The First Lich Lord

Chapter 70

How did they get in front of us again? Maxwell grumbled. The mental exhaustion of trudging forward none stop addled all of our minds. He had pulled out the map early in the morning. We were about half a day out from the main road and had some decisions to make.

While wed successfully broken through the initial line a day ago, we were now surrounded again.

Maybe they realized what were trying to do? I suggested.

Or they are using players to get in front of us by using places of creation, Maxwell suggested.

That makes far too much sense, I sighed.

Places of creation were the fast travel network spread across the world that players could use. Before the changes that swept over the world right after I became a Lich, the NPCs had a blind spot to these fast travel locations. They would never employ players for communication means or anything that utilized fast travel. I didnt know if that remained true, but what I did know was that players couldnt take NPCs through with them, unless they had specific skills for it, like Tyler the paladin with Rhea.

If thats the case, it means these dots, I pointed to where they appeared to be circling us in the west, are likely only a handful of players each.

Thats probably the weakest point then, Maxwell concluded. Players individually were often more powerful than NPCs, and it was likely, due to the number of dots, that they were individual players whod been given maps.

I think once we hit the main road we should return north and try to break through the line. I pointed toward the main road through the region.

That will take us to the city though, Maxwell warned. Do you want to go in?

Yes. Id been thinking about it for a whileeven if we hadnt been encircled, I wouldve suggested we head for the city. My thought is if we can make it to the city that will buy us time, though that will be limited if theyre truly using players now. The only other choice we have is to circle far around the city to get through the other passes, which would take us days. Thats probably what they expect us to do anyway, so those spots are likely already being reinforced.

The regional capital was built over a deep and wide crevasse that ran through this section of the plains. It was at one of the narrow spots that the city had been built. The crevasse was too deep for us to cross without a bridge, and a massive river ran along the bottom, making it impossible to climb down one side and up the other.

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Why dont we keep heading east? Maxwell asked.

You know more about why we should be heading east than I do. I gave him a flat look. You were in this accursed nation long before I was. Tell me, what lies to the east?

A brief look of confusion flashed across Maxwells face before it dawned on him. Right, thats where the capital and holy city is. The closer we get, the more priests we have to deal with.

And not to mention the overwhelming presence of the holy magic would literally begin to hurt me. I rolled my eyeswell, the orbs of purple in my eye sockets rolled, which caused my illusionary eyes to copy.

We also didnt muse about going south, as such would be almost impossible. To the south was Dothar. It had once been a living city that I used as a sacrifice when I became a Lich. Now it was an undead city and spreading its influence over the region. Rhea was certain to fortify any route I could possibly take that way first. If I could get there, I would be safe. I had fled partially because I hadnt been thinking clearly, and partially because I knew certain players would have hunted me down. Though in retrospect I couldve picked a better nation to flee to.

Then I suppose we go straight north after we hit the main road, Maxwell said.

We should go at a slower pace for the next few hours so it looks like were still headed straight east when the map updates. I started walking again and Maxwell led the way, the map held out as we jointly read.

Raven stalked out of the wheat.

Any luck? I asked.

She shifted back into her human form. Great luck, I caught two rabbits. I also discovered I could use dark magic to cloak me and make me even more sneaky.

Im glad youre figuring it out. Raven fell in beside me as we continued.

***

Do they not know theyre supposed to be watching for us? Raven demanded in a whisper.

Thats players for you. I shook my head. Theyre great in a fight, but in tedious tasks they become bored and lose attention.

I had sent Raven ahead to scout the small campsite and the woods next to the main road. We found the perimeter of the circle closing in around us. Itd been about six hours since the update had shown them where we were still at. As soon as the update had gone out, we hit the main road and sprinted north.

Now in the wee hours of the morning, light was just beginning to filter through the trees. The campsite we found was part of a series of camps laid out in a circle. We debated trying to stay between them, and I was certain they had some kind of detection system that would alert the others. So instead, we decided to hit one of the camps as hard and fast as we could and hopefully overwhelm them before the other camps could reach us.

There was about a hundred yards between each camp, and each fire represented two or three people. The dots on the map only indicated that there was one group in front of us, and I realized they mustve spread out. From what Raven had seen at the different camps, they sounded like they were all players.

They all seem about as strong as me, Raven said. She didnt have a way to tell levels like I did, but she did have an innate sense for how strong things were.

Right, let us begin. I transformed Mercy. The blade reformed into a perfectly smooth black ball at the top of my staff. I didnt use this very often because I didnt normally need it. But with the struggles Id had using dark magic, I figured I could use the focus. I was also relying on my points devoted to secondary magics in my Mindscape. My illusion was already dissolved to give me access to as much magic as I could.

Above my staff a spell diagram formed, ritual lines flooded with power as I focused and cast the spell. There was a brief pulse of dark magic and then nothing.

What was that? Maxwell said.

A silence spell, I explained. We can hear each other but any other noise around us will be suppressed.

I reformed Mercy into a long slender blade, razor-sharp on one side, with a taper tip. With a nod to the others, I sprinted toward the campfire. Maxwell used a short swordin short quick fights like this there was very little point in trying to use his music. Raven drew her daggers as dark mana built around them.

I burst into the ring of light around the fire. One of the players was dozing, while two of them were playing dice. Their mouths opened in silent cries of alarm. I lunged for the first, she wore heavy armor, though her helmet had been removed along with her gauntlets. Before she could even scramble to her feet, my blade ripped through her neck in an explosion of gore, and her head toppled to the side, her body slumping forward.

The second man was faster, his blades already up, some kind of agility class. Though his mouth was open as if to scream, he made no noise when Maxwell engaged him and drove the bard to the side. I glanced back to the sleeping player, where Raven was already stabbing her daggers over and over through the soft robes the caster wore.

As Maxwell reengaged the dual wielding player, I saw the players eyes shift to Raven and then to me. He turned to flee, and I reached my hand out, casting another spell. I was careful not to use anything that might disturb my silence spell, so instead of an explosive projectile, black chains erupted from my hand straight toward the fleeing man. It drained most of my remaining mana, giving me a headache. Once the chains wrapped around his legs, he began to be pulled back to me.

He almost made it free of my silence spell. I saw the terror in his eyes as he was drug across the ground. Maxwell stepped over him, and after a salute with his blade, drove it into the mans heart. He gasped and died.

The fight had been eerie in complete silence. Raven and Maxwell were rummaging through their belongings. I doubted they would have anything of value to us. Though I did see Raven leave behind one dagger and take a new one. And Maxwell did the same, ditching his short sword for one that had a few blue runes down its middle.

I didnt bother looking, my gear was fine. The caster wouldve been the only thing I was interested in, but I doubted they would have rings that were worth using. In dead silence we sprinted away from the scene. My silence spell faded a few minutes later, and alarms blared through the woods. Some kind of magical line had been crossed, and I hoped the hole we cut in their lines would buy us enough time to get ahead of them once again.