CHAPTER 11

“Good work Corporal. We’ll take over from here. You make sure your army keeps the Thralls contained” turning around she addresses the new recruit, “Synthia, stay and guard the command room. Esta, with me.” commanded the Exec.

Why does the new recruit get the easy job? The command room is the safest place in the fort, why does it need guarding? I even gave her ‘the Pineapple’. Does she even realise how many people would kill to use it? It’s one of my own inventions after all. Ahh~ who am I kidding? I just want to go back and research my new enchantment. No use acting all jealous

The Exec and I returned back to the courtyard which now had an army encirclement surrounding the Lurker Worm’s mouth hanging out of the Great Wall. In periodic intervals a small group of Thralls would jump out and charge at the Drow army, only to crash into a mountain of cold blades as they get ripped apart. Above the Great Wall, archers were constantly raining arrows down on the Thralls who were attempting to climb over the border into the Drow Empire.

See this is why fighting just Thralls is a waste of time. They’re mindless creatures who are now slaves to their master and can’t even think for themselves. There is literally no strategy, all they do is charge forward. No challenge, at all. The army literally has the Thralls caught like a fish in a barrel.

Well, mostly.

Glancing back to the courtyard, another group of Thralls came out of the Lurker Worm’s mouth only to once again charge to their deaths.

“What do you think?” the Exec asked.

“Troublesome.”

“Isn’t it always?”

“This one requires extra effort”.

“Oh, how so?”

“We kill the Lurker Worm and there will be a massive hole in the Great Wall. Thralls would just charge straight through from the other side. On the other hand, if we just kill the Lurker Worm, Thralls can still travel inside its body directly through the wall. Like I said, troublesome.”

Hearing my analysis, the Exec nods. Her solemn mask slowly morphs into a mischievous smirk.

“I’ve got a plan” the Exec declares.

A twitch of my eyebrows involuntarily escapes my control.

“Please don’t tell me we’ll-”

“We’ll be charging in” the Exec decided with a nod.

Urgh, I knew it. This is how the Exec deals with troublesome things. Of course, the new recruit gets to stand guard at the command room while I have to run down a giant worm’s throat, through an army of Thralls, emerge on the other side, kill everything and then return.

I just want to return to the barracks. Is this too much to ask?

The Exec is explaining our plan to the soldier currently in charge of the containment of the Lurker Worm.

“Can’t we just block the Lurker Worm’s mouth with a large boulder?” the officer asked.

“How are we going to find a boulder the size of the Lurker Worm’s mouth? It is literally five storeys wide, not to mention we need to make sure the boulder is at least as thick as the Great Wall itself. Otherwise, it’s a weak point,” I snapped at the officer.

Although it is possible to cut the head off and leave it in the Great Wall, but the Thralls would still be able to travel through the other half of its body. Better to cut it off at its roots and obliterate the army in the process.

I let out a loud sigh and gave the officer the ‘are you stupid’ glare. He avoided my eye contact and glanced toward the ground. Honestly, this is why I rather let the Exec do all the talking.

Closing my eyes, I focused inward on locating a crystal blue swirling lake, gently rotating in vast space. I pull upon Aiur’s Source as tendrils seep into my bloodstream travelling through the channels, taking the most direct route to my two hands. I release two strands of transparent blue magic and begin the process of weaving it together like an exquisite piece of art. A pull here and a delicate touch there. The process is delicate and the formation is complex. For the final touch, I tugged my hands away, allowing for the final strand to snap into place as the spell shatters like glass. The air around me, illuminated by a crystal blue hue now gently hummed like a song as swirling bolts of magic in its purest form continuously swam in a circular motion with my body as its core.

I gave a glance to the Exec, “my forcestrikes[/i] are ready”.

“We wait for the next wave to arrive and charge in after they're eliminated.”

“Understood.”

The soldiers within the courtyard kept glancing back and forth between the Lurker Worm and my blue swirling beams of death, clearly torn between which one they need to be more cautious around. The commanding officer that we spoke with earlier took a few steps back, providing a clear area void of any individuals around my immediate vicinity, minus the Exec.

I could feel myself grinning in amusement. It’s so ironic that the Drow army would accept an elemental mage throwing fire and rocks everywhere, yet when they see an Arcane mage, suddenly everyone is fearful.

The tapping of feet and the hum of my Arcane energy echoed throughout the large courtyard as an unnatural silence fills the air. Glancing to the side I see the Exec is tapping her feet in an unrefined manner.

A loud war cry in the distance broke the silent atmosphere.

“Finally,” said the Exec as she withdraws her weapon and charges in to meet the oncoming wave like a brute. Wait, not entirely true. The way she swings her weapons and gracefully spins as she cuts through the Thralls is quite elegant. An elegant brute, I mused. I see no reason for me to go in and waste my spell on fodder. I’ll just wait for her to finish the enemies off. I’m not lazy or anything, I swear. It’s for efficiency sake, yep, efficiency.

The soldiers, clearly afraid to get caught under friendly fire stayed within their own ranks as they let the Exec slaughter the mindless creatures. Once it was clear she gave me a nod and I began leaving the encirclement made by the army as we both begin to charge down the throat of a giant worm.

The rapid footsteps squish under my feet as the Exec and I run down the throat. The interior of the Lurker Worm is like a five storey wide tunnel with the occasional slime dripping from the walls. The body itself appears to turn and twist in random directions, sometimes going up and down on a steep slope. However, the gradient of the ground isn’t too steep. The whole purpose is to have an army pass through on foot after all.

My final forcestrike blasts the chest of a mindless Lizardman open, leaving a gaping hole seared through the entire body. The forcestrike is capable of generating high temperatures to the point that it scorched his internal organs to the point where his blood evaporated.

I take a moment to stop and re-weave my spell as the Exec stands guard.

We have been running down this damn worm for at least two candle marks now and met with multiple waves of enemies. Now that I stop to think about it, why would they even send the army in waves rather than all at once? Surely, they could overwhelm the army with sheer numbers.

“Finally!” complained the Exec, as we reach the other opening to the Lurker Worm. My question is answered as we emerge in a medium sized room where the walls are littered with ominous green looking sacks. At set intervals, a sack would pop open, where a Thrall would emerge in their mindless state with their tattered armour and rusted weapon. The Thrall would then join the ranks of other Thralls in the centre of the room until there is no more space, forcing them with no other choice but to charge down the mouth of the Lurker Worm.

“What are you doing idiots?! Kill them!” a voice boomed within my mind. Within the middle of the room was a mass of mangled flesh with various tentacles swinging wildly. The centre eye was glaring with hate toward our direction.

“That’s not going to work on us, Beholder,” the Exec coldly said as she charged in weapons first. Total chaos erupted at that instant. The Exec fought with a style that could be a mixture of self-learnt and Drow martial arts. She ripped the throat from her initial victim, then darted in to do the same to the nearest enemy before it could react.

I took a step back and shot off one of my forcestrikes against a piece of rock that was flung from the Beholder, resulting in a cloud of dust. Using the momentary smokescreen, I pulled out two metal spikes and stabbed it into the ground. The air sizzled and sparked before erupting into a blue transparent shield that constantly bubbled on the verge of eruption as I activated the enchantments. Not a moment after, three Thralls came charging in, weapons raised, only to scorch into a cloud of ash upon reaching my shield.

“Why are you damn Beholder’s always attacking us?” I grumbled.

“You took away our home, made us live within the Lower Reaches and you dare[ ask why?!” the Beholder screamed in my mind.

Glancing around, I find the Exec still ripping the Thrall’s spines out, yet the numbers don’t seem to be decreasing.

The green sacks on the wall.

“Exec, time to execute Plan P” I screamed over the battle.

With a grunt of affirmation, the Exec charged through my still sparking shield to stand next to me. All members of my squad have an enchantment to identify them as friendly, wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt each other, especially when it gets all chaotic.

“You think you can get away?!”

“We’re not getting away, it’s just that fun time is over,” said the Exec with a resigned sigh.

Seeing the signal, I take out a spherical metal orb with pulsating blue lines all over its surface. I press the trigger button on its outer shell where it begins to let out high-pitched beeping noises. I threw the orb as hard as I could toward the Beholder when the orb frantically increases the beeping noises, almost to the point where it is one continuous sound.

“Fire in the hole!” I screamed as I unleashed ‘the Pineapple’ whilst diving toward the inside of the Lurker Worm’s mouth.

The room darkened. Then a flash of blinding blue engulfed everything in almost an instant. A deafening sound rang out, bodies were scorched, the resulting shockwave knocked the breath out of me as it sent me sprawling along the internal body of the Lurker Worm. I could feel its saliva sticking to my face, matting my hair. The acid stung as it made contact through the thinner parts of my clothing and onto my skin.

After regaining my bearings and checking on the Exec’s condition, I looked at the exit way where the Beholder was previously seen. Only large pieces of rock and rubble remained.

The Lurker worm thrashed to the left and right, causing me to lose my balance and stumble once again as the pain of losing one of its mouths sent it into a frenzy. It appears that the Beholder didn’t manage to give one final order for the Lurker Worm to eat us up, otherwise it really would have been a disaster.

---

A look of disgust flashed upon Synthia’s face as the Exec and I approach her before she reigns in her emotions and puts on her blank face.

“Any troubles?” Exec asked.

*None. Are you two okay?* she signed with concern.

I looked down to inspect my clothes to find dried saliva coated in a myriad of dirt, blood and flesh. My armour was ragged and had acid burns all the way to my skin distributed around where I braced myself when I fell. Turning around, I notice the Exec’s armour is in the same condition.

The Exec nodded, “Nothing we couldn’t handle. We’ll let the Army Corp deal with the rest.”

*But what about, well, that?* she signed as she gestured to the giant mouth still sticking out of the wall which has now widened due to the last minute pain induced movements of the worm.

“Who cares? Let the stuck up mage people deal with it” I answered before the Exec.

Synthia looks me in the eye and raised an eyebrow asking the silent question.

“I’m not a mage, I’m an Arcane user. There’s a difference!”

She silently tilts her head with confusion written all over her face. Damn this girl and her silent way of communicating.

“Don’t worry, you will learn all about it during your training sessions,” the Exec interrupted. “Let’s go get cleaned up and we will take you to the Elder where you will get a more formal introduction. Although it is a bit uncommon to have a small skirmish with Thralls on the first day, welcome to the Sisterhood Synthia.”

“Welcome Synthia, I look forward to being able to truly call you my little sister,” I told her.

Synthia warily glanced between the Exec and me, judging our expressions. We both silently give her a moment to come to her own conclusions.

Meekly, Synthia bowed her head and spoke in the smallest voice possible, “thank you.”

I could feel the blood rush to my face and my ears going warm at the sight of such a cute scene. She looks like a tiny rabbit that you just can’t help but want to pat and cuddle.

As her new big sister, I can’t wait to throw her to the other members. They would swarm to her like wolves and then I would have all the time in the world since I’m no longer the youngest.

If I didn’t do that, then I have no right at being called her big sister. What’s the point of having a younger sibling if you can’t bully them?