Meanwhile, Blossom slipped into the shadows as she moved like a phantom, living up to her class's name; Phantom Canine. She descended on the panicking backline. Her claws tore through the soft targets with brutal efficiency. The archers and mages never saw her coming. One by one, they fell to her deadly assault, their bodies dropping silently to the ground. "[Backstab!]" she intoned just before her claws sank into the throat of an archer, mauling to death with a single swipe of her delicate hand.
I unleashed a [Fireball] over a cluster of warriors who had foolishly tried to form a defensive line. I've quickly learned that fire was mighty potent against armored enemies. Ever since then, I've been paying close heed to Ayame and Lucille- who were our only medium-armored combatants besides me. I was always ready to envelop them in my [Bubble Snare] spell to combat that weakness of them.
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My targets screamed in agony but they were soon silenced as the fire consumed them whole.
Ayame danced through the battlefield like a deadly whirlwind as she cut down her enemies with swift, precise strikes. "[Storm of Wind]!" she called, and her blade blurred momentarily before slicing through multiple opponents in the blink of an eye. Blood splattered across the dirt, but not a single drop touched her as she moved with a grace that reminded me of a ballet dancer during her performance. Ayame's swordplay was poetry in motion.
The noob alliance was falling apart at the seams, crumbling under our relentless assault. Many of them have long since turned their backs on their struggling allies to run for their hide.
Amidst the chaos, the elven tank held her ground respectably, but exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on her. She'd saved her five archers single-handedly from numerous attempts on each of their lives, so it was more than understandable. Her shoulders sagged and her breath turned heavy as she swung her hammer with less precision, speed, and strength behind each motion compared to the last.
As the last of her enemies fell, I decided to approach her slowly with my hands raised in a non-threatening manner. "I like your style. Wanna team up? We could use a tanker to hold everything together. Naturally, your archers are welcome too."
The archers shifted uneasily and drew their bows at me. They clearly didn't trust us.
"Stay where you are! If you approach her, we shoot!" One of them threatened, and I stopped in my tracks obediently.
Two more rushed to the tanker and helped her rise from the ground while eyeing us suspiciously. I get where they were coming from. Not only could we attack them and have the obvious upper hand, but they were elves in human land. Each of them was worth a baseline of ten golds just for being elves, more if young females. Archers like them who were obviously above level 10 would go for 15 gold at the lowest. They were in the Vraven Kingdom, where they were not accepted as legal citizens, making them outlaws by default, unless they were the slaves of a human.
<Let me talk to them.> Seraphiel said, taking the initiative.
My elven ally calmly walked toward the tanker who was flanked by her five archers. For some reason they only eyed her curiously instead of the open hostility I received. Seraphiel said she sensed the tanker being an elf without her giving any obvious signs of it off, so maybe it worked the other way too.
She leaned in and whispered something in the elf's ear- sadly her statement was too quiet for me to catch.
The tank's eyes widened in surprise behind her visor and for a moment there was only silence between them. Then, slowly, the tank nodded.
"Stand down." the tank called to her archers, her voice steady despite the exhaustion. "We'll work with them."
The archers hesitated but ultimately lowered their bows.
We've acquired a temporary tanker and a mighty firing squad. I would hug my amazing elf if I didn't know for sure that she wouldn't appreciate it.
"I'll heal you." Seraphiel said before casting a few spells on the tanker.
<What did you tell them?> I asked curiously. Their talk was way too seamless for it to boil down to 'I'm an elf too, so trust me'.
<We elves believe that we return to the Eternal Forest where the first elf, Luminara, awaits us after our death instead of what you humans think, which is that you get to greet the Goddess upon death. I said that if I or any of my teammates betray them, my soul will not enter the Eternal Forest and instead will wander the mortal realm aimlessly for eternity.>
Huh? I am a bit humbled by the evident trust she has in us. I just bought her a few days ago and hold complete sovereignty over her life and death, yet she would go this far due to a couple of positive interactions we shared. I could see this if she had the innocent mentality of Blossom who basically trusted her entire existence to me after a couple of nice words and head pats, but not this crafty elf. ℞𝘢Ν𝐎ꞖƐ𝘴
<I greatly appreciate the faith that you placed in us.> I replied after a few seconds of thinking.
A strange laugh welcomed my fervent thanks. <Please don't misunderstand, master. I don't trust you that much, it's just that I'm not a believer. I think Luminara is nothing but an old corpse whose bones have turned to dust over the annals of time she spent buried underground. I agree with you humans in that our souls will go to the afterlife after our demise where the Goddess reigns supreme.>
<… So you tricked them.>
<You could say that…> Her coy voice entered my mind.
<What would you do if I betrayed them?>
<I suppose I wouldn't get to meet Luminara and enter the Eternal Forest.>
So you would do absolutely nothing, huh… I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly while shaking my head. This woman was something else.