Volume 20 Chapter 3 Reconnaissance
"It was delicious! Well then, Mom, I'm going to check on things."
This was early morning, 2 days after Al and Gustave held a modest feast in the capital.
After eating breakfast made by his mother, Pamela, Al cheerfully announced this.
Unfortunately, everyone except Al and Pamela was still asleep this morning.
This was because Al and Gustave had arrived from the capital the evening before, and they explained to their father, Nelson, and older brother, Jasper, that due to their accomplishments, Gustave might be knighted and potentially appointed magistrate of the iron mine discovered near Channing Village.
The two were so shocked that they, along with squire Neville, his retired father Myron, Pamela, and even sister Lucy and younger sister Mary, discussed what to do until dawn.
However, Al, one of the instigators of the commotion, initially participated in the discussion but excused himself partway through, saying he was going to check on Lamia.
He felt sorry for his family, but Al himself had no interest in governing the territory and had no vision of what to do.
Instead, he thought it would be better to consider how to quickly deal with Lamia and the Barbarians.
Pamela had been participating in everyone's discussion, but she had prepared breakfast properly for Al when he left in the morning.
Al felt grateful for that.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be cautious."
Thanking his mother, Al left the house.
The materials on Lamia that Lord Duran showed him indicated that, as Al imagined, they use spells, and it also noted that their fangs are poisonous, making bites dangerous, and one should be wary of their sweeping tails and constricting attacks.
This suggests that they possess high intelligence and strength in close combat, which may be incomparable to goblin mages.
However, there was one more piece of information, which came from the assistant device Riana that Patricia had, about when she assisted King Tempest. It was said that Lamia were Barbarians occasionally seen in the Tempest Kingdom, and they were not a threat to skilled knights.
Though they used magic, they were treated similarly to Barbarians like Orcs and Ogres, who excelled in combat.
With this in mind, Al used the 'Fly' spell and floated up gently.
He always used the 'Floating Eye' and 'Magic Sense' spells, but limited his detection spells to just 'Detect Magic,' stopping the use of 'Detect Invisible' and 'Detect Illusion.'
Since that was personal action, he returned the effective range to 55 meters (60 yd).
Instead, he decided to use the 'Magic Resist' and 'Shield' spells.
Though he didn't know the name, he learned that there was a spell with an effective range of 70 meters (76.5 yd), so he couldn't rely solely on detection spells.
In solo actions where visibility was secured, he figured that the 'Magic Sense' spell would be sufficient without using 'Detect Invisible' and 'Detect Illusion,' so he swapped out 2 of the spells he maintained.
The effect duration of 'Magic Resist' and 'Shield' spells was only about one hour, so reapplying them was a hassle, but Glee was supposed to notify him.
Al followed the route he had previously cleared, confirming there were no anomalies, and arrived at the top of a small hill where he discovered Lamia and the magician of the Marquis Prentis family.
From there, the distance to where the Barbarians were was about one kilometer (0.62 mil) in a straight line.
However, after using the 'Sensory Boost' spell to check on the Barbarians, Al quickly noticed that the situation had changed from the last time.
There was a cabin where Lamia appeared, and stone walls were built here and there to protect the stone tower, which was a primitive smelting furnace.
Its width was about 5 meters (16'4"), and its thickness and height were nearly one and a half meters.
Because of this, the mining site──the iron mine──could not be seen completely from where Al was.
Only the figures of ordinary goblins could be seen flickering through the gaps in the stone walls.
"What is this..."
Looking at the stone walls, Al was momentarily at a loss for words.
With so many obstacles, the effect of the 'Magic Tornado' spell would be limited.
Previously, when Al attacked this iron mine, there might have been survivors who took measures.
Or perhaps, by stealing gold and barrels of grain from the magic bag, they became wary of him.
How can this be safely defeated?
Al decided to send out the 'Floating Eye' to scout the situation in detail.
Since it was about one kilometer (0.62 mil) away, it shouldn't be too tiring, and the risk was much lower compared to going himself.
The eye reached near the sky in 2 or 3 minutes.
There were about 20 places where the stone walls were made, at a glance.
Just in case, Al decided to use the 'Record & Play' spell to record an overview of the whole mining area.
Where is Lamia?
And, have higher species like goblin mages and hobgoblins, which weren't there before, been born?
Carefully, he slowly lowered his eye from above the cabin where Lamia used to be.
"Glee, let me know when the distance from the cabin and the ground is about 60 meters (65 yd)."
'Okay'
At this point, it wouldn't be wise to be discovered.
He didn't know if barbarians like Lamia and goblin mages, who could use spells, would use detection magic, but he decided to keep his distance just in case.
Crunch
Suddenly, the sound of gravel stepping was heard behind him.
Startled, Al hurriedly turned around.
A man was standing not more than 20 meters away in the shadow of a tree.
Al recognized that face.
It was the mage from the Marquis Prentis family, who had spoken with Lamia before.
The fact that it did not respond to the 'Detect Magic' spell means that perhaps someone approached secretly without using spells, or they were lying in wait here.
'Magic Shockwave'
The mage, realizing he had been discovered, immediately began to chant a spell.
From the outstretched palm aimed at Al, a massive amount of pale blue light erupted.
Unlike the 'Magic Tornado' spell, the 'Magic Shockwave' spell erupts a large amount of pale blue mass from the outstretched palm, expanding into a conical shape with a 60-degree apex, reaching about 30 meters (100ft) in distance.
'Quick'──Create Armor 'Full-body metal armor'
Because 'Spasm' The spell to interrupt spellcasting was too late. Al instead cast the newly learned spell. Instantly, a knight-like metal armor covered Al's entire body.
Right after, the pale blue light of the magic spell Magic Shockwave struck Al's body.
The hexagonal light of the 'Shield' spell he had cast on himself initially negated it, but soon he ran out of that protection, and Al was blown back by the successive hits of the pale blue light.
The impact dented the metal armor, and he nearly lost consciousness from the pain.
However, the pale blue light did not have enough effect to penetrate the metal armor, and eventually, the wave of the magic spell Magic Shockwave faded away.
"What nonsense, metal armor? Then"
'Piercing Spear'
Despite groaning in pain, Al tried to stand up, and the magician of the Marquis Prentis family cast another spell.
Al hurriedly canceled the quick 'Create Armor'.
He was half-forced into the metal armor over his leather armor, and with many dents, he could hardly move his arms.
By the time he could finally use a spell, the incantation of the magician of the Marquis Prentis family was about to finish.
'Quick' Shield'
Barely, the 'Quick' Shield spell arrived in time.
The 3 spears shot from the hand of the magician of the Marquis Prentis family were all negated by the hexagonal light of the 'Shield'.
'Magic Dragon──' 'Spasm' ...
Al finally interrupted the spell the magician was about to cast with 'Spasm'.
The magician of the Marquis Prentis family showed a look of dismay.
'Quick'──Magic Missile'
'Quick'...
A pale blue arrow-like projectile shot out from Al's palm.
Thanks to the 'Spasm' spell, the magician's spell was too late.
The arrows pierced the torso of the magician of the Marquis Prentis family one after another.
The impact sent the mage flying backward, falling on his back.
* * *
The spell Al used, the newly learned 'Create Armor' spell, was actually created on the way back from Marquis Tagard's territory.
The reason for creating the spell came after Al obtained the quick 'Magic Missile' spell in Marquis Tagard's territory.
He became curious about the properties of this quick-named spell and decided to investigate further.
Al first started by comparing how it was described in the spellbook.
As a result, he found that among the various symbols that make up the spell, only the symbols for creating arrows and shields with magic were different, and he discovered that there were distinct characteristics in those symbol differences.
Surprisingly, this difference also applied to the symbols representing light used in the 'Light' spell that Al had been aware of, and the symbols for light in the 'Flash' spell.
If that were the case, Al thought, perhaps a similar thing could be done with the 'Create Armor' spell, which also creates objects, leading to the creation of this spell.
Al quickly duplicated the spellbook for 'Create Armor' and decided to try modifying the symbol that corresponds to the essence of armor, which the caster wears, with an awareness of its differences.
Thus, through considerable trial and error and the cooperation of Lord Zora, a new spellbook was created by modifying the 'Create Armor' spellbook.
Al was able to learn the quick 'Create Armor' spell.
However, this quick 'Create Armor' spell had a drawback: although its activation time was considerably shorter like other quick spells, its originally long-lasting effect time was only about 3 minutes.
Therefore, there was a debate among the kingdom's knight magicians about whether it was practical enough to acquire it.
However, this time, it is no exaggeration to say that Al was saved thanks to this spell.
Finding effectiveness in the spell he created brought Al deep satisfaction.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)