Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 52

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Saros the Gnome Inventor watched as the Miststorm Riders poured into the city. They rode through the destroyed sections of the walls. Their horses leapt over the fallen rubble. But before they could even reach the first row of houses, the [Magitech Tinkerer] tossed a little sphere that way.

“Explode for me, will ya?” Saros called out. He snapped his fingers as the [Bandits] looked down.

And the metallic ball detonated. It exploded into a flower of crimson flames. It enveloped the riders as they fell from their horses, burning and writhing on the ground. But there was no crater. The cobbled ground was lit ablaze, yet wasn’t shredded open. There was no rumbling of the earth or blast of shockwave that was typical of even the smallest of explosions.

The gnome dug into his Bag of Holding as he grinned, before producing another small sphere.

“Who else wants some?!”

A guard stood behind Saros, staring with wide eyes. “What is that artifact…?”

“That’s the Gnome Inventor you’re talking about,” a second guard said with a grin. “He probably handcrafted those spheres in his laboratory himself, so there’s no point asking about it. It’s probably a top secret project.”

The first guard gasped. “Woah. Are you saying we’re witnessing the first of its kind?”

“For sure. Also— they’re called magitech tools, not artifacts.”

Saros found his eyes twitching. He spun around and yelled at the two idle guards.

“What are you doing, you damn morons?” he screamed, and they jolted. “Go and help your friends out!”

“R-right!”

“Yes, sir!”

They both hurried into battle a moment later. Saros shook his head and grumbled.

“Humans and their stereotypes,” he sighed. “Just because I’m a gnome, doesn’t mean I’m a damn inventor.”

He really hated it whenever someone would just assume that a weapon or artifact he was using was some kind of magitech tool. Even if he was swinging around a literal dagger, humans would somehow construe it as a newly-engineered weapon.

However, the most annoying part was that the stereotypes were actually right for once. This was a new project he had been working on ever since he arrived in Whiteridge from the Frozar Mountains.

After selling the necronomicon to a… slightly shady individual for a hefty sum of gold coins, he ended up with the funds to purchase a lot of new parts and components to create this little metallic sphere. He called it the Blooming Grenade.

All he had to do was press a button at its center, and a mechanism would activate. It was a magitech tool because it required no input of additional mana to activate, instead utilizing the mana previously stored inside its crux crystal. That was the main distinction between magitech tools and ordinary magical artifacts.

An artifact was a tool imbued with magic itself. It was already enchanted to carry out a specific task, and its user either had to activate the magic with their own mana in the case of scrolls or one-time use equipment, or it was a passive effect that didn’t need any activation.

Meanwhile, all magitech tools had a crux crystal built inside of them to store an external source of mana. It could be mana collected from the environment, or mana poured in by its creator. In any case, the crux crystal would be the source of mana so the magitech tool could operate, whether it was turning gears or powering a rune.

The Gnome Inventor wasn’t an [Inventor]. Despite his Title, he was a [Tinkerer]. That meant he reappropriated scraps and recycled junk for other purposes, such as turning a Dagger of Acid Damage into a Disintegration Dagger. However, he would occasionally dabble in crafting brand new equipment, such as he did over the last few weeks, and that was how he had conceived the Blooming Grenade.

He thought up its mechanics after the battle against those hordes of undead in the Fallen Wyvern’s Keep, where half his artifacts and tools specialized against a large number of enemies weren’t usable since they could potentially collapse the Dungeon over his head. So the Blooming Grenade was special in that unlike most explosive munitions, it exploded into flames without actually creating a shockwave.

It wasn’t the most powerful blast. Its greatest power was the roiling flames that poured out and burned everything— even water. But a high-leveled enough [Pyromancer] could easily extinguish the flames, and it could be blocked with spells. Despite its flaws, it was good enough when fighting a large group of lower-leveled enemies. And that was what Saros was up against here.

He grinned and tossed another Blooming Grenade towards the walls of the city. It exploded right before an oncoming group of [Bandits]. They burst into flames, screaming in terror. Their horses were lit ablaze and sent into a frenzy. Saros watched as the animals trampled over their burning riders.

And a voice called out to him. “Be careful not to hit the horses! They don’t have anything to do with this!”

Glancing back, Saros eyed Deon the Virtuous Guard as he emerged from a side street. Skye the Silver Shade followed behind her partner, rolling her eyes.

“Blame their riders,” she said. “The poor animals wouldn’t be in this mess if not for those fuckers.”

Deon frowned. “Mind your language, Skye.”

And she snorted. “Oh, shut it. No one cares about swearing on the battlefield.”

“Both of you should just shut up,” Saros interjected. He glanced towards another group of the Miststorm Riders approaching from the collapsed wall. “Focus on doing your damn jobs.”

Deon shook his head and faced the shadows emerging from the mist. “We cleared out our street. We came here to help out.”

“I don’t need your help,” Saros scoffed and hurled another Blooming Grenade into the middle of the charging [Bandits].

There was a clink. Once again, parts of the sphere retracted. A crimson glow grew brighter, and a blast of flames shot out. It engulfed the closest of the riders, only for one of them to raise a wand. Saros narrowed his eyes, watching as a [Mage] created a large spherical barrier and blocked the blast.

“Come here, you little gnome!” he cackled wildly, riding through the flames without being burned. He pointed his wand at Saros, and a blue bolt appeared at its tip. “[Sphere of Arcane Blast]!”

An azure sphere shot out at the Gnome Inventor. It didn’t move in a straight line, instead curving its way towards him. He reached for his Bag of Holding, but Deon stepped forward. The Virtuous Guard raised his halberd and waited for the [Sphere of Arcane Blast] to reach him.

When the spell drew close enough, he sliced it in half with a shout. “[Cleave Asunder]!”

The [Sphere of Arcane Blast] split into two perfect halves. The hemispheres shot past Deon and Saros, before striking the street behind them and exploding. The [Mage]-[Bandit] cursed as his spell missed, and began conjuring another attack.

“You—” he started.

But Skye the Silver Shade was behind him in an instant. She grinned and impaled him though his neck with a serrated dagger.

“Nice try, but that was the only try you got.” She leapt off his horse, and he collapsed limply onto the cobbled street.

Saros eyed both Skye and Deon, and they nodded back at him. He just crossed his arms and harrumphed.

“That was only a B-rank spell. I could’ve handled that [Bandit] easily.”

“It doesn’t hurt to say thanks.” Skye rolled her eyes.

Saros shook his head as the pair of adventurers grinned at him. The Gnome Inventor turned his attention away from them, and swept his gaze over the ruined street. The battle with the Miststorm Riders, fortunately, had been mostly contained to the fringes of Whiteridge. But still, the destruction was evident.

The road itself had been torn up from the fighting, which was to be expected. But the nearby houses had mostly been razed to the ground. Entire city blocks reduced to ash. Guards and adventurers rushed from one burning building to another to put out the fires and aid the wounded civilians.

There had already been an evacuation warning. Most of the people of Whiteridge had been advised to gather at the city’s center for their own safety. But not everyone listened, and it was clear. Bodies littered the streets around Saros. He saw the corpses of women and children mixed amongst the dead guards and adventurers. It was a grim sight. Hundreds lay dead in this street alone.

Saros pursed his lips. It wasn’t the most unfamiliar scene to him. As an A-rank adventurer, he had to stomach even worse atrocities committed by either monster or man. And while he was mostly desensitized to such things, he still tried to avert his gaze from these horrid sights.

The only blessing was that the Miststorm Riders had decided to lay siege only to the eastern section of Whiteridge. The Gnome Inventor was expecting the [Bandits] to attack from all directions, at which point, a lot more destruction would have occurred. But for whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Perhaps the Guardian Angels really are watching over us… Saros shook his head, dismissing the thought. He stepped forward and looked back towards the pervading mist. While only the streets of Whiteridge were obscured by the white blanket, everything beyond the city’s walls were indiscernible. It was an impenetrable canvas, through and through.

He waited for the next wave of [Bandits] to emerge from the mist. About a thousand of the Miststorm Riders lay dead. Maybe more. But they were an organization of thousands. So surely that couldn’t be all of them.

And yet, even as Saros continued gazing into the white abyss in wait, nothing happened.

“Think they gave up?” Skye finally said, breaking the silence.

Deon frowned. “I doubt it. They just lost a thousand of their men. If anything, that would only upset them.”

The Silver Shade shrugged casually. “Then doesn’t this mean they’re planning some—”

And a powerful explosion interrupted her. It ripped through the western section of Whiteridge, an entire block of the city destroyed in a single blast. Saros, Deon, and Skye stared with wide eyes as a massive column of smoke ascended. The thin white mist blanketing over the street shimmered with a soft orange tint.

The raging flames rose high, and a second smaller explosion tore through another street. The three A-ranked adventurers exchanged a glance, before nodding at each other.

“Let’s go!” Deon said as he rushed forward.

Skye scooped up Saros and dashed ahead of the Virtuous Guard. The three of them quickly made their way through Whiteridge, reaching the other side of the city as more blasts echoed, tearing apart houses.

They arrived just before a large crater at the center of a junction. Dozens of city guards lay scattered at the site. Their charred bodies still wisping with smoke, freshly burnt. A pair of figures waited there for the A-ranked adventurers.

A young man and a young woman. They stood side-by-side, equally as tall as each other. They both had black hair, and they wore the same dark robes. Saros narrowed his eyes at their path of destruction.

“Be on guard— they’re at least A-ranks!” he called out as Deon stepped forward.

The Virtuous Guard just raised his halberd with a glare. “That is enough, you monsters! We won’t let you take any more innocent lives!”

“We are not monsters,” the two figures replied at the same time.

It was almost eerie. They both tilted their heads, then turned to face Saros as he leapt off Skye’s shoulder, their actions completely in sync.

“I am Ruven,” the young man said.

“And I am Ava,” the young woman said

Saros reached for his Bag of Holding, readying himself for battle. As he did, they simply spoke at the same time once again.

“We are the Graceful Twins,” they said in unison. “And we shall kill you.”

With that, they raised their arms and unleashed a massive fireball at the three adventurers.

MelasD

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