164 Going from an infestation to a plague (1/2)
High above in the skies, Leilade would see some unknown creatures warily drinking the water in the large river. Obviously no meat-eaters, they nonetheless possessed enough spikes on their body to protect themselves. Like larger armadillos, the plates under their stomach were visibly thinner than the ones on their backs. How could she see that when it should be impossible to spot it from where she stood?
Well, the half-eaten creature that was getting swallowed by the huge crocodile was the reason. Apparently, the harmless herbivores were right to be wary of the river, as many things were lurking inside it. The blood that was tainting the water began to attract more and more of them, but the crocodile was apparently strong enough to repel most of them. One of his kin did try to battle for the food, but it was over in an instant, with both of them leaving in opposite ways.
For the spiked armadillos, it only meant that they could noo longer drink here, as they had seen the movements under the water provoking countless ripples. Just as they left, another group of creatures appeared, and another one, and another one. As she floated, she could see all types of animals, mammals or reptilians, seeking the liquid of life. Some were attacked by aquatic monsters, others by the same predators they feared on the ground.
From the books of the dwarves, there was previously some human tribes that lived in those desolate plains. Traveling like nomads, they hunted and gathered fruits while managing to trade sometimes with the Iron Kingdom. But it had ended way before the Age of Darkness when the first orcs were spotted. Comparing the frail physique of the humans to the resistant body of the orc, it was easy to see who would be the best at surviving in this place. And with the scarce resources, if the former could repel monsters and non-intelligent creatures, it would be hard against anything with half a brain.
As she was thinking this, she spotted something standing on top of a creature. The mount looked like a deformed hyena, similar to the wolves that lived in the Wild Mountains near Massalia by its size. Just this thing could kill a human by itself quite easily. As for the rider, he was nearly two and a half meters tall, only barely smaller than Kardel. Wearing a crude armor with many red and blue paintings on it, he dismounted, allowing him, the rider and his mount to both drink.
Another crocodile began to approach, aiming at the hyena. But the other party was clearly aware of it, as soon as the attack began it had already jumped back. Suddenly appearing in the open, the reptilian barely had the time to blink before his skull was split open in half. Pulling off the axe that still had dwarven inscriptions on it, the warrior put it in the river. Cleaning the blood of it, this time, no monsters were attracted by it. Not all blood tasted the same, and apparently, it was proven right at this very moment.
The hyena had not waited long before grabbing the corpse away from the water and beginning to eat. After waiting a few additional seconds, the fighter put his weapon on his back and interrupted the meal of the other monster. Efficiently cutting the stomach of the crocodile, he immediately gathered all the meat he wanted, before putting it in a leather bag. Letting the rest of the corpse to the visibly displeased hyena.
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Approaching the two, their reactions were well in the range of her expectations. Gazing at the massive axe that was pointing at her, she definitely confirmed it had been taken from a dwarf. As for the armor, after observing it carefully, it seemed to be the same. Only that the monster took more care about his weapon than what he was wearing.
”Er' pickin' fight wiz ME?!! I'll bash you' skullz!” The joy of communicating with an orc, something she never regretted. Not that they did not become great warriors, quite the contrary. But, the number of orcs commanding anything but their peers was close to zero, in the Demonic Empire. For some peculiar reason, even the translators always had an issue with their speech. As they were incoherent when they forgot a letter in their words and when they added one.
Throwing at him a bubble of water to make him stop speaking, she could see that if his armor had paintings on it, his body also had a few. Making it a bit tricky to get what she wanted. As expected, her magical bubble instantly exploded after making contact with the monster, making him act even more arrogantly. ”YOU THINK YOU CAN COM' FOR ME HEAD? YOU THINK MAGI' CAN KILL ME?”
Charging at her, she did not dodge at all, letting the axe fell on her frail body. Well, frail body was a manner of speaking, since she didn't have a real body in the first place. And when the orc looked at the two parts of Leilade that were merging into one once more, he was completely dumbfounded. ”MAGI'! Gorgutz is the biggest and the baddest wa'boss. I will join Gorgutz with you' HEAD!”
Shouting this, she could see the faint light of mana surrounding the body of her opponent. The traces of red and blue that were previously just mere decorations began to shine brightly, as even his axe looked stronger, sturdier. The power of thoughts. Like she explained to the Archmage, as long as one had access to mana, the soul could use it to create magic. the only reason some could not do it was the same issue that plagued Davion, the orodil. The inability to connect with mana, even when his entire body was made of it.
As for the orcs, the way they did was quite funny, to say the least. Things like casting a fireball or just a flame were incredibly hard, as it was an abstract creation. Something that had no existence before the spell. However, if it was something to harm their opponents or strengthen themselves, they had almost no equal. Right now, his belief in being big, strong and invincible made him like that. The more they were at thinking the same thing, the stronger the effects were.
Because he was alone, it only made very small changes, as his axe was still capable of injuring truly Leilade. Even an artifact created by the dwarves to kill the other survivors of the Demonic Empire, the Dark Gods of the legends, was not enough. So why a simple orc warrior could do something more? Ensnaring him with her shadows, she began to meticulously remove his armor. Each time she did that, she could see the paintings beginning to dim until no traces of mana could be seen.