The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 117 - Aspect Beasts of the Mountain (Patreon)

Piper returned to the Aspirant’s Guild to find her group members waiting at the entrance. The wagon that had brought them here had disappeared; most likely taken somewhere so the driver could feed and water the horses. She hoped it would make a return when it was time to leave, because she had absolutely no desire to trek back to the villa on foot.

“What was that about?” Zenos said.

“Sorry,” Piper said, adjusting the quiver on her waist. “I just wanted to make sure that girl didn’t run off to fight some zombies alone.”

“Are you going to help her?” Ophelia asked with a mischievous grin. “I bet you could take out all the zombies with your smell alone.”

“I got zombie juice on me one time!” she cried out. “When are you going to let it go?”

Ophelia shrugged. “Maybe when you stop stinking?”

Piper glared at Ophelia before an idea popped into her mind. She activated [Shifting Veil] and created a fat, hairy spider on her friend’s shoulder. Then she used [Phantom Flesh] to solidify the illusion.

She repressed a smile as she made the spider crawl down Ophelia’s chest. Zenos saw the arachnid first, and his eyes went almost comically wide. When her friend finally noticed, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and slapped wildly at the creature. Ophelia hopped around like a woman possessed, desperately trying to dislodge the spider.

Lysander stepped forward and plucked the spider from her dress between his two fingers. He held it in one hand and examined it closely. “This is impressive casting,” he said, turning his gaze toward Piper. “However, do you think these are appropriate actions for a group leader?”

“Casting?” Ophelia yelled, her features twisting with rage. “You made that spider? Just you wait. I’m going to get you back when you least expect it!”

Piper’s face immediately flushed at Lysander’s words. He was completely right; a group leader shouldn’t be acting like a child. She’d just reacted to her friend’s insults without thinking of the consequences. Her face burning with shame, she cancelled the spell, and the spider broke apart into shards of light in Lysander's grip.

“Sorry…” she muttered. “It won’t happen again.”

“I just hope you do better in the field,” Lysander said in an even tone. “Otherwise, you’re out as the group leader. In case you don’t know, group leaders get fat bonuses in the guild. So, smarten up if you want to see that coin.”

Before she could reply, Lysander thrust an arm in the direction of the mountain looming over the town. “The quest stated the mine that was invaded by earth elementals is in that direction. If we leave now, we should reach it by mid-afternoon.”

Piper gazed up the slope until her eyes alighted on dozens of mine entrances carved into the side of the mountain. She could make out great piles of debris surrounding the tunnels and a single narrow path twisting up toward them. The climb looked like it wasn’t going to be easy, even with her impressive stats.

Without another word, the four of them set out across the town. They passed through a sprawling market, where all manner of things were being bought and sold from gaudy stalls. She slowed slightly as she spotted a merchant hawking beautiful dresses. A blue one, with yellow trim and intricate stitching, caught her eye. Maybe once they were done with the quest, she could return to buy one for herself and Ophelia.

“I’m going to get you,” Ophelia whispered into her ear, making her jump. “I’m so going to get you.”

“Good luck,” she replied, some of her embarrassment fading. “The last time you tried to get me, I stole your stick.”

“Oh, it’s not going to poke you,” her friend said ominously. “It’s going to be so much worse.”

Piper’s brow creased with worry. Whatever Ophelia was planning was going to be bad. After they returned to the villa, she might need to summon her shadeling demoness, Sarnyxia, to watch over her from stealth. She didn’t want her friend to shave her head while she slept or something equally horrifying.

As she tried to figure out what her friend had planned for her, they reached the gates on the far side of the town. A steady line of filthy people wearing little more than rags trudged through the archway, carrying bulging sacks of rocks over their shoulders.

These must be the miners.

The condition of the people genuinely shocked her. The majority had infected sores dotting their bodies that continuously wept pus. Some were missing eyes, while others had stumps for limbs. All of them wore iron collars fastened around their necks, the surrounding skin red and inflamed.

“Who are those people….” She asked Lysander. “And why are they wearing collars?”

The man slowed his pace. “They’re slaves tasked with mining the orichalcum ore in the mountains.”

“They use slaves here?” she exclaimed. “I didn’t know that!”

“The mining is dangerous, and raw orichalcum ore will kill you if you’re exposed to it for too long.”

“So, they use slaves?”

Lysander shrugged. “If they had to pay laborers to do it, the ore would become prohibitively expensive. The war effort depends on a steady flow of orichalcum. The deaths of a couple thousand slaves are a small price to pay to hold back the many enemies threatening the empire.”

Piper watched in horror as more slaves continued to plod past them. She realized now that many of them appeared deathly ill, with pale skin and dark circles under their eyes. When she returned to the villa, she’d have to learn more about orichalcum and why it was so important.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Intellect has reached Level 17.

Tilting her head with a faint sigh at randomly receiving another level in her racial skill, she continued with her group through the gates. The guards barely acknowledged them, and they continued onward until they reached the base of the mountain slope.

She gazed up at the steep path, dreading the climb in front of her to reach the quest. In many places, it had treacherous-looking switchback turns, with sheer drop-offs to the side.

As they started up the trail, she noticed that Ophelia kept her gaze fixated straight ahead. After a second, she realized that her friend didn’t like heights. She was shocked at the revelation that the young woman was actually afraid of something other than spiders.

A couple of times, they had to stop to allow a procession of slaves to march past. As soon as the trail cleared, they continued their ascent up the mountain. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the entrance to one of the many mine tunnels dotting the mountains.

However, this one appeared to be completely abandoned, and as she walked around to examine the area, she noted splashes of dried blood. She quickly realized it was far more than splashes. Entire areas were covered with the dark liquid.

A massacre had occurred here recently.

Turning around, she raised her hand to get the group’s attention. She was determined to do a better job than Basil in leading her group. At the end of the day, she wanted everyone to emerge unscathed from this quest—hopefully with some new levels under their belts.

“I’m going to scout the mine,” she said. “While I do, I want everyone to take up defensive positions outside. See if you can use some of the crates and materials to build a low wall to shelter behind. It might not completely stop the elementals, but it should slow them down.”

Surprisingly, no one contradicted her orders—not even Ophelia. Feeling emboldened, she continued. “This is my plan for how we’ll deal with the elementals. Once I make sure that we’re not facing a horde of the aspect beasts, I’ll start to lure them out in small packs.”

“Zenos,” she continued, pointing at the mage. “You and I will pick them off from a distance. As we do, Ophelia will guard us in case any of them reach melee range. Also, I want to make sure no one steps in front of my shots. Keep a clear line of sight from me to the elementals.”

When no one objected, she glanced over at Lysander to see what he thought. But his face remained an emotionless mask, and she couldn’t tell if he was pleased or displeased with her preparations for battle. Regardless, as the group leader, she had to have faith in herself.

Taking a deep breath, she cast [Wraithskin] and disappeared from view. She crept forward, stepping over discarded and broken mining tools. As she moved, she noticed a few chunks of rock that looked suspiciously like limbs. The miners who had perished here appeared to have put up a good fight against the aspect beasts.

Arriving at the entrance to the tunnel, she peered into the gloom. As she did, she realized she didn’t have a light source. Of course, using one would completely negate the point of her stealth. Hopefully, there was enough sunlight penetrating the tunnel to allow her to see inside.

Piper crept forward, carefully avoiding stepping on loose rocks that might give away her position. Her illusion spell normally muted any noise she made, but she had no idea what an elemental might sense. A single shifted pebble might send them thundering in her direction.

About twenty meters down the tunnel, she arrived at a grotesque heap of corpses. At least fifty miners, their bodies bloodied and broken, were piled at a fork in the shaft. The sheer scale of the slaughter shocked her. If the elementals could kill so many miners, they must be incredibly powerful.

The sound of grinding rock interrupted her thoughts. She shifted slightly to watch as a towering creature born of rock and earth emerged from the tunnel. It stood at least twice her height and had thick, powerful limbs. Each footfall of the massive creature shook the tunnel, sending dust drifting down from the ceiling.

Pressing herself against the wall, she allowed the elemental to move past her deeper into the passageway. A moment later, another half-dozen of the creatures stomped by where she was concealed. She waited to see if more emerged, but after a few minutes, no more had appeared.

Piper moved deeper into the tunnel, investigating the tunnel from which the elementals had appeared. She continued on until the darkness had almost completely swallowed the light but didn’t see any further signs of aspect beasts.

Returning the way she’d come, she slowly entered the next passageway. A short distance down the tunnel, she found seven elementals hunched around a pile of reddish ore. At the sight of what she assumed was orichalcum, she immediately pulled her cloak over her nose. Since she knew orichalcum was toxic, she didn’t want to breathe in any of the dust. Who knew if [Demonic Blood] could heal the toxic effects of ore or not?

She stood there, cloaked in her spell, trying to decide if she should use [Identify]. More likely than not, it would reveal to the elementals that she was nearby. But hidden by [Wraithskin], they shouldn’t be able to find her.

Finally, after debating for a couple of seconds, she decided to use the skill. The last thing she wanted was for one of the elementals to turn out to be some level 1000 Ancient Lord of the Stone Realm, or something equally bad.

Piper used [Identify] on the closest elemental.

Stone Elemental

Level 81

Her mouth dropped open in surprise at how dangerous the creature was. Once more, an Aspirant’s Guild clerk had happily sent a group off on a suicide mission. Assuming the other elementals had similar levels, there was no way her group could defeat them in a fair fight.

Since arriving at the villa, she’d learned that aspect beasts were far more dangerous than their levels implied. Anything from the middle realms, like earth elementals, had on average six attribute points per level. That meant that a level 81 aspect beast was the equivalent of a level 243 human with a poor-quality class.

Before she used her [Identify] again, she waited to see if her first target reacted. The elemental shifted slightly, but then settled down once more in front of the ore. Apparently, they didn’t react violently when someone used [Identify] on them.

She rapidly repeated the skill on all the elementals, and while most of them came back at around the same level as the first one, the creature leading them was level 101. She pressed her lips together and then hurried back down the tunnel.

Piper allowed her [Wraithskin] to fall away as she left the mine shaft. Hurrying back over to where her group was piling crates into a low wall, she stumbled to a stop a couple of paces in front of them.

“What did you see?” Ophelia asked excitedly, her anger momentarily forgotten at the thought of fighting monsters. “How many elementals can I slay?”

“There are a total of seven of them,” she said. “And they’re all grouped together near a pile of ore. I don’t think that I’ll be able to draw them out one at a time.”

Zenos’ brow rose at her words. “What were their levels?”

“Between levels 81 and 100,” she said slowly, glancing over to see Lysander’s reaction.

This time, the man reacted to her words. “Bloody Aspirant’s Guild,” he said, dragging a hand down his face. “First, they tried to send a girl off to fight some zombies alone; now they expect a novice group to go up against powerful aspect beasts?”

Lysander placed his hands on his hips and exhaled. “Alright then. We’re heading back down the mountain immediately. There’s no way we can safely take out the elementals without risking casualties. Excellent job on the scouting, Piper. You may have prevented a catastrophe.”

“Wait,” Piper said, holding up her hand. “I think we can defeat them.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Do we have to avoid damaging the mine?”

“Not necessarily.” Lysander replied slowly. “What are you thinking?”

The man nodded along slowly as she explained her plan. When she’d finished speaking, he pointed at Zenos.

“Do you think you can pull off your part of the plan?”

Zenos frowned slightly as he hefted his war hammer. “I believe so.”

“Good,” Lysander said. “Let’s do it then.”