The first time I had entered a mock battle, it hadn’t felt like anything. One moment I was one place, the next I was somewhere else, simple as that. This time was slightly different. There was a feeling of going underwater, similar to using a spirit gate. While ‘submerged’ I had a vague awareness of my domain, almost like I could feel its layout but from a distance. Not only that, but it almost felt like I was moving closer and closer to it.
I wonder if I could… aha! I focused on my room using my strange domain awareness, and felt myself rapidly approach it. Suddenly the feeling of being underwater disappeared as I appeared in my wooden room.
Well that was a unique experience. Sort of wish Ivercel had told us we could do that but I suppose it wasn’t the hardest thing to figure out on my own.
I grabbed my glaive and stepped out of my room into the plain where my newest unicorn was waiting. Using [Store Monster], I summoned Avalon and climbed onto his back. Yet again I wished I had a saddle, or even horseback riding lessons. If it weren’t for the fact that my unicorns were smarter than average unicorns and tame, I probably would have been bucked off during my battle with Viper.
Adding ‘learn how to properly ride a horse’ to my mental to-do list, I scanned the distance to see if I could spot Silver. The same fog wall I had seen before covered three sides of my domain, but on the fourth side there was something new. A dense forest that I could only assume was a part of Silvers domain now stood adjacent to my own land. An obvious choice for her, the forest would be a natural hunting ground for her foxes.
Which begged the question, what was my strategy? I didn’t know her numbers, any skills she might have, or really what lay inside that forest. At least there was one way I could think of to solve the first problem…
It took a few moments for me to figure out how to actually tell my unicorns to use a skill. After all, while they were more intelligent than average beasts, they still didn’t reach human intelligence. Thankfully, demon lords had a small advantage when it came to ordering around their creatures, as even their most stupid creatures could understand to some extent the intent of their masters.
Basically what this meant was, when I said, “Use your [Fog of War]!” my unicorns actually did. Wait, I wanted to use this to figure out how many foxes Silver has, but I couldn’t understand my unicorns in the way that they could understand me…
Well whatever, at least this way the strength boost from [Fog of War - Strength] could apply, and I could just wait for my unicorns to suddenly stare in some direction to figure out where Silver’s foxes are. Not as helpful since I couldn’t see them myself but beggars can’t be choosers.
“Tsk.” Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I wondered if I had been overly confident when thinking about this match up. The more I thought, the more I realized there wasn’t really a clear path to victory for me here.
Well, panicking wouldn’t do me any good, of course. Better to plan as much as I could. The only problem was I had so few tools available. There was no guarantee that Silver would have been able to buy many foxes. If she only could afford one or maybe even two more then things weren't too bad. For now, I needed to solidify my defense as it was clear I wouldn’t be able to go on the offensive just yet.
I retreated to my wooden room while my plains filled up with smoke. As the fog got thicker, I felt myself growing stronger. In fact, I felt strong enough that I could even take on two of Silver’s foxes on my own. Having never used the strength buff skill, I hadn’t really factored it into my plans, but now that I could experience it, I started to feel that I was panicking for nothing.
Suddenly, my unicorns heads jerked to stare at opposite walls. Their necks slowly turned as they tracked something I couldn’t see. Had she split her foxes into two or maybe even more groups? She must have been splitting up her monsters to better search for me in the fog, possibly not considering that my own monsters would be unaffected by it.
Not only that, but that she had split her monsters gave me a pretty good hint. Her creatures were beasts just like mine, and ones that were likely less intelligent than my own as well. That meant she was restricted on the complexity of the commands she could give. So, that left three possibilities. Either they had decided to split on their own, she had split them from the beginning, or she had split them when they reached the fog which would mean she couldn’t be too far away from the fog herself.
“Find her.” I patted Avalon on the neck, hoping he would understand what I wanted.
I stood near the door, glaive ready to deal with any foxes that might try and enter. Judging by where my unicorns were facing, the groups of foxes were converging on our little hut.
A flash of silver and a worried neigh from Avalon was the only warning I got before one of Silver’s massive foxes lunged for my throat.
Arexio· Oct 28, 2019
Myewphi· Author · Oct 31, 2019
