CHAPTER 26
"We are sorry for the trouble but you can't pass from here." The guard informed with a bow.
They reached a fort built mainly as a checkpoint for trade and immigration. A large stone wall extended till a short distance from the fort and a river ran as far as the eye can see, perfectly parallel to the wall. The only bridge around here connected with the fort. Sapphire didn't even know if there were any other bridges even very far away.
"Why can't we pass?" Sapphire questioned, not knowing of any other way to pass the raging river.
"A unit of the army from our allied nation is to pass from here, with their crown prince's company at that. If they were to face any trouble it could spark conflict, even war. Please try to understand. They will be passing from here tonight, and so you are free to pass tomorrow morning. We apologize deeply for the delay it will cause you, but try to understand our circumstances as well." The guard pleaded, trying his best to be polite, thinking of Sapphire and Winter to be nobility most likely.
"Very well, we will return tomorrow morning. We wish you luck with your duty." Sapphire nodded, lowering her hat.
She turned and led Winter away, much further down the path. The fort was built on the bank of the river and a path was built through the forest on this side. Sapphire and Winter entered into the forest that was on either side of the path. Sapphire jumped onto a low hanging tree branch and perched herself on it as Winter took seat on a large boulder nearby.
"We are not going to cross from there?" Winter inquired as she looked up at Sapphire.
"Not today, tomorrow." Sapphire answered, making herself comfortable as she rested her head on the tree trunk.
"Didn't think you were the obedient type." Winter shrugged.
"I am not, I simply found something to do here. If I wanted to I could easily take us to that side with Shadow Movement. We could also use Dimensional Maneuvering to cross the river, if I wanted that is." Sapphire pointed out, offended at Winter's words.
"Seems like your little mind has thought up a mischief." Winter sighed as she shook her head.
"My mind is not little, it is fairly big to think of such a great plan, you are the one with the little mind here." Sapphire argued, crossing her arms.
"Well you are the little one here so it would make more sense that your mind was also little." Winter pointed out as she stood up.
"My mind is not little, and neither am I." Sapphire hissed, jumping down from the branch onto flat ground.
"Very clearly the little one." Winter argued dropping down from the boulder. "You are so much smaller when we are standing together."
"I am not." Sapphire said standing a step away from Winter, and somehow, being slightly taller.
"You do know I can see your feet in the air right? And the platform too." Winter pointed out with a smile. "Regardless, I am still taller." Winter declared getting onto the same platform and shoving Sapphire slightly backwards.
Sapphire stomped her foot on the platform, shattering it and catching Winter off-guard. While Sapphire successfully landed upright, Winter tripped and fell backwards.
"Not cool." Winter complained as she pushed herself back to her feet.
"Not small." Sapphire argued, annoyed with Winter.
"Then grow." Winter shrugged as she walked back to the boulder.
"Anyways," Sapphire snarled trying to change the topic, "be prepared, we are going to slaughter that entire army today, tonight."
"A-an entire army?" Winter exclaimed. "I thought you were planning on a mischief, b-but this is just–"
"Great, right?" Sapphire interrupted with a smile. "There is a high chance this unit is part of the army that will attack the Winter Wolf territory. The humans already know the wolves are preparing to fight, and they have been trying to assess our strength. But the joke is on them, their relic has now turned against them."
"What relic?" Winter inquired, not understanding most of what Sapphire said.
"A relic that grants the wielder the power to appraise others, both living and non-living. It gives a lot of useful information too, and has proven to be very useful for me thus far. I pretty much saved the human who carried this from a beast, then killed that human and took it." Sapphire recounted her adventure as she paced back and forth.
"O-okay. A very murderous little one." Winter chuckled nervously as she sat back on the boulder.
"Want a demonstration?" Sapphire inquired, turning to Winter with a wry smile.
"I am good." Winter mumbled as she raised her arms harmlessly.
"Regardless, if we destroy this unit of their army it will be a large blow to their overall power. And if what that person said was true then there is a high chance it would spark a war, which would only work more in our favor." Sapphire explained as she took her seat back on the branch.
"It is good and all, but still, just us two against an entire army?" Winter pointed out, not very convinced to take the risk.
"Not a problem, you will be staying away and using your magic to take them out, and I will go right in and slaughter them," Sapphire informed.
"That isn't very convincing, what if you get badly wounded?" Winter pointed out.
"Not a problem, I am nearly immortal at this point, and humans can't possibly be stronger than dragons." Sapphire shrugged.
"That might be true... but we are talking about an entire army, not just a few. We don't even know how many will be there, or how strong they would be."
"We will once they arrive, for now, rest. It is currently midday, they arrive at night. Just rest for now, we will have to do a lot tonight." Sapphire suggested, lying down.
"You can rest, I will go hunt for a bit and lay some traps." Winter informed as she jumped off the boulder.
"Traps?" Sapphire questioned, glancing down at Winter.
"Yes, it is better to prepare for the worst. Traps will be good, they won't even know what hit them. Some mist spells to conceal us as we attack and some glacial and lightning traps to damage them. It will reduce their numbers by a fair amount." Winter explained as she stretched herself. "I have experience using traps for hunting down herds of animals."
"Okay, you can do that. I think I will experiment with some of my skills till then." Sapphire agreed, making herself comfortable again.
"Good luck with that." Winter smiled as she left.
"Same to you." Sapphire waved at Winter, watching her disappear into the woods. "Now then," Sapphire sighed a short while after Winter left, "which skills should I begin with? Let's start with... Material Absorption."
"Skill info: Material Absorption: Absorbs matter and breaks it down into energy which is then absorbed by the core. Higher levels of the skill are required to break more complex matter. The skill levels up as more substances are absorbed and as the core is upgraded."
"Absorb." Sapphire muttered, plucking a leaf from the branch and holding it in her hand.
Slowly dark shadows engulfed the leaf and disintegrated it, retreating back into her fingers where they originated from. There was nothing left behind and Sapphire felt as if she just ate something, though she did not feel any taste in her mouth.
"Seems pretty useful, will help me eat food that doesn't taste very good too." Sapphire observed, nodding understandingly. "Now, Material Creation."
"Skill info: Material Creation: Recreates matter which has either been absorbed by the Material Absorption skill, eaten, or appraised. The properties of the matter can be modified with the help of energy from the core. Energy expended to create any material is based on quantity and complexity."
"Okay, I don't have anything in mind to try it with." Sapphire mumbled as she thought about it. "Lastly, Shadow Play." She shrugged as she failed to think of any object.
"Skill info: Shadow Play: Creates a shadow warrior identical in shape to the user of the skill. The shadow warrior has no features whatsoever and is completely made up of dark shadows. The stats of the shadow warrior thus created are 10% of the user's max stats. The number of maximum shadow warriors also depend on level of skill. Level 1 allows 1 shadow warrior, 4 more shadow warriors can be created every level. Note: The shadow warriors are weak to light magic and will disintegrate if exposed to very bright light."
That sounds broken, Sapphire gasped. "Shadow Play." Sapphire whispered quietly.
A shadow materialized from a shadow patch near her. She looked at the shadow warrior and it looked back at her with its blank face, similar to looking into an abyss. Sapphire gestured it to sit down beside her and it did so, seeming to be somewhat awkward.
"Are you similar to a familiar or a clone?" Sapphire wondered as she raised her hand to her chin.
The shadow shook its head.
"You are basically my shadow?" Sapphire inquired.
The shadow nodded, and pointed to Sapphire and then itself.
"We are both shadows?" Sapphire questioned.
The shadow again nodded, staring blankly at Sapphire, though it felt as if it wished to convey a thousand emotions. Sapphire stared at it for a moment before disregarding the past few minutes.
"Regardless, things will be getting interesting tonight. Welcome to the team." Sapphire said offering the shadow her hand.
The shadow gently grasped it and shook it. Though it did not have any facial features, Sapphire felt that it would have been smiling if it did have any. Sapphire fell asleep some time later, leaving her shadow warrior there to wake her up when it turned night, and to make sure Winter stays away while she is asleep. As it turned out, the shadow warriors costed no mana or energy or anything to create or maintain, meaning they were much higher category than any summoning magic Sapphire ever heard of.
The shadow warrior shook Sapphire as the sun was setting. Sapphire got up and rubbed her eyes, still feeling sleepy. She rested her head on the shadow warrior's chest, not wanting to wake up. While it was a simple shadow, it felt fairly soft to the touch.
Sapphire glimpsed the white clothes of Winter approaching with the help of her Telescopic Vision. As disorienting as it seemed when used with both her eyes open, it was easy to use with one eye closed. Stretching her arms and legs with her head still lying on the shadow Sapphire looked at the sky, wondering what to do.
"Just what is that thing?" Winter yelped on noticing the shadow Sapphire rested her head on.
"My friend, much better than you at that." Sapphire replied with a shrug.
The shadow patted Sapphire on the head as if pleased to hear that.
"O-o-okay." Too shocked on seeing the Shadow Warrior. "A-anyways, I spotted a large number of people at the fort." Winter informed, pointing in the direction of the fort.
"Great." Sapphire sighed springing to her feet. "Time to get started."