MagiCraft Master 2: A Mass Isekai LitRPG, page 19
“I can sense something consuming Numa nearby. He is here. Form four packs. Fan out into the east, west, south, and north. Hunt slowly. He is not running, he is hiding.”
With that, the scythe-fiends let out a uniform cry of agreement and they started spreading out in every direction, their heads low to the ground, as if searching for footprints.
[Logan, the Armor is going to run out of Numa in forty-two seconds.]
CHAPTER 40
[If there ever was a time for a crazy, creative plan, now is the time, Logan.]
Logan had nothing. There was a scythe-fiend sniffing around to his left and right, only four or five feet away.
[Twenty seconds, Logan. And after that, the armor is drained.]
Was this how it ended? Logan had absolutely nothing. A strange sense of calm took him. He had done his best. He really had. He had fought tooth and nail. In just a few seconds, they would be revealed and the pain would end.
I put up a hell of a fight, if nothing else. I never realized how much of a fighter I even was. I’m glad I was dropped onto this crazy planet. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. And Tumor. I’m really grateful for meeting you. You’re my best buddy. I just . . . Thanks. Hopefully Freya will be alright . . .
[Thank you, Logan. It has been . . . exciting. I am—]
Suddenly something glimmered in front of Logan. It sparkled faintly. Then a short, transparent creature with cream-colored porcelain skin materialized in front of them and grinned.
Logan gasped in surprise. He recognized that impish smile.
“You’re safe!” Snoff said. “My illusion magic will hide us both.”
The sparkles around Snoff extended and enveloped Logan. The scythe-fiends turned to look in their direction but apparently saw nothing interesting. They walked past Logan’s position. Tumor released the armor’s stealth mechanism.
“We can talk here,” Snoff said. “Just don’t be loud. ‘Tis good to see you, Logan.”
“Snoff . . .” Logan rasped between breaths. “Pain . . . A lot of pain . . .”
“Heh,” Snoff said triumphantly, as if he were happy with such a situation. “The time has finally come for me to repay you for saving my life. I will leave a barrier of illusion on you and get my brethren. Do not move.”
“As if I . . .”
But Snoff was already gone, skipping away and turning into a translucent, sparkling ghost. Logan passed out.
When Logan came to, he noticed he was in a shoddy hut made of leaves and sticks. There were some subtle clues that it was made by the Faelves rather than human hand. First and foremost was the size, of course. But it also had . . . softer shapes, smoother curves. It was beautiful in a subtle way.
One could tell that the Faelves cared about aesthetics. Were it Logan who had built the little hut, he would have constructed it by form and function first. It was not that the Faelves neglected that. It was just that they put more care into the building.
“Snoff?” Logan called out. His voice was hoarse and didn’t carry. Regardless, within moments, Snoff popped his head inside the hut and grinned.
“Alive, are we?” Snoff said.
“Water,” Logan croaked. “My kingdom for water.”
“I shall take you up on that!” Snoff said and vanished from the doorframe. A minute later, he came back with a clay cup, filled with water to the brim. It splashed on Logan’s skin as he downed it.
“Why don’t I hurt more?” Logan asked.
Snoff smiled and sat down. “You can thank our sire for that. He saved many of us.”
“What happened?” Logan asked and sat up. He winced. The pain was still there, but it was manageable. “We came to look for you in your town.”
Snoff shook his head, and the happy look in his eyes died down. “They found us. I know not how.”
Logan nodded. Snoff continued.
“The Great Thief has some new weapon, a creature of terrible power. We were helpless. So many of us were captured or slain.”
“The Numa zombies,” Logan said bitterly. “We’ve had our fair share of trouble with them as well.”
“They attacked with fierce brutality,” Snoff said, and shook his head ruefully. “We are not a warrior people, as you know. We could do naught but escape.”
“But how did you end up here?” Logan asked.
“We decided that we would no longer be simple prey. We needed something to combat this new threat. We came to look for a secret spoken of in our lore.”
“What secret?” Logan asked. “What’s in this jungle?”
“An old people,” Snoff said. “Older than even the First Folk.”
“What secret do they have?” Logan asked eagerly.
Snoff shrugged. “We do not know everything. Only bits and pieces from visions of our ancestors. All we know for certain is that they resisted for a long time.”
“And how do you know that?”
Snoff shrugged again. “You ask many questions, Logan. I had forgotten this about you.”
Logan shook his head. “I feel like these are pretty important things to know.”
“Pah,” Snoff said. “ ‘Tis not important. What is important is that are you well enough to help us.”
“Slow down,” Logan said. “You guys don’t even know what’s going on here.”
“We can infer,” Snoff said, and his countenance grew more serious. “It is a good thing you are here. But the king will want to see you. You broke your word.”
Logan opened his mouth, but then paused to think for a second. “I . . . yeah, I suppose I did. But I have good reasons,” he finally said.
Snoff looked at him for a while. His usually youthful and mischievous eyes took on a sense of sagely wisdom for just a flash. “Perhaps. But a promise is a promise. Sometimes there are reasons to break your word. And are you certain that this was one of those times?”
“Positive,” Logan said immediately.
“The king will decide that,” Snoff said. “Are you well enough to go see him?”
“I suppose,” Logan said and sighed, wondering how much shit King Sluikumar was going to give to him.
CHAPTER 41
Logan came out of the hut into a little opening in the forest. There were a few hastily cobbled-together huts, as well as torches in a circle, casting long shadows in the dark forest. It was cozy, really. Logan wondered why the Faelves weren’t scared of so blatantly signposting their location. Tumor noted that there was an 86.22 percent chance that the camp was protected by some form of illusion magic.
“I could have come to that conclusion too,” Logan muttered.
Snoff skipped ahead and beckoned Logan to follow him. There was a little gathering of Faelves by the opening. There were perhaps fifty of them left and all much more solemn than Logan was used to from them.
King Sluikumar rose in the air, stroking his long green beard with both of his hands, a harsh glare in his eyes as he regarded the approaching human.
“Logan,” the king said. His tone wasn’t a friendly tone nor was there a smile to be seen. “We meet again. I do wish it were in a better time and place.”
Logan gave him a wry smile. “If only that were in our ability to choose.”
A hint of a smile tugged at King Sluikumar’s mouth, but he steeled his expression. “Right.”
“I’m grateful you guys took me in,” Logan said. He wasn’t really interested in talking with the king right now. He just wanted to rest and maybe talk to Snoff. So he said nothing more, just waiting for Sluikumar to get to his point.
“For that you have solely Snoff to thank,” the king said and stroked his beard. “I believe that finally makes you two equals.”
“I never saw it any other way to begin with,” Logan said and shrugged.
“Were it up to me, I am not sure I would have chosen to save you.”
“Blunt for a king.”
“I have no time or patience for being oblique,” the king said and huffed.
Logan spread his hands. “And yet here we stand. Talking without getting to the point.”
The Faelves around them in a semicircle whispered to each other excitedly. Snoff caught Logan’s eye. He grinned but flashed his eyes in a warning manner. Logan grinned back and turned back to the king.
“Bold as ever, Logan,” the king said. “I will get to the point. You broke the promise you gave us.”
Logan’s anger flared. Tumor tried to say something, but Logan wasn’t interested. “My promise of what, exactly?”
“You know,” the king said and gripped his beard, pulling it downward, whilst tilting his chin upward in an imperious manner. “You have used corrupted Numa. I can even sense it in this abomination of an armor you wear.”
[No, he can’t. The armor was all but drained of energy. You were unconscious for six hours and fifty-three minutes. During that time, the armor has recovered some Numa passively from the environment, but that Numa was never corrupted.]
Logan considered his options. He could call the king out. That certainly wouldn’t improve his relationship with the old Faelf. What did he want out of this situation? Well, he would rather maintain the friendship he had with the Faelves. He wanted to know what had happened with the Numa zombies. And he could use some help dealing with the Herald.
Damn. Turns out I want all kinds of things from them. Doesn’t put me in a good position to negotiate, but it at least means I have a lot to gain in this situation. What’s the play here?
“Your senses are as keen as ever.” Logan smirked and gave Sluikumar a hard look. “My AI companion verifies that you have a clear picture of the Numa profile of my armor to the last percentile.”
King Sluikumar nodded in self-satisfaction and stroked his beard. Then his eyes suddenly went wide in a moment of realization, and he gave Logan another hard glare. Logan only smirked.
“I had forgotten you have this . . . machine living inside of you.”
“Tumor is quite fantastic,” Logan said. “And accurate. What do you want, Your Majesty?”
“An apology for breaking our promise.”
“You won’t get one.”
“How dare you?!” Sluikumar said and shot up in the air.
“I owe you no apology,” Logan said and gave Sluikumar a hard glare. “I came here to use corrupted Numa to level up my class as well as draw the attention of the Great Thief, in a place where I thought there were no other sapient species. How was I supposed to know you were here?”
“Two of my kin died today when they were foraging,” Sluikumar said. “Biuff and Salara. They were looking for food for us, and the spawn of the Thief attacked them, cutting them down.”
Logan shook his head. “Now, for that I am deeply sorry.”
“It happened because of you.”
“How could I have known?!” Logan spat out.
“You did not need to know,” King Sluikumar said. “You only needed to keep the promise you made.”
Logan closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek. Tumor told him to calm down and kept requesting to alter his brain’s chemical state. Logan declined.
“What do you want, Sluikumar?”
“I want to undo our alliance and to never see you again,” the king said. “Those two who died today, they were my friends. My family. Their blood is on your reckless hands . . .”
Logan only glared. The court was silent as a grave.
“. . . But I need you. We came here to look for something powerful. The forest and the ruins we seek to delve into are dangerous enough as it is, even more so now that you have decided in so destructive a manner.”
“Ah, I get it,” Logan said. “You will conveniently forgive me if I help you find the thing?”
The king nodded. “You catch up quickly, as always, Logan.”
“No, thanks.”
Sluikumar’s regal air took on an aspect of anger and surprise. “What?!”
“Those are bad terms, and I’m not interested in taking you up on your offer,” Logan said and shrugged.
“We just saved your life,” Sluikumar said.
“Oh?” Logan said and smiled. “I thought that was between me and Snoff.”
Sluikumar regarded Logan for a long, silent minute. “You really like to yank my levers, don’t you?”
“I’m not trying to do that,” Logan said. “I’m just not a fan of swallowing when someone tries to spit in my mouth.”
“I think . . .” Snoff said carefully and took a few steps forward in the semicircle. “Is it alright if I say what I think?”
King Sluikumar nodded and descended by a foot.
“I think you are too heartbroken for this negotiation, my king,” Snoff said. Murmurs and the tinkling of assent and agreement reverberated throughout the group of Faelves. The king turned to Snoff and scowled.
“We are all sad,” Snoff said. “We all mourn. Not only the loss of Biuff and Salara, but the thirty-eight we lost when the Great Thief’s new creatures attacked. Would you blame Logan for those deaths too? ‘Tis the Thief who is the culprit. My liege, you are too wrapped up in your grief to negotiate with Logan. We could use his help.”
Again, a chorus of quiet agreement echoed through the semicircle of Faelves. King Sluikumar looked unhappy, but instead of the accusing scowl, he now had a thoughtful expression on his face. He fully descended to the ground and sat there.
“He hardly deserves anything better than what I have given. How can we deal with him if he has broken trust?”
“We don’t need justice, King,” Snoff said. “We need help. It really does not matter what Logan did or what the implications are. The question is simple. Do you want to find the power with or without Logan? We should listen to what he requests. I don’t know Logan well, but I believe well enough to know he doesn’t make any unreasonable demands. You are a good king, but now you’re unwilling to do what is right due to personal feelings. A monarch has to put those aside for the greater good of his people.”
Most of the semicircle burst into cheers and applause, although a few notable exceptions crossed their arms and scowled at Snoff and Logan. King Sluikumar stroked his beard thoughtfully. Then he examined the crowd and nodded to himself.
“It seems I have indeed been wrapped up in my emotions,” Sluikumar said and turned to Logan. “I will listen to my people now, but hear me, Logan. You have broken a pact. You have wronged me, and I will remember it.”
“No,” Logan said. He took a step forward. “I did not. I honored the spirit of our pact, and that is what matters. If you want to be an old stickler about it, that’s on you. But if you endanger my life over it, I will make sure you come to regret it one way or another.”
A shocked, heavy silence hung in the air and King Sluikumar rose again, floating closer to look Logan directly in the eye. His eyes were wide with fury.
“Snoff . . .” the king said between his teeth, “. . . give him what he wants, but remove him from my sight.”
“Right away, My King,” Snoff said and came over to Logan, taking him by his hand.
CHAPTER 42
Snoff led Logan to the furthest hut in the Faelves’ camp the Faelves. When they were out of earshot, Snoff shook his head.
“You really did it this time.”
“He had it coming,” Logan said. “Asshole.”
“Give him some sympathy. We lost so many . . . We are still mourning.”
Logan sat down in the grass. Snoff went to one of the huts and came back with a piece of flatbread. He broke it in half and gave a piece to Logan.
“Thanks,” Logan said and took a bite. “How are you doing?”
“We are all sad. But we are used to death. We have all lost friends and family. But this time death took a large toll.”
“How did they find you?”
Snoff shook his head. “We don’t know. That is why we had to escape. We must find the ancient power of the people who lived here, so we can use it to better hide.”
“Hide, huh?” Logan said. “Seems like that isn’t working out for you.”
Snoff considered him for a moment. Logan had never seen the cheerful Faelf look so serious.
“ ‘Tis all my people know,” Snoff said. “I can guess what you want to say, but we are not a warrior people.”
“You keep repeating that,” Logan said. “But I need you to try, or we are all doomed. Do you know what the Herald is?”
“I saw it fight you,” Snoff said. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Logan said and took another bite of the flatbread. “Some creature of the Big Fish. It seems to have a personal vendetta against me. Anyway, between that thing chasing me, the scythe-fiends skulking around, the monkeys and who knows what else is lurking in the ruins you’re about to search. You need to stop being cowards. You need to be proactive. You need to fight.”
“You have become more blunt,” Snoff said.
“You have become more serious.”
“I was forced to.”
“Indeed.”
“So that is what you want of us?” Snoff asked, looking down, nibbling on his flatbread.
“I want your help,” Logan said. “I’ll help you find this power you seek, but I want you to help me fight.”
“The king will not agree. He wants to use it to create a city of mirages.”
“Didn’t you have something similar already?” Logan said. “I’m telling you, running away and hiding hasn’t worked out for you so far. It’s time to try something new.”
Snoff shrugged. “Perhaps you’re right, Logan.”
“I’m usually right,” Logan said.
[I think—]
“Shut up, Tumor,” Logan said and chuckled. “Anyway, give it some thought, Snoff.”
Snoff nodded, still idly nibbling his flatbread. “I will.”
“Now,” Logan said, “tell me about this power you keep mentioning.”
Snoff told Logan of a civilization that had lived on the planet hundreds of years before the First Folk had been summoned.
Logan listened as the Faelves prepared their gear for an expedition into the ruins. Sluikumar kept casting glances at him, even though he was fashioning spears and slings for them. Snoff told Logan that he should not expect much fighting out of them, as their instinct was to run, hide, and use magic to distract the enemies.
