78 Mana Slave (1/2)
”What the hell has gotten into you?”
One of the bandit lookouts of the cave, the human, eyed his fellow bandit companion with puzzlement who is seen to be clutching his head with both hands in deep pain.
”I, I don't know!” The lizardling bandit said loudly in panic as he went down to his knees and struggled to fight the feeling of utter agony that he is currently experiencing at this very moment, dropping his sword as a result.
Unfortunately for the lizardling, his efforts of willpower were a failure as something diabolic in nature entered his weak-willed mind, a dark sinister whisper of some sort, compelling him to perform an act of abysmal character.
The human could not help but feel something is rather off in his lizardling companion as the latter stood up from his spot and slowly faced the former with his head bowed down in an ominous stance.
”Alright, now you're just creeping the fuck out of me.” The human bandit assumed a nervous sweat on his face as back off a bit by one step.
'Kill him.' The voice commands the lizardling inside his head.
In a sudden and quick motion, the lizardling conjured a dagger from his Inventory and tackled the human, sending both of them down to the ground.
With the lizardling on top, the human witnessed in unadulterated fear at seeing his companion's eyes glowing eerily with the color violet, filled with an ominous cold demeanor that radiates terror into the victim.
'Silent him.' Were the voice's additional order to the lizardling.
Before the human was able to scream for help inside the cave, he was instantly shut off as the lizardling covered the human's mouth with his left hand.
Of course, the human attempted to overpower the lizardling with his strength but the latter proved to be stronger and quicker in his efforts as the dagger on his right hand was instantly utilized in slicing the former's throat, weakening the human in the process.
The human bandit's cry of desperation and pain was muffled under the lizardling's hand covering his mouth as he felt himself being incapacitated with his health points dropping rapidly. Each swift brutal succession of the dagger's blade sank into his neck repeatedly without any shred of mercy.
After the despicable act, the lizardling, with bloodstains all over his face, stood up as he stared with no traces of emotion at the now lifeless body of his former bandit companion with a bloody laceration on his neck. The dead body eventually shattered into pixelated pieces and reformed into the crystal corpse.
'Excellent work, slave.' The voice inside his head commended him. 'Now, do us a favor and kill yourself please.'
Adhering the mental instructions of his new master, the lizardling without any traces of doubt, stab his own throat repeatedly with the same dagger that he used in murdering his fellow bandit, ending his own life just like that and succumbing to the same fate.
***
Isamu definitely was stunned after witnessing the bloody horror being played in front of their very eyes.
”D-damn.” The cat-folk stuttered on his tone as he eyed Gray approvingly look at how he efficiently handled the affairs with quick precision. ”That's one heck of a spell. Remind me not to piss you off, hehe.”
”Neh, I'll only use it to the ones who truly deserved it.” The elf assured him with a smile. ”Still, I'm glad that I managed to cast the spell successfully for the first time in being unrestricted without the seal. \u003cMana Slave\u003e sure is an extremely useful spell indeed.”
Gray felt pride as he read the spell's description in his Skill UI.
\u003cMana Slave\u003e (Elharis Translation: Servus Mana) (Active) (Lvl 2, 79%) - The Arcanist forcibly assumes control over a single creature, diluting his or her consciousness to turn him or her into an emotionless slave unless the victim passed a Willpower check. If the target resists, it is instead momentarily dazed off by the sudden influx of magic invading the mind, stunning for 4 seconds. Slaves can be issued commands via telepathy. Only creatures ranging at levels greater or lower than the caster by five can be controlled and certain creatures are immune. Slavery lasts indefinitely or until the caster dispels it willingly but its magnitude degrade with each passing second, thus allowing the victim a higher chance to break off from its control depending on their Willpower. Mana cost: 994 CD: 3 minutes.
As per the skill description, the reason why Gray opted to order bandit under his control to kill himself is that he does not want to risk the bandit breaking from his grasp, and keeping him alive held no merit.
The resulting actions also allowed Gray to attain some XP points out of this, since the bandit was under Gray's control when he made the kill, thus benefiting Gray in the end.
Isamu and Selena attained the said XP as well, since the former is in the party, thus sharing the same benefits while the latter is Gray's Sentinel.
Overall, they received a total amount of 190 XP, 100 from the higher level bandit, and 90 from the lower level one.
Anyways, the trio decided not to waste their time any further outside as they approached the crystals to loot the bandits' remains.
Additionally, Gray used \u003cGrave Robber\u003e on the two corpses to recover some Mana before eventually disposing of them.
After waiting for Gray's \u003cMana Slave\u003e spell to be off cooldown, they proceeded to enter the cave quietly with utmost caution.
***