25 The Gambit Adept Family (2/2)

Drodosis nodded. His face was pale.

For more than a decade, he had been blaming selfless heroes. He had blamed the parents who were willing to die for him. Was he a horrible being? However, remorse wouldn't change anything about the present. Forgiving his father was the first step towards a better future, and forgiving himself was the second step.

Soon enough, the subject change, and elders entered the room. While it was quite difficult, both Drodosis and his father tried not to let the past overcome them, and move forward. Only by moving forward, could they get rid of their nemesis: The Gambit Adept Family. Once the conflict ends, they will have plenty of time to catch up. At least, this is what they both had in mind.

(...)

Meanwhile, the Gambit Adept Family had turned serious.

Within the Fallen Valley, a territory owned by Viscount Phillip Dawins, two armies were staring at each other. These lands weren't peaceful anymore. It was a battlefield, in which Viscount Phillip originally had full confidence in winning. He had over 20 novice knights under him, as well as a thousand veteran soldiers. It was a high-caliber army, rarely seen among n.o.ble territories. One must not forget that only a fraction of soldiers can break through in the knight realm. Having more than 20 knights despite not having internal elixir to give away, state-of-the-art training facilities to offer or magical beast meat to provide, was a huge achievement.

In front of him, he could only see slightly more than 200 men and women, most of them lacking the military discipline. Their ranks were disorganized, and they didn't seem to be wearing high-quality armours.

In other words, it should have been an easy victory, especially considering Viscount Phillip's personal experience and strength as a veteran knight, as well as his trump card he had earned through his connections with the Thornfield Adept Family.

Yet, everyone on his side was shocked. The enemy army…morphed into a tide of bears. The 200 men were not actual soldiers, but…acolytes who could shapes.h.i.+ft into monstrous bear-like beasts! They had heard stories about the fearsome Gambit Family. Legends were wide spread, and children were told that if they didn't sleep at night, a mighty bear from the Gambit Adept Family might come and eat them.

These legends weren't completely false, as the Gambit Family indeed drew its power from their inherited bloodline, coming from Fire Raging Bears, an ancient race of bear, now mostly extinct in the Phuinem Kingdom, but still widespread in Alphen if one believes the archives.

Fire Raging Bears were terrifying magical beasts that were physically stronger than most of their peers. However, the reason as to why the Gambit Family was so famous, even among mortals' rank, is their fearsome racial spells.

Unlike normal spells, racial spells are unique and cost very little mana. Moreover, racial spells are innate spells, meaning that one doesn't have to study a lot in order to master the spells. Bloodline acolytes only need to cultivate their bloodline in order to grow stronger! They can concentrate in improving their fighting prowess, and do not have to waste time, studying mana theories! Naturally, it also comes with drawbacks: if your bloodline is too impure, then learning the racial spells would be impossible, hence the decay of most of bloodline adept families over time.

The Gambit Family was famous because they all possessed two innate spells: Shapes.h.i.+fting (into these terrifying beasts), and fire breath. While it was not comparable to the mightiest attack of dragons, these fire breaths could deal as much as 30 points of damage at beginner rank, up to 100 points of damage at pseudo-adept rank! It was enough to threaten an adept! Of course, there were other innate spells, much rarer but still existing among their ranks: Berserk, Burning Soul (a soul attack paralysing the enemy) as well as Giantification, increasing their size and physical attributes by three.

The bears charged at the army, and hundreds of veteran soldiers suddenly instantly tried to run away from these monsters…only to find themselves surrounded a few dozen seconds later, stomped or burnt alive. How could they outrun beasts which had twice their strength and agility?

As for those who didn't try to surrender or escape, their fate didn't differ much. How could knights possibly compare to beasts which were so much stronger than them? Even if they managed to grasp an opening, their swords weren't sharp enough to pierce the magical flaming hide of the Raging Shapes.h.i.+fting acolytes!

Yet, the knights motivated themselves, faithful to their oath. Viscount Philip Dawins himself charge at a bear who seemed to lead the charge: an advanced acolyte. Wielding a huge spear which seemed to weigh over 40 kilograms, every single acolyte on the battlefield was shocked to see this sight.

The spear was not an average mortal weapon! It was an enchanted spear, which could increase in weight and sharpness, thus becoming much more lethal! However, everyone knew that such a spear couldn't be wielded by humans. After all, weapons generally weighed 3 kilograms when it came to average sword, up to 10 kilograms. How could a human wield a weapon seemingly weighing over 30 kilograms? Yet, the viscount was no average knight. His ties with the Thornfield family were nothing to scoff at.

Gulping a potion. Soon enough, his strength and his size doubled. After six seconds, he didn't look human anymore. The veins on his arms and chest were apparent and budging, while the colour had turned purple. His armours had been ripped. And his body had basically reached 4 meters in height. From a distance, he looked like a giant barbarian, with nothing but a berserker spirit. In fact, Viscount Philipp looked like a monster himself at this point.

His mind was barely sane, with killing intent clouding his judgement. Picking up his giant spear, Viscount Philipp charged at the advanced-level Raging Flaming Bear. The sight was wondrous yet terrifying. Every knights and soldiers were praying in their head, wis.h.i.+ng for Viscount Philipp to pull off a miracle.

'GO FOR IT!', one suddenly shouted

One became two, two became three, and before he knew it, Viscount Philipp was supported by hundreds of people, singing the Thornfield Family's anthem. With more than 24 points of strength, Viscount Philipp felt like he was twice stronger than normal. He knew it came from the elixir he gulped, but the support from his subordinates played a big role as well.

Feeling the combative spirit of his opponent, Viscount Philipp focused on one thing, directing all of his killing intent into this one strike: a thrust. It was not a flashy technique, or a miraculous tornado strike or whatever ninja technique.

It was just a thrust. Well, the thrust was simple…but perfect. No unecessary movement could be seen in this strike. It was a thrust Viscount Philipp had practiced his whole life, on a daily basis. From the moment he could walk to this day, he had been thrusting with his spear. On battlefields, he impaled his opponents with this thrust. In his castle, he trained this technique by himself. In his garden, he practiced against sparrows, subordinates and trees.

The combination of experience, strength and fighting spirit allowed him to pull of the mightiest attack he ever unleashed in his life: a magnificent thrust, envelopped with every ounce of internal energy he could muster, dealt 72 points of damage, a value that was rare to witness, even among elite knights.

The spear pierced the bear's heart and impaled it all the way through it. Blood splashed everywhere, and time seemed to have frozen. Acolytes couldn't believe that a mere veteran knight could pull off such a mighty strike, while soldiers were already celebrating a miraculous display of strength. Some were even shouting: ”VICTORY!”

But…n.o.body could believe what was about to happen…

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