They explained the layout of the lands surrounding Lyr. There was an orc village about fifty kilometers east and north of that was the Millinic Kingdom"s capital which now lay in ruins. The jakku nest that was causing Lyr problems was based in a cave on the small mountain to the north.It wasn"t that Master Ynir or Nyris couldn"t kill a few jakku, in fact according to them, the creatures were fairly easy to kill when they were alone. It was just that there were hundreds of them living in the cave and they bred at a stunning rate so unless they cleared the nest they would quickly repopulate.
When a threat approached their nest they would swarm and attack using their four dagger like limbs to impale any would be trespa.s.ser, making it difficult for the few elven rangers Lyr had to deal with it. It would pose a problem for Aerwyn as well if he decided on getting too close without a plan.
"The pay is twenty five silver per hundred you kill. You can do what you want with the mana cores or bodies." Master Ynir spoke, bringing the lunch to a close.
"Ok, i"ll head off now then i guess."
"It"ll take you all day to reach their nest, you can stay the night and head off in the morning if you like."
"That"s ok, I"ve lazed around enough for the past few days. Nyris ya coming?"
"I just need to grab a few things, i"ll meet you by the gates." Nyris didn"t bother with formalities and ran off in a hurry.
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Master Ynir walked with Aerwyn to the gates and they waited until Nyris showed up with a horse fifteen minutes later. The pair bid Master Ynir goodbye and headed off to the north, traveling until night fell. Nyris"s bombardment of questions began the moment they stopped and Aerwyn immediately cut him off to go to bed.
They arrived at the edge of the forest that surrounded the mountain the next day. Aerwyn could see a few of the creatures coming and going out from the cave entrance but they just looked like tiny flying blobs at this distance.
"Do they come out more during the day or night?" Aerwyn asked Nyris as he watched more and more jakku leave the nest.
"I believe they only come out in the day but some are still active during the night."
"Ok... Erit you and the spiders cover everything surrounding us in webs, like a dome. Make sure there"s no gaps except for a small hole for the spiders to come and go."
Erit got to work with the spiders as he kept an eye on the cave entrance. He asked Nyris if there was any other cave entrances the jakku used but he didn"t seem to know. It shouldn"t matter either way as the webs surrounding them were placed for that very reason but he"d much rather catch them at the cave entrance than risk them getting so close.
Night fell and the traffic from the cave slowed to only one or two coming back every half hour. Aerwyn decided it was time and began giving his orders.
"I want the spiders to sneak up to the cave and seal off the entrance with webs. If you"re spotted run back here as quickly as you can. If things go well we shouldn"t even need to fight."
"What about this little spider?" Erit asked with her voice magic.
"You"re too... Just stay here little spider." Aerwyn almost said she was "too big" which would"ve led to a long winded speech about her becoming a person so he chose the safer, quieter route. Erit giggled and the spiders took off towards the cave.
They reached the cave only after a minute or two and began quietly covering the fifteen meter tall, two meter wide entrance in webs. They jumped in unison crisscrossing their webs like Aerwyn had taught them. Once the cave was blocked off they scurried back to Aerwyn for the next part of the plan.
He crouched by the hole in the web, aiming his staff far enough from the cave entrance so that the explosion wouldn"t ignite the webs but still close enough for the jakku to hear it. The flame lance hit the mountain exploding out in all of its fiery brilliance and the battle began.
A shrill piercing cry traveled out from the cave which was soon followed by many, many more. The web at the entrance bulged out like a bubble as hundreds upon hundreds of jakku flew into it in their mad dash to swarm the trespa.s.ser. The bubble rebounded and the squawking sounds died down little by little as time went on.
Aerwyn waited an hour before ordering Erit to use her saliva and melt an exit through the webs that surrounded them. They walked to the cave entrance and saw hundreds of the creatures endlessly struggle to break free of the webs.
They were about the size of an eagle with black leathery skin and orange stripes. Their wings connected directly to their dragon-like heads making it look as though they were wearing hooded cloaks. Underneath the wings there were four legs that came to a sharp point like a stake made out of bone.
In the gaps between the jakku, Aerwyn could still see many more inside the cave quietly watching the entrance. The cave was rather small despite the large entrance which gave Aerwyn an idea.
"Erit make a tiny hole through the web, big enough for me to stick my staff through." Aerwyn ordered and she stabbed her giant leg through web making a hole.
He stuck his spear through as countless jakku tried to impale him through the webs. He began firing a barrage of flame lances at the back of the cave, causing the creatures fly into a frenzy. Whether it was due to the ever increasing temperature inside the cave or if it was just their nature to attack anything that came near, the creatures that weren"t caught in the web began darting at it en ma.s.se.
Aerwyn felt satisfied when there was only a few stragglers left that were still free. The web was completely full with nearly eight hundred exhausted jakku squirming about in a futile attempt to break free.
"Erit, keep fifty alive for me to resurrect, kill the rest. Velk and Jinn, you guys can harvest the mana cores."
"Master! This little spider didn"t even get to do any fighting! It wasn"t fun at all!" Erit whined.
"I"d rather it be easy like this than get shot with an arrow again. Plus i need way more souls if i"m going to evolve you all so stop complaining and get to it. Pick me out fifty first, i want to have them ready in case any stragglers show up." Aerwyn jumped off her back with Rin and Ren before walking over to Nyris.
Erit rolled a bundle of jakku and spider silk in front of him and he created a small flame on his finger, lighting it ablaze. The pain wasn"t all that bad, jakku were D Grade souls after all. Nyris stood by and watched as he mumbled to himself in shock as the souls were absorbed into Aerwyn.
"T-this shouldn"t be possible..."
"Tylin said the same thing, i-"
"No, you don"t understand! It"s one thing to separate one"s own soul to become a lich, that alone is a feat worthy of admiration but what you"re doing is far different... You"re denying the reincarnation cycle, an unbreakable rule for all of creation. I"ve never met Tylin but he should know this fact too if he witnessed your power. Unless..." Nyris was exasperated, almost fearful as he explained.
"...What do you mean?" Aerwyn became worried as it seemed like Nyris was implying Tylin had kept something from him.
"It"s difficult to explain... Souls must be reincarnated, even the G.o.ds... don"t have the ability to completely stop the process, only hinder it for a time. But what happens to the souls you consume? Where do the souls go?
...Before the G.o.ds created the underworld, souls would expel their excess energy before returning to the world and await reincarnation. With your power you are consuming both soul and the excess energy it contains, thus removing that soul from the world in it"s entirety. Where it goes is still a mystery to me but i"m certain it isn"t returning to reincarnation which is far more profound than i think you realize.
The G.o.ds don"t use mana like mortals do, they draw power from the excess energy given off by souls and convert it to a power they call divinity. The more devout the soul the more energy it can offer up, allowing the G.o.ds to siphon off a small fraction before it returns to the world. So far you"ve stolen the equivalent of a drop of water compared to the whole ocean but it won"t matter to them. You"re power would allow you to take the whole ocean for yourself if left unchecked.
You must take care from now on. If any of the three races learned of your power, the G.o.ds would surely declare a holy war to destroy you at all costs. You are a bigger threat to them than you could ever possibly imagine."
"Why wouldn"t Tylin tell me that?"
"Any Fae"Laran necromancer would be able to immediately ascertain what your power represents. As for why, i don"t know. It"s possible he came to the same conclusion as i did, that... you weren"t born a mortal."