Calm Before the Storm

Surprisingly, even after another day went by, there was still no sign of the massive monster army. For some reason, the Giant decided to turn and went around the capital by about fifty kilometers to the north.

The King was at first happy to have avoided a potential disaster, however after the scouts came back, his expression darkened considerably.

The horde stopped north of Auralba and waited there as many more of those little monsters gathered. Hundreds of thousands of Goblins swarmed the land, devouring any living being in sight and leaving the land in shambles.

The scouts did their best to figure out how many monsters would attack, and a conservative estimation came to about half a million Goblins. Another tenth of that would be Hobgoblins and another tenth of that was the number of Orcs. They numbered in the thousands!

Even the massive Ogres and Orc Shamans joined the horde, and more of them were coming every hour. In short, it was a massive headache!

"So, basically…" The King held his head in frustration. "We can expect an army of about a million strong in a few days knocking at our door?! That's horrible!"

His war advisors and other intellectuals in the throne room didn't know what to say. Even if they called forth every reserve soldier in the capital and even add the King's personal guard in the mix, they would still be outnumbered about ten to one!

"We'll have to employ that strategy it seems," The King sighed and gestured to one of his men, "Get in contact with the Guild, we don't have much time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

***

Gerald slept well. He was out for nearly twenty hours as his body slowly repaired itself. It was not a perfect recovery yet, but at least he could move his limbs now, even though it still hurt.

As for the others…

The dirty job that fell on Sera required more than just simple manpower and a strong stomach. The gates of Auralba were sealed as the city expected an attack at any moment.

As such, the bribery of gold and Stamina Potions was required to get them opened for a brief moment. Gold itself was not enough and only after the guards got their hands on vials of that special medicine did they agree to comply. But the price for keeping a few dozen men quiet was not cheap.

Luckily Gerald made it known that money was not a problem and the few hundred shiny gold coins were nothing in comparison to the thousands that were delivered to the Mansion every week.

As for why Gerald needed such an amount of old manure? It was for certain nitrates, also known as saltpeter, of course! The bottom-most layer of compost and dirt would contain the highest concentration, so he would have them collect that.

The Giant was responsible for a great deal of his anger and dissatisfaction at the moment. Generic Fire magic didn't do much, and Gerald guessed that other spells would have similarly depressing results.

But he would be damned if he didn't do his best to bring the beast down! He didn't believe that the Giant would be fine after having a few hundred kilograms of black powder explode in its face!

That's right, he was going to make a bomb, and a big one at that! He still had to come up with the method of delivery, but that could wait for later. First, he had to successfully make it.

For now, he had his hands full with other stuff though, metaphorically speaking.

Gerald was staring at the Pixie inside the cage and observing it with his Magic eyes. The Aura it exuded was dense and vigorous, hundreds of times stronger than any herb, or even human for that matter.

Such a tiny body and yet it contained such power. He was impressed. However, now was not the time to admire a monster, no, he was doing it for another reason.

"Okay, I know you can understand me," Gerald spoke while staring into the Pixie's eyes.

"Depending on your cooperation I might even treat you better. For now, I want you to use your Illusions! Keep it up for as long as you can and show me different things so I can observe it."

The Pixie stared at him with an angry gaze and didn't respond. It seemed quite happy to defy him in any way it could.

Gerald pinched the bridge of his nose and then sighed. He figured it would hold a grudge against him. In any case, after a bit of convincing, which involved fists and fire, the Pixie busied itself by making various Illusions. Unwillingly, of course.

Gerald observed it intently the entire time. He didn't care about the ever-changing creature before his eyes, he just wanted to know how it did it.

Minutes dragged on and soon they turned into hours. The entire day went by as Gerald was coming to grips with this interesting branch of magic.

He wasn't sure how the creature could attack his mind and make him hear stuff, but he now at least understood how to make life-like Illusions and manipulate Light much better. He could almost create perfect Invisibility now if he really concentrated.

Of course, that was if he was stationary or just moving slowly. Anything faster, like running, and he would be immediately discovered.

"Not bad, not bad!" he nodded, satisfied with his magic capabilities. "You did good for today, get some rest." He fed the Pixie and let it take a breather. It was extremely exhausted after a full day of magic exercise.

***

The following day he received the news that his request was completed, and the goods were safely stored away. A storage facility was rented near the northern wall, basically, just a big open warehouse that now had a few wagons of manure stored inside.

"Good, excellent!" Gerald rubbed his hands together. "Get a few people to refine it according to these instructions." He handed over a piece of paper with a detailed explanation of the specific steps required to extract what he wanted.

"Big brother Gerald," a girly voice called. Stretching his neck to see who it is, he noticed it was Qiona.

"What is it, my dear?"

"I managed to create the potion you wanted!" Qiona handed over a vial and smiled proudly.

"Already?" Gerald took the potion and examined it. "Verry good, the quality of this Mana Elixir seems to be excellent! Good work!" he praised.

Qiona blushed a bit and hid behind her hands as she giggled happily. "Now that I have figured out how to make them, I'll be able to make many more!"

"Excellent!" Gerald exclaimed. "Just focus on making these for now, we will need them for the war. The rest are not as important at the moment."

The little Dark Elf girl nodded happily and left his room to produce more potions. She enjoyed her work and was learning tons of new stuff every day. It was the best environment she could have wished for.

And Gerald got himself a good and reliable worker, it was a win-win, really.