Chapter 422 - Victory or Death

Chris

Siege of Smoothrock

My forging hammer slammed down, and lines of mana spread across the boulder's surface, completing the very temporary and ramshackle enchantment.

“Try this one,” I said after sweeping it with my Skills and mana sense. It wouldn’t last long, but then again, it didn’t need to.

“Loading!” Jacks shouted the notice for everyone to get out of the way. Moments later, the boulder lifted off the ground and slotted into the sling pocket of the trebuchet. Once it stopped moving, he turned to me and nodded.

“Fire,” I said, noting how quickly the enchantment was losing cohesion without something to bind it.

The crew pulled the pin holding the counterweight in place, and the arm snapped forward, launching the payload into the air. I tried to keep track of how the enchantment fared with my mana senses, but it moved out of range too fast.

Still, I strained my eyes and watched as it landed. I’d been at this for a while, so I knew where to look and its expected trajectory. The loud crash it elicited when it landed followed right after the bright flash and explosion of stone dust and shrapnel.

A few stone blocks of the wall toppled down into the snowy ground, and a large crack widened from the impact.

After days of bombarding the city, the walls were beginning to crumble. Snow had accumulated as well, up to my knees, nearly. Those with better eyesight had reported the guards along the walls bundled up in thick blankets, never far from a fire.

“The Momentum Rune is good, but the boulder broke apart too easily. Too much force is getting lost in its own destruction instead of being transferred to the wall,” Hal commented from the side. His eyes were much better than mine, and he had been brought in to report how well each test went.

So far, Hardness and Durability Runes had the best results. Impact Runes and Momentum Runes, as he stated, lost force when the stone making up the boulder failed.

“Can’t you make them any harder, Jacks?” I tsked. That was becoming the hard constraint of my tests. An annoying one as well.

The Mage stared at me hard with a bit of sweat running down his face, even in the cold. “I’m doing my best. I’m already pouring everything I have into them, but my Law isn’t made for stability. If you want that, get The Wall over here.”

‘The Wall’ he was referring to was Jon, but he had other things to attend to, sadly.

“I wish I could use my Spirit. That would work perfectly,” I muttered, upset. It would be the perfect way to add hardness and durability, but I couldn’t. It was why this was so annoying. The solution was just out of reach.

I could still use Spiritual energy, but doing so hurt and had a chance of exacerbating my wound. It wasn’t worth it just for this.

I walked over to the next prepared boulder and used [Runecrafting] and [Mana Engraving]. The combined skills hastened the usually lengthy process of carving runes at the cost of quality and longevity. Instead of etching them nicely with [Rune Carving] and filling them with mana conductive infill, my mana acted as the structure, power source, and glue holding it all together.

Each boulder took a large chunk of mana to engrave, and even more to keep it stable for the brief moments it needed to be.

This time, I flipped through [Rune Repository] looking for anything else that might work. I’d already tried making the boulder as hard as possible, and my next attempt was on amplifying the momentum.

Runes filled my mind as I dismissed them one after another. Elemental Runes like Fire and Frost weren’t helpful; Wind might make it move faster, but not enough to matter.

Weight might work. Invert a Weight Reduction enchantment? That just achieves a denser boulder, though. We’d have to readjust the aim, increase the counterweight, and ensure the wood won’t break. Too much work.

Picturing various Runes, an image of my Hammer surfaced. Along its surface, a string of Runes glowed with power, and I knew instinctually what the Runes did. They glowed every time I used [Shattering Hammer].

It had been hard to decipher at first, as the Runes were in a different language than what I was used to, but Vulwin had helped in that regard. Most Runes I knew were from Human lands, and the books I read were from a standardized format that most enlightened races used.

The ones along my hammer weren’t. They were from the Old Language of the Frost Giants, and they were the same Runes my Heart used when I’d formed it. It had been difficult at first, but time wore down even the most obscure of them as I kept at it.

[Shattering Hammer] used Runes of Rending, Shattering, and Sundering. Obvious in hindsight, but in learning them, they were added to [Rune Repository].

I’d never tried enchanting them, though.

Runes usually enhanced or augmented whatever you put them on, but that wasn’t the case for my hammer. [Shattering Hammer] shattered whatever I hit, not the weapon itself. There was some overlap, as my hammer changed when I used the skill, but most of it was transferred to my target.

I could do the same now. Transfer the effect to the wall, instead of the boulder itself shattering.

A boulder wasn’t a hammer, and I didn’t have anywhere near the skill of whoever created my weapon, but it didn’t need to be perfect. It just had to last a few seconds, and it didn’t need to be pretty.

My mana surged into my forging hammer as I brought it down. The Runes were hard, and fought me, but I hammered down again and again. The structure of the enchantment was even more unstable than the others, and consumed mana at a voracious rate to keep from tearing itself apart.

I fed it some of the mana coursing through me from the ritual, as my mana pool wasn’t nearly enough to sustain it.

Every hit spread the runic lines further, as pathways curved and twirled into the right shape. The Old Language was rigid and angular, whereas the standardized one had more flow and curves. The difference nearly cost me, but I fixed it in time.

With the last line in place, I hurriedly called out, “Now, Jacks, hurry!”

Hearing the rush in my tone, he lifted the stone much faster than the previous one and with a lot less grace, but it slotted into the sling all the same.

“Fire!” I called. The arm snapped forward. Hal and Jacks looked on curiously as they both knew this one was different.

When the stone impacted the wall, it didn’t just crumble into pieces, but exploded into dust from the force. I suspected part of that was the enchantment’s work, but I couldn’t be sure.

At first, I feared failure, but the rumbling didn’t stop after the stones impolsion. It continued.

The cracked wall started to shift as piece after piece fell off into the snow. Finally, something critical was lost, as an entire portion began to tilt back and begin to fall.

I watched with bated breath as a section of wall nearly a dozen feet wide collapsed completely.

Hal and Jacks were both stunned speechless.

A chime rang in my head.

~~
Congratulations! You have leveled up.
Congratulations! You have leveled up.

You have upgraded a skill:
Runesmithing(Uncommon) -> Runesmithing(Rare)

You have upgraded a skill:
Mana Engraving(Uncommon) -> Mana Engraving(Rare)
~~

Two levels? I wondered, then I felt the essence rush in, confirming it. The Skill Upgrades were nice, but there was something much more pressing on my mind right now.

We’d been at this for days, and right now was the best time we had to attack the city before they could patch what we’d just broken. The broken section could be one entry point, while I would forge another. It wasn’t as many as I hoped, but it would do.

I pulled the horn from my belt and blew it loud and long. Instantly, the entire camp sprang into motion. People ran to their tents to grab armor and weapons, while others started setting out supplies. Mana Potions for Mages and Healers. Health Potions for Warriors.

With everyone kicked into motion, I paced over to my personal tent and grabbed my armor off the stand in the corner. It was, once again, a new set after I ruined my old one. The plate had gotten too thin after repairing it the last time and needed to be replaced.

Chest piece, leg plate, greaves, heavy plated skirt, and pauldrons last were fastened down quickly. My helmet slid on to complete the look before I traded out my forging hammer for a hammer of war.

The last thing I did before leaving my tent was pick up a thick slab of Frosted Metal with my left hand. The shield was crude, but it would serve its purpose. I could discard it once I breached the walls and the fun began.

As I stepped out of my tent, ice condensed around me, [Glacial Heavy Plate] adding a second layer of protection.

I felt the river of gushing mana that had worn on my body for days finally cease, as Gabriel must have cut the ritual. Before, I’d feared it would be difficult to halt the working, but with days to come up with a solution, his brilliant mind had easily done so with time to spare.

Shelving that thought, I ran through my supplies and double-checked my armor. In a pouch protected behind my back plate was a Stamina potion and a Health potion, a precaution now that my endurance and durability weren’t quite as endless as they used to be.

Mana’s at three-quarters, but it’s more than enough. [Tundra’s Descent] wouldn’t need all that much, and other than [Frozen Rift], my other skills didn’t use that much.

Ranks had formed while I’d gotten ready, and now everyone looked ready for war. Light furs and thin cloth had been traded for plates of gleaming metal and thick hides. Cloaks had been removed, and weapons and shields had been strapped on.

Every Warrior in the first five rows had a shield hefted and ready.

I strode to the front with measured steps and saw Elliot, Anders, and Ashton ready and waiting.

“Took you long enough,” Elliot ribbed.

“Not all of us can cheat like you.” I smiled, appreciating the levity. Pre-battle nerves were starting to rise, and short jabs helped keep them at bay. Putting on my armor was quick, but I would never beat someone who could shift into it at will.

I turned toward the thousands standing at the ready. This wasn’t the first time most had followed me into war, but it would be for some. I wasn’t quite sure what to say. These speeches were never my forte, and we needed to be quick.

I said the only thing that came to mind.

“Victory or Death are the only outcomes we all face today. When this battle is over, we will either stand Valiant and Victorious, or we will Die gloriously! It is up to you to determine which fortune yours will be. No one, not even gods, can determine that for you.” My aura amplified my words, and I didn’t wait for them to settle in.

I turned and positioned myself at the front of the spear.

Everyone knew what to do. The plan had been set for days, and there was no need to change it now. Elliot, the Master of the Bear Order, would lead a third of our forces through the hole in the city’s walls.

Anders, Ashton, and Hugo would lead a third in pushing a tower into place. Anders had given his word that he was enough to accomplish the task without my help.

While I led the last third up and over. With the amount of snow that had fallen, creating a ramp of ice was well within my skill set. Close to the wall would be tricky; the Formation enchanted on the walls disrupted manipulation magic, and if I got close enough, that would extend to any ramp I tried to make. But if I made it high enough, jumping wasn’t out of the question.

It would leave me and everyone who followed behind me without a path of retreat, but that was fine. Forward was the only direction I planned on moving.

I was just about to call for the charge when the combined voices of thousands reverberated from behind me. It echoed in my bones and surrounded me in conviction.

“Victory or death!”