Chapter 50: The Wind, A Mighty Wind
“How old are you?” Anse asked with a smile.
The little girl stretched out her white tender hand covered in crumbs, spread her five fingers, thought for a moment, then bent her thumb slightly: “Clara is four years old.”
She leaned in Anse’s arms, not afraid of strangers at all.
Elves are a long-lived race, with lifespans up to 700 years, so four years old is indeed very, very young.
Anse looked into her eyes, very curious.
Clara had black hair, heterochromia, and pale skin; her features did not fully match those of mainstream sun elves, moon elves, or wood elves, probably some elf mix.
“You all stay at Moon Shadow Kui Ling for now, don’t think about leaving yet. Your mentor is in Rivertown District and might come find you.” Anse didn’t plan to get too involved; today counted as repaying the favor.
He thought about traveling around the world; adventures and combats were inevitable, and bringing a child along was too ridiculous.
“Mm.” Kafka wasn’t stupid and could hear Anse’s subtext.
He had heard his mentor mention Moon Shadow Kui Ling; it was said to have originally only accommodated elves, half-elves, and halflings before opening to the public, and after several decades, it had a good reputation.
The atmosphere fell silent, with only the sound of their footsteps.
Before long, the group entered the north side of town, and the crowd immediately thinned out.
“Shreeek—” A hawk cry came from overhead.
Finn’s figure paused, then he turned to Anse: “Someone’s blocking us!”
Earlier in the crowd, Greyhawk couldn’t distinguish them, but now in this remote area, those people had nowhere to hide.
“Those slavers? How many?” Anse hadn’t expected those people to be so brazen, showing no restraint at all.
“It’s them, sixteen or seventeen, split into four groups, with muskets…” Finn’s tone was very urgent.
Anse frowned tightly; slavers were very pragmatic. Since he hadn’t exposed them, they were unlikely to make such a big move just for revenge.
If revenge failed, their “business” would inevitably be untenable.
That left only one possibility: Little Clara was worth more than imagined!
“Report positions to me anytime.”
With that, he pressed the holy symbol on his chest through the cloak and immediately initiated a planar summon.
The few seconds felt so long.
Suddenly, the air ahead blurred, and a black steed leaped out of nowhere, trotting over with cheerful steps.
‘No saddle.’
Anse inwardly cursed his oversight; Nolnos had removed the saddle before leaving, but now there was no time to worry about that—they had to break out before the enemy closed in.
A head-on fight would definitely cause casualties; they could only kite them!
He pushed away Nolnos’s approaching big head and placed Clara on the horse’s back.
“Everyone come here, put your hands on me!”
The others didn’t understand but didn’t hesitate.
Anse concentrated, mana vortices swirling around him as the surrounding sea breeze suddenly strengthened.
“
「Metamagic: Twinned Spell」+「Great Step」!
Time was tight, so he didn’t conserve; he cast metamagic twice in a row.
A layer of mana spiritual light successively appeared on the horse and the three people, and they immediately felt their bodies lighten somewhat.
“Which way?” Anse asked urgently.
“East!” Finn got it instantly.
“Run!”
The group sprinted forward, turning right after more than ten meters, their speed much faster than usual.
The enemy was chasing from the Dock Area in the southwest; though split into four groups to block ahead, the eastern group hadn’t positioned in time.
“Changed direction, rear one hundred fifty meters.”
Anse turned to look; at the street corner behind, four figures in leather armor appeared, holding muskets, led by the 【Conch】 Bearded Man first mate.
The Bearded Man looked furious; they were about to corner the prey, but it was discovered early. The enemy precisely found the gap in the encirclement, running thief fast, and somehow getting a black horse.
A sure thing had suddenly gone wrong, messing with his mentality.
The Bearded Man’s eyes darted, and he pointed at the black horse and shouted: “Guards pursuing slavers, stop them, bounty one hundred!”
“Son of a bitch!” Anse’s anger flared instantly, his gaze chillingly cold.
‘I’m unattached; you think I’ll swallow this? None of you are leaving alive today!’
But the Bearded Man’s ploy didn’t work; there were few people here, and moreover, with Nolnos so majestic, anyone with eyes knew they weren’t to be trifled with.
“Right front alley!” Finn reminded.
Anse lightly patted the horse’s back, and Nolnos immediately accelerated past the others to the alley entrance ahead.
More than a hundred meters away, four people were sprinting this way; seeing the knight blocking the road, they instinctively raised their muskets.
Faerun’s muskets had developed slowly for various reasons, mostly front-loading smoothbores.
Even the flintlocks in the 【Conch】 slavers’ hands were relatively advanced, with max range over 150 meters, but accuracy was poor—usually fired within 50 meters, as only at that distance could they reliably hit a human-sized target.
More than a hundred meters posed little threat, but to be safe, Anse had Nolnos extend his neck armor to protect Clara.
“
After a short dragon speech, dozens of meters ahead, a spherical dense fog rapidly formed, expanding to nearly twenty meters in diameter in the blink of an eye, as tall as five or six stories, blocking the surrounding houses completely opaque.
This was the first ring spell Fog Cloud.
It had no lethality, but it scared the enemy into not advancing rashly, fearing traps. The four slavers hesitated, then chose to take a detour.
Meanwhile, Brat and the others had already run past, and the enemy completely lost the chance to block them.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, those four slavers converged on this street, chasing front and back with the Bearded Man.
100 meters, 110 meters, 120 meters… the distance kept growing.
Everyone knew the slavers’ plan had failed; they hadn’t given up only out of unwillingness.
Anse had a flash of inspiration; one hand gripped the neck armor for balance, the other palm pointed remotely at the street behind.
Without any omen, the wind rose!
Breeze, gust, strong wind, gale… in mere seconds, the wind intensified violently, forming a wind pillar nearly thirty meters long and four or five meters in diameter before his palm, filling the street.
The next instant, he pushed hard, and the gale swept down the street, tearing wall plaster, flinging bricks and tiles, rolling up earth and pebbles—terrifying momentum.
Everyone was stunned; the slavers panicked to dodge but found nowhere to hide. Some turned to run, some tried to climb walls, but all too slow.
Except for the Bearded Man who crouched to brace, the other slavers were successively blown away, tumbling head-over-heels in the gale for meters or even more than ten.
【You cast Control Winds on Conch first mate… Conch first mate hit, takes 3 bludgeoning damage, current life 31/34…】
【You cast Control Winds on Conch sailor… Conch sailor hit, takes 4 bludgeoning damage, current life 2/6…】
A series of combat logs flashed through Anse’s mind; the effect was spectacular, but no one died—the lethality came entirely from miscellaneous items in the wind or impacts.
There was no helping it; Control Winds itself had little lethality and couldn’t be let go. Once the gale blew out, the wind would weaken.
Fortunately, this was his only spell-like ability; boosted by high charisma, the wind power and control were strong enough for mounted spellcasting and ranged attack.
‘Exactly the effect I wanted!’
Anse handed Clara to Brat: “You take them and go; Finn and I will finish them off.”
Thanks to Where’s the Wool, Book Friend 20190124165609900, and Mountain Sea Inch for the rewards.
