new thread of Carlos's and Amber's minds and quickly filled them in. They responded with another suggestion, and he tweaked his plans. Jamar Tostral continued stalking through the forest, alert for threats from any direction. She muttered under her breath yet again, "How the hell are we in a dungeon? It makes no sense!"

She shook her head and firmed her grip on her swords as she deftly wove between a bush and a tree. She no longer needed any guidance on the correct direction to go; the incredibly strong absorption vortex she sensed ahead of her was like a beacon, and she'd started feeling it less than a minute after they entered the dungeon's domain. She frowned as she sensed the lead squad stop advancing. Did they encounter something? She hurried forward and soon emerged from a line of trees.

Her elites and their two squads stood tensely in a clearing 30 feet across and perhaps twice that long. On the other side of the clearing, there stood a single figure covered in gleaming steel plate armor. Orichalcum-orange wings of light spread wide from the figure's shoulders, and a sense of heavy pressure descended on Jamar as she came into sight. The royal guard's helmeted head moved briefly, and Jamar felt an intense gaze settle on her as the guard spoke with a voice that reverberated menacingly.

"Jamar Tostral, you and your forces should already know that your quarry is under the Crown's protection. Surrender now, and the Crown may be merciful to you." Jamar snorted contemptuously.

"Of course we know, and we planned for this. So follow the plan, already!" Her two elite minions straightened with the reminder and charged, and the feeling of pressure eased. Their squads followed two steps behind. Then a strange rustling racket came from the forest, and a tide of something tiny and metallic streamed out to cover the ground flanking the royal guard. Jamar stared and blinked repeatedly. What the hell is that?