NOVEL NEXT 125: Outfoxing an ambush
125:
Tom’s blade whipped downwards in a blur of motion, severing the head of a Wildeclaw that was reflexively trying to turn in the direction of burst of momentum its animalistic instincts had caught onto.
He landed on the ground with a loud slam, still a little unaccustomed to the additional heft his armor added to his body weight. Small cracks spiderwebbed in the earth below him as he dismissed his mimicked blade.
“Hopefully, it was painless,” Tom muttered as he saw the devastation his attack had unleashed upon the Wildeclaw. He was still getting used to the added heft the armor had added to his body weight.
Then he shrugged and looted its carcass as experience flooded into his soul.
‘Finally,’ He thought.
[Card Name: Aura Shift
Rank: Uncommon
Level: 5
Skill Upgrade Points: 4
Ability:
Mass Increase: Envelops the wielder in a red aura that amplifies their mass to a maximum of x 1.5 times their body weight. Allows the wielder to adjust between regular and x1.5 times their body weight on a sliding scale that comes with a slight time lag.
SP cost increases with increasing mass and falls with decreasing mass.
Mass Decrease: Envelops the wielder in a red aura that negates a portion of their mass down to x 0.75 times their body weight. Allows the wielder to adjust between their regular body weight and x 0.75 times their body weight on a sliding scale that comes with a slight time lag.
SP cost increases with decreasing mass and falls with increasing mass.]
Having hoarded his Skill Upgrade Points for the Mass Decrease ability, Tom didn’t hesitate to put all his amassed points into it.
Every point brought him a 0.2 reduction, the end result taking Mass Decrease’s limit to x0.67 of his body weight as the limit of its reduction capabilities.
The change wasn’t as pronounced as he had expected it to be, but he couldn’t expect too much from an uncommon card.
He stood there for a few moments, watching the early rays of dawn filter through the forest’s canopy before kissing his features.
A red aura began ensconcing his silhouette, before Tom blurred forward. He couldn’t take too long to return to camp, otherwise Aleph and Zirel would think that something had gone awry. But there was just enough time for him to play around with his card’s newly acquired ability.
As Tom made his way through the forest, he couldn’t help but notice how odd the Mass Decrease ability was. If his mass had truly fallen, then a logical consequence of that should’ve been a decrease in his Physical stat, which should’ve made it harder for him to move in the heavy Blood Wyrm Chainmail and Platelegs.
However, he moved at a speed that surpassed what even Lifeblood’s augmentation was capable of and he was forced to slow down because his own proprioception struggled to navigate through the unnatural acceleration.
‘The description of the Mass Decrease ability stated that it negated body weight. Negate doesn’t mean erased. If the wielder’s physical stat were to fall after activating the ability, then someone as important as the Head of the Elite Guard would have never used it. No, the card’s magic simply bears a portion of my weight in my stead,’ Tom concluded as he clenched his right hand into a fist, sensing the terrifying strength he was capable of.
Mass Decrease was only powerful because he was powerful and its drain on his SP was pretty unbalanced for a mere uncommon card. Mass increase on the other hand, made the aura cloaking him no different than another weapon; weight that would be added to his striking force.
It was a pretty great card for an assassin, giving them both versatility and unpredictability as they swapped between increased and decreased masses.
If the card didn’t drain three to four SP for every minute that it was active, Tom would’ve found it a lot more useful, but for now it would suffice as a surprise attack that he could use to dispatch foes in the shortest time span that was possible.
He doubted that the Head of the Elite Guard was subject to a similar SP drain, but then again, he probably didn’t have 50 Physical and Proprioception either.
Not long after, Tom arrived at a small clearing where they had set up camp.
“I’m heading out,” Zirel’s voice was barely above a whisper as he made his intentions known.
Tom nodded from Zirel’s left, where he was crouched behind a tree while Aleph monitored the situation from up on above, effortlessly balanced on a narrow branch so she could monitor the situation.
As fast and lithe as he could be, Tom wasn’t the right person for espionage when Zirel had access to a rare card that would let him blend in with the environment.
If they engaged here, then their plan would fall apart.
As it turned out, waiting wasn’t exactly Tom’s forte. While Aleph was perfectly content to lean on the tree’s trunk with her rare artifact in her hand, his gaze flitted from one patch of shrubbery to the next, searching for anything even remotely out of place.
He much preferred dealing with his problems by punching them in the face and it showed. He would make a terrible assassin, but his twitchiness was the only reason why he noticed a distortion in the air.
Tom pretended like he hadn’t noticed anything and waited.
Thankfully, it was Zirel who stepped out of his cloaking that let him meld into any environment.
“You were right,” Zirel whispered.
Tom’s gaze shifted upwards to Aleph, who nodded back at him.
That was all the confirmation they needed. They were in enemy territory and they needed to move.
“What did you find?” Tom asked as they jogged across the Sacred Forest, taking care not to make too much noise in their wake.
“It was a well-planned ambush,” Zirel replied, having dropped his cloaking to conserve his SP. “The weaker assassins, the one that wore those pitch-black robes, were concealed on trees and behind shrubbery. I’m not sure how many there were, but based on the glimpses I got, it has to be over a dozen.”
“Over a dozen?” Aleph repeated, her tone sounding almost impressed. “They must’ve valued the man we killed quite a bit, then.”
“Or his cards,” Tom replied. “Actually, definitely his cards.”
Zirel grunted in agreement before continuing, “They weren’t the real threat though.”
“Go on,” Tom encouraged.
“There were four, scattered a little distance away from each other. Like the gatekeeper, they were clad in armor and were definitely not outfitted for stealth. They’d left their backs unguarded and seemed to be baiting an attack. Not only would the weaker assassins swarm us the moment we attacked one of them, but the other three would also run over to reinforce them. It’s quite an elaborate lure,” Zirel explained.
“How strong do you think those four are?” Tom asked.
“One of them almost noticed me,” Zirel replied, his tone heavy. “If I hadn’t gone absolutely still to calm the distortions my movement caused, I’m pretty sure he would’ve attacked.”
“That’s pretty impressive proprioception, then,” Tom remarked. “That’s good.”
“Do you know how many members the Shadow Guild has?" Aleph asked.
“I think that should be about a third of their strength, in numbers,” Tom answered. “The Shadow Guild is strong, but there’s a reason why they’re hiding outside the three kingdoms. We took out the Gatekeeper and now there’s four more like him. I’d say that they’ve dedicated about half of their real strength to stomping us out in one fell swoop.”
Aleph nodded, satisfied by the explanation.
Tom continued jogging even as he pulled out the Elixir of Soul Restoration from his inventory. There was a little under a third of the precious liquid left.
He came to a stop under the canopy of a large tree and proceeded to pull out two vials from his inventory. He gave Aleph and Zirel half a vial full each for emergencies, before stoppering the crystal bottle and holding onto it with his left hand.
“Zirel, it’s up to you how you decide to fight,” Tom began directing the plan. “Aleph, you can fight next to me, but if you’re forced to use last recall I want you to cover my rear.”
“I don’t like it, but I’m still not strong enough to complain,” Aleph replied, a sigh escaping her lips while Zirel just nodded at him.
“Now, a question,” Tom began, his lips curling up into an amused smile. “How do you hide a structure capable of housing around fifty assassins in the middle of a forest?”