Law of Consequences- Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Chapter 6- Dueling for Peace

I had to use Blink Body to take us back to the outpost. This time I only felt the briefest moment of dizziness as we reappeared. I took that as a good sign that I was already adapting to the new skill. I felt empowered by new level of soul bond I had with Josie.

The 10% in stats that she got from me seemed to come from my current max including the gear I was wearing and the same for me. While she obtained many more raw stat points than I did, the ones that I got from her each had more value since they were at a higher level.

The biggest jump for her though had to be the addition of the Synergy Stat. Even though she only got 15 points in Synergy it was still a 15% increase to all of her other stats and now she could work on growing that. When added to the other boosts she got from me and the boosts she got because she shot up one and a half tiers in her cultivation level had to have made her more that three times as physically powerful as she was.

Even with that though, I still forced a potion down her throat. I had no idea how strong Tanin was going to be after the elf used his ability. Besides, when was overkill ever a bad things.

Phoenix Ki Transformation Elixir

Quality: Mythic Duration: 30 minutes

Effect: Imbiber gains the following benefits

Strength: +44%

Agility: +66%

Durability: Spontaneous regeneration 1x

She didn’t even get a chance to argue with me about it as I pushed it down her throat so fast and then spoke into her mind as I did. “It’s a phoenix potion. Just swallow and don’t complain. You do that for me all the time anyway. And this time it’s for me too because I couldn’t bear to lose you if anything happened.”

She groaned but swallowed the potion.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute.” Then she patted my ass.

I had wanted to give her one of the new regeneration potions, but she was already moving out to meet with Tanin. The orc was overly aggressive and I struggled to see how even winning the duel would bring peace with him. But that wasn’t really the point. If we could win over most of the outpost that would be enough.

His stride showed that his Agility had been boosted. He was had a swagger that said he thought this was going to be easy. That was fine. I was just as confident that Josie was about to school him.

Telepathically, I sent my last message to her. “Try to make a show of it, but your safety is all that matters. If it comes to it, put him down fast. You’ve got this.”

Josie drew her twin blades while Tanin pulled a shield off his back and a war hammer from his side. The weapon wouldn’t give him quite as much range as Josie’s blades, but his arms were longer so that evened it out. The difference in style was also apparent just from their choice of weapons.

Normally, I’d give the advantage to hammer and shield over sword. Swords were the weapon of choice in movies back home but were not always practical. I said that even as a sword wielder. Of course my sword was at least partially sentient and I really used it more for the spatial edge or to channel a Ki Slice more than anything else.

Then I stopped thinking as they engaged. Both were clearly aggressive fighters. I would have expected Josie to strike first, but I was proud that she held back. She needed to take her foe’s measure and that turned out to be for the best. Whatever the elf did to him had really boosted him.

I’d never seen an orc move like him. His Agility had to be well over one hundred, but he was still slow compared to Josie, something which she quickly demonstrated as she delivered a slice across his cheek which got past his defense. The shocking part though was that her blade barely broke his skin. Her strength wasn’t anything compared to mine, but she still packed a wallop.

The orc roared, “Just give up little girl and we can do something far more fun. You know you want a real man.”

Flames suddenly bursting out along both of her swords was the only answer she made.

Tanin tried to bull doze her with his shield, but she spun around him and cut into the armor along his back. The metal melting before the power of her flames. Her increased Magic stat made them burn white hot. She continued to play it safe though being content to dance around him and leave shallow cuts all over him.

Tanin kept attempting to land a blow with his hammer but shifted away from trying to hit her body to trying to make contact with one of her blades. I could see what his thinking was. The slender blades were not likely to be able to withstand a blow from his hammer and might bend or even break.

Josie was too much of an expert to fall for that, not that I expected it would have worked. Her swords were after all the direct gift of a goddess. Her tournament experience really showed here though as she seemed as familiar with his strategies as the orc was.

It almost became a game where she would taunt him with one of her blades held out in front of her only to move it just at the last instant. Most of those exchanges resulted in shallow cuts to his hand and the gauntlet he had been wearing was now shredded.

Her new gear from Mursha and Rava was clearly helping too. Her breastplate’s distortion caused the obviously trained warrior to still miss her repeatedly even when she didn’t block or dodge. His perception of her was just off slightly. When he came too close to landing a heavy blow with his hammer, her braces would deflect it just enough, throwing him off balance.

His taunting had long since stopped as he focused on the fight. Sweat was building up on his brow and he clearly was reaching the limits of his exhaustion. That was the moment to watch out for. As he became desperate he could easily become more dangerous in his recklessness.

Then Josie did what I’d been wondering if she would. I felt the swirl of Growth Mana around her. Her core and mine were connected so I felt as she spun her mana core. The power flowed through her body but instead of a sudden expansion, she was slowly increasing her size. It was done so masterfully, that I doubt the audience which was made up of a few hundred hunters and merchants even noticed at first.

Once she was a foot taller than Tanin it became impossible for people to miss though and I heard gasping all throughout the audience. I also sensed a sudden flash of mal-intent.

Blink Body

I grabbed a crossbow loaded with a bolt covered in a black tarry substance. It came free from the would be archers hands as though he were nothing but a child. The monkey yelped in pain. I might actually have broken his hand as I ripped it away from him.

“Doesn’t seem exactly fair to shoot her while she’s fighting does it?”

His eyes were big. “Please… I’d never…”

I didn’t have any patience for his lies. And I knew they were lies. This increased sensitivity with Soul Project told me everything I needed to know. Listening for accelerated heart rates had been a useful technique but his heart could be beating for many reasons now. Well it could have been before I tore the crossbow apart and rammed the bolt straight into his chest.

Black veins spread across his skin even as the poison entered his system. It happened quick but didn’t look pleasant as he thrashed about on the ground. Most of the audience never even knew about the failed assassin, but those who were close all stepped back away from him.

An instant later I was back in my original spot and watched as Josie now towered over Tanin. She drove a kick into his shield but her increased mass pushed him back till he stumbled. That was all it took. His weapon hand was exposed as his arm went wide. She struck like a snake and with a single quick cut his hand was severed sending the hammer to the ground.

The white hot fire on her on blade cauterized the wound almost as quickly as she created it making me think of a light saber. Tanin screamed in pain. It wasn’t exactly a girly cry, but it was definitely more than a simple grunt. Having your hand cut off though couldn’t be a pleasant experience.

He was on one knee now. I took a closer look at him and realized his entire body was drenched in sweat. I knew he had been fighting but something seemed off about it. His heartbeat was like a drum pounding in his chest and his muscles were trembling. I focused Soul Projection on him and could see the terrible strain he was under.

Whatever type of magic the elf used on him was not without its side-effects. The power was breaking down his body but worse than that it was placing a strain on his soul. My interest in how that power worked waned greatly as I realized just how detrimental it could be. Maybe with some better precautions.

Josie asked, “Do you yield. We have healers which can regrow your hand if you join with us.”

“Never, untamed or die.” Then he charged forward, throwing his shield in an attempt to distract her. I could only assume he intended to gore her with his tusks because I didn’t see any other weapons.

Not that it mattered in the least. Josie pivoted on her front foot. The shield flew past her. Tanin followed right after it, missing her completely and she continued her spin. Her blade blazed white hot and a second later Tanin’s head left his body.

The audience gasped and then silence spread. I seized the moment to call out. “You’ve seen how strong we are. That is my wife, Lady Josephine Case. Her power is but a fraction of my own. If we wanted, you’d all be dead now, but I don’t kill people just for wanting some freedom.

“What I will kill you for is for sending arsonists and saboteurs against me and mine. So, the question now is what to do with all of you. Do I simply wipe this outpost off the map?” I let those words linger in the air.

Finally the barkeep from the inn we’d been at during our first visit here stepped froward. “I recognize you. Still causing trouble aren’t you?”

“Depends on your definition of trouble, I suppose. Last time I was out here on a quest. This time, I’m here to secure my borders. Sativa personally asked me to conquer all of the Untamed Lands and bring it under her rule.”

That got a lot of grumbling.

“Two of my wives are hand-maidens of Sativa, so I’d be careful with your words. I may not care if you don’t like Sativa but you’ve just witnessed what one of them does to those who challenge her.”

All eyes went back to Josie. I heard whispered statements. “A handmaiden. That makes sense. No wonder she was so strong.”

“But did you see how fast she was?”

“It isn’t natural. No one can be that good.”

I let them rumble a bit. It was good to get it out of their systems. Then I spoke up again. “Another of my wives is a chosen of Korkanis and yet another is a follower of Telmorra. Heck one of my wives is the new queen of fairies. So, I’m hardly some lacky of Sativa. Who you choose to worship is up to you and I’ll keep my opinions to myself.”

The barkeep finally said, “Then what do you want?”

I smiled. “It isn’t what I want. It’s what I can offer.”