Not knowing that the disturbed mindsets of their young mages had already become part of Nick’s next plan of attack, Elic and Avir were in the tent. They were seated at a circular table in the middle of the tent, along with three other people.
Two of these were male mages, and one was female. The tent was big and had enough space to store many things inside it.
Arimo was a man in his thirties. He had black hair and green eyes. His body was strong and with a large stature. He was one of the captains of the mission. He was underneath Elic and Avir in the hierarchy but more important than the other members of the upper level.
Lilly was a timid, short-height girl with short hair. Her purple-colored eyes looked at others with fear. She was one of the captain members as well. Her specialty was curing and healing magic. She worked as Captain of Healers.
The last captain, named Verantil, was tall and thin. He was not handsome by any means but very charismatic. He was responsible for intelligence gathering and the clan’s morale-boosting. He was a capable battle-mage, who was also adept at manipulating human emotions.
The people sitting at the table were silent. Nick’s plan had proved to be highly effective on their ordinary members.
At this time, Verantil started talking.
“Blue Tear City gave us this mission. According to the mission, we would need to secure the Underbroom Cave area and its perimeter, hold it for about three months, and then give it to the Blue Tear City management. From the outside, the mission looks good, but it really is not.”
Elic shook her head and started talking as she faced the others in the tent.
“You are not wrong. But right now, we have no way to back out of this mission. If we back off, Blue Tear City on the outside may agree with our decision, but most likely will suppress other powers and nobles from giving us missions and will cut our lifeline. Tell me about the morale of our members.”
Verantil did not continue with the topic of the mission and answered.
“Almost all new members and young mages are feeling fear and deep disagreement about the mission. The fact that their friends and other members were killed within seconds, and we don’t have any information or ways to ascertain who this enemy is or how many there are, has created a void in their minds. They don’t know anything, and this makes them panic. Basic human instinct fears not knowing.”
Elic already guessed this outcome. She just did not expect calamity to strike this soon. It was already midnight. There was no way anyone could move in the forest for the time being.
“Why do you think the enemy, who is capable of killing us from afar, did not attack anyone after every member returned to the Underbroom Cave?”
Verantil took a deep breath and started thinking as he answered. Others listened with different emotions on their faces but did not try to interrupt.
“I believe there are two reasons. First of all, the enemy or enemy group knows a lot about human behavior. Instead of killing the members continuously, they stopped and waited after killing about 75 of us in a short time. The lack of action will compel our members to keep thinking about the enemy’s capability and attacks.
“The more they think how their fellow members died, the more they will enter a state of fear. Not knowing when the next attack comes, or who will die next, will make them anxious and will break their mind frame.
“The second reason is that he or she wants us to enter the Underbroom Cave…”
As the others heard the second reason, their eyes involuntarily looked at Elic.
Elic accepted the mission after seeing the mission prize. But as a big rule and note, the Blue Tear City management told them specifically, that no matter what they do or any situation they face, they must not enter the Underbroom Cave. Because of this, Elic even put a magic shield at the Underbroom Cave’s entrance, so that no member could enter the cave and break this rule.
Elic whispered to herself.
“If we were to enter the cave, the enemy who is hunting us most likely would have no chance to kill us anymore. So, please let me hear your thoughts. What are we going to do against this enemy?”
At this time, Lilly started talking in a timid, almost mosquito-like voice. She most of the time does not add any kind of knowledge when it comes to matters like this, but this time she voiced what she thought.
“I inspected the members’ corpses. The spell they were hit with did not seem very strong or complex. In reality, it has too many similarities to ‘Energy Bolt’ and ‘Energy Ball’. But there are things I do not understand. If I could deduce anything at this moment, it is that the spell this enemy used to kill our members will not kill a mage who has an active or passive magic shield. At least not in a single shot.
“Also, I believe that the enemy might be capable of killing stationary targets but not the ones that moved actively. I reached this conclusion because every corpse I inspected was in one position at the time of the attack.”
Elic nodded and added.
“Yes, we did monitor the kind of power the enemy used to kill our members. The spell was simple, but the power was beyond the charts and especially the speed of the Energy Bolt was just too much.
“Now that I think about it, it is possible that the range of this enemy may not just be a mere 500 meters. If we were to assume that he or she has more than 5KM range, what would you do? What would you do if you were the enemy? Our opponent knows that we are his targets and cannot escape. Because of this, he might think there is no need to kill quickly. Because he is sure there will be a chance to do so later.”
