READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 119: Chapter 119
After negotiating the terms of service with the Blackfuse Company to the sum of 1,000 gold a year, and the leasing of Amani land for 50 years, Varrus had decided to get some much needed training in before he restored the Sunwell.
He had a creeping feeling that someone would come to stop him when he tried to bring the Sunwell back to life. After all, hadn't he been present to stop something like 5 rituals already? Warcraft was just the type of universe where this type of nonsense happened.
So it was better to be prepared than to shrug it off and leave it to fate.
Which is why Varrus found himself trading swords & spells with the various members of his House over the last week while they waited for Telonicus to finish the last couple of Rune Stones needed to shield Quel'Thalas from scrying.
Situated on a beach off the east coast of Quel'Thalas, all of House Vandercross were out sparring, and training against one another. Even Lor'Themar, Koren, Nightsong, and Prince Valanar had joined in.
Varrus was currently riding a flying carpet, and training his ability to drive the damned thing while under pressure.
Whether it was maneuvering the carpet through hoops, or dodging Elite Elven archers, Varrus had been taking his flying carpet through the ringer.
"I can't believe you're finally going to restore the Sunwell! I have hoped…no, prayed that this was true!" Koren jubilantly cheered from atop his dragonhawk.
The excited Sky Marshal whooshed at Varrus with the intent to skewer him with his enchanted spear. A wide grin was on the blonde's face.
"I always keep my promises." Varrus solemnly nodded back. At least, he would keep this one. If he didn't, then Koren would have betrayed his family for no reason, and likely turn on Varrus too.
Fortunately, his number one sycophant was obsessed with the Sunwell, so it hadn't come to that yet.
Shaking his head, Varrus refocused his attention on the fight.
Varrus Blinked, and made sure to take the carpet with him this time, as the last 3 attempts saw him falling to the ground.
Landing on the thin material this time, Varrus mentally cheered, but he had little time to celebrate, as the dragonhawk knight had readjusted his course, and was flying right at Varrus!
Magical energies pooled at the tip of Koren's weapon, and a lance of blue Arcane frost magic blasted itself at Varrus.
Conjuring a Mana Stone, Varrus held it in front of him with Telekinesis.
Once the magic impacted the crystal, and absorbed the attack, it turned blue.
Varrus then muttered some focusing words that he had learned from the memory crystal Old Man Vandercross had imparted to him.
A moment later, the crystal exploded outward towards Koren. A dozen, floating, icy Elemental whisps rushed towards Koren, forcing him to slow down, and slay them with his spear, lest he become overrun.
Varrus's ear twitched, and he Blinked away as an arrow sailed by.
Looking down at the beach, the Ranger General gave him a wave, then fired a dozen more magic arrows.
Each arrow came at him thrumming with the power and speed of an artillery shell.
Varrus tried the same Mana Stone trick again to defend himself, but the arrows moved mid-flight, and clustered together for one pinpoint strike.
Furthermore, they were all spaced out one after another, so that as soon as one arrow struck, the next one would hit the same spot 0.2 seconds later.
In effect, it felt like 12 arrows landed in one spot almost instantaneously.
As a result, the Mana Stone was broken through, and about 4 arrows were now poised to strike Varrus's throat!
It was only when the first arrow broke through, and triggered his Ebony Flesh that Varrus realized how dangerous Lor'Themar's bow truly was.
When the second arrow caused the magical armor to quiver, and threaten to snap, that was when Varrus had finally gotten his bearings, and reacted.
Using telekinesis, he ripped the remaining 2 arrows out of the sky, and responded to Lor'Themar's attack with several Bolides.
A half dozen meteorites plunged down at Lor'Themar like rain from Heaven. Their fiery trails picked up 4x speed and damage as the distance between Varrus and Lor'Themar made the spell more effective the further they were apart.
The Ranger General expertly sniped down 6 meteorites, then unsheathed his twin swords and cut down 5 more. As for the last meteorite, Varrus applied a spin on it with his Telekenesis, and put Lor'Themar on the back foot when it exploded just in front of him.
Lor'Themar clearly hadn't been expecting that, and Varrus wanted to follow up on his minor victory, yet the flapping of wings and cry if a dragonhawk swiftly drew his attention away from the beach.
He would have liked to have used a Master tier spell on Lor'Themar, but that took a few seconds to cast. Seconds he did not have with Koren having defeated the Elementals, and bearing down on his flank.
Varrus grinned as he cast Tumble Magnet on the knight, and watched as Koren's flight path was knocked off course.
However, his grin was soon to disappear, as his own ride was getting rather wobbly.
Frowning, Varrus looked down, and saw several holes had pierced his flying carpet, and some arrows embedded in it were actively draining away the enchantments that held it together.
Varrus looked down once more, and saw a 'not smug!' look on Lor'Themar's face.
Varrus squinted his eyes, and cast Drop Zone on the ground, then dove down like a professional swimmer.
Lor'Themar shot at him while he fell, prompting Varrus to repeatedly swipe his hand back and forth, and knock the arrows out of the air with his Telekinesis.
What arrows he couldn't bat away, he cut through with his sword.
Over the course of the last month, he had sparred on and off with Syra, and finally attained 100 in One Handed.
Channeling Arcane energies, a hot white aura coated his blade, and matched the power contained in Lor'Themar's arrows, canceling the magic in the wooden missiles.
Before he made landfall, Varrus boosted all his physical stats with the Illusion/Alteration spells/perks, and the skill of his One Handed increased to 140.
Performing a front flip, Varrus landed on his feet, and ran at Lor'Themar without any delay.
Clashing swords, Varrus was still a little slower than Lor'Themar, but his timing and the placement of his strikes had improved by leaps and bounds.
Opening up with an overhead, Varrus transitioned into a diagonal slash, parry, twirl, side step combo all within a few seconds.
This time, Varrus wasn't the one on the back foot!
"Such talent. I wish I'd gotten my hands on you earlier." Lor'Themar said in a chiding tone.
The Ranger General was grinning from ear to ear as he bantered.
Varrus on the other hand, felt himself sweating from the exertion. The high intensity, fast paced exchange of blows was beginning to take its toll on him. He may have the skills, but in his heart of hearts, he was still primarily a backline glass cannon.
So whilst the Ranger General still wasn't pressed, Varrus could hold his own against the 5,000+ year old man.
The Skyrim UI was truly some bs to behold when in action! And unfortunately for the old man, Varrus wasn't satisfied with 'merely' holding his own.
Activating the abilities of the One Handed skill tree, Varrus surprised Lor'Themar once more.
Rogue's Parry - When wielding a one-handed weapon and an empty other hand, attacking with the weapon while the opponent is winding up their attack or drawing a bow deals 40% more damage and delivers a critical strike.
Thundering Blow - Whenever you perform a total of 8 or more one-handed regular attacks in combat, your next one-handed power attack is a Thundering Blow that deals double damage and costs no Stamina, resetting the counter.
Aftershock - After a Thundering Blow, attack speed is increased by 75% for 3 seconds.
When the three perks activated at the same time, Varrus knocked Lor'Themar back with an absolute flurry of blows.
The old man lost his ever present grin, and stopped bantering as Varrus forced him to focus up.
Powerful enchantments clashed again and again as each man tried to bypass the others defenses, and score a blow.
Varrus felt his Ebony Flesh and enchanted armor waver, whilst his own blade scraped against the protective surface of Lor'Themar's own enchantments.
As this was a friendly spar, victory would be determined by whoever popped the magic shield first!
Gasping for air, and sweating up a storm, Varrus knew he was soon to be gassed, and had to do something if he was to win.
Performing a sideswipe, Varrus knocked Lor'Themar back thanks to another perk Windswept.
With that opening, he lunged forward with a stab.
Lor'Themar had recovered, and anticipated this move. He brought both blades roughly down onto Varrus's own, and scraped them along his blade. In one motion, he had pressed Varrus's sword down, and was less than a second away from pressing his swords to Varrus's neck.
Smirking to himself, Varrus had anticipated such a maneuver, and Blinked behind Lor'Themar while he was committed to his attack.
Applying Burning Hands to his palms, Varrus moved to embrace Lor'Themar from behind, and immolate him.
However, much to Varrus's surprise, Lor'Themar had suddenly reversed his blades, and stabbed backwards without looking.
The twin blades pierced Varrus's protective shields, and Varrus forced himself to halt, lest he run himself through.
"Never hit an old dog with the same trick twice. You may be clever Vandercross, but you finished our duel the same way last time, remember?" Lor'Themar smiled, and tapped the side of his own head with the flat of his blade.
"Damned Old Man." Varrus cursed under his breath.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Koren came flying down, and praised.
Varrus wordlessly nodded at the pair as he caught his breath. He couldn't wait until the Sunwell was restored, as the unlimited stamina it provided would be the best.
Twisting the cap off a canteen, Varrus greedily drank from within, and let the cool refreshing restorative potion rejuvenate his stamina and energy.
"I'll get you one day, Lor'Themar." Varrus eventually said after taking a few more sips.
"That day is not far off, I imagine. Only 7 months have passed since we first traded blades. Your progress is astounding. I would say you're a once in a generational talent, but then again, the King learns as fast as you do!" Lor'Themar slapped his knee, and laughed.
While Varrus was giving him the stink eye, the Ranger General ripped the canteen from his hands, and took a big swig.
"Eh? How do you stomach this, Vandercross?" Lor'Themar said with a sour expression.
"It can't be that bad." Koren shook his head, and gestured towards Lor'Themar.
Lor'Themar wordlessly tossed the canteen to the dragonhawk knight. When Koren took a sip, his face screwed up, and he puckered his face as if he had consumed the most sour candy in existence.
"Pah, what's in this?" Koren eventually got out.
Varrus idly scratched his cheek. He liked things on the sour side, and when he complained about the taste of Lightbottle's droughts, Syra had spiked his drink with a different flavor.
He never intended on sharing it with anyone else, but to see the old man get a taste of his own medicine…it was quite fulfilling!
Varrus's shoulders shook with repressed laughter. Lor'Themar wasn't making a face, but Koren's said it all. They were not enjoying the after taste!
"I thought we had put our pranking war behind us, but I see now that hostilities have resumed." Lor'Themar turned away, and said in a cold tone.
Varrus's laughter suddenly cut.
Ever since he had paralyzed Lor'Themar, Varrus and the old man had been trying to one up each other every chance they got.
They had repeatedly gotten one another since then, and it was ever escalating. For example, Lor'Themar had found himself pink haired for an entire day, all his carved shoes squeaked, and the last time he had taken a bath, the soap was spiked to smell like a Troll's armpit.
Varrus had his fair share of foibles too. One morning, he woke up completely bald. Not something terrible, as he was a man, but Syra did not appreciate it, and he missed out on her love that day. Another time, an entire family of hundreds of chickens had found their way into his manor. The amount of noise and mess those chickens made was legendary!
Needless to say, things had gotten out of hand, and a truce had been established.
But with the resumption of hostilities, Varrus would have to resume his vigilance.
Varrus face palmed, and turned to watch the other battles, and see how everyone else was doing.
Syra was battling Nightsong, and despite being out skilled, his wife was making a good showing. Training Tess seemed to do her some good, as Syra's control over the Void had increased, as a result, her Holy Void state could last much longer than before.
That lovable murderous blonde had proven herself to truly be a shounen protagonist. When she first revealed the Holy Void state, she could only hold onto it for a couple minutes. Now that a few months had passed, she could maintain it almost indefinitely while fighting. This development had Varrus curious, and eager for what else she had in store for him. If she truly was a shounen protagonist type, then she surely would have another transformation.
As for Nightsong, her skills were superb as always. She wasn't as fast as Syra, but her timing and strength were impeccable. While she wielded a sword and shield, she also mixed in Druidic spells in-between.
Buffs were one obvious thing, but sometimes she would transform an arm into that of a bear for a heavy swipe, or her head into a Dragon's and unleash a breath attack.
Watching the two of them mix magic into their melee combat made Lor'Themar and Varrus seem kind of weak in comparison.
Side-eying Lor'Themar, Varrus saw that the older man had eyes only for Nightsong.
"You should talk to her." Varrus suggested.
"Me? I may be the Ranger General now, but that was out of necessity. At heart, I am nothing more than a shoe carver who knows a little bit of the sword & bow. In time, someone shall replace me. But her? She is the General Nightsong. A legend. One does not simply talk to her." Lor'Themar scoffed.
"You sell yourself short. You may be a scummy old man, but you're within the strongest top 5 of Quel'Thalas." Varrus praised. "Besides, she is quite lonely." Varrus finished.
Eying his mother, Varrus saw the strength and serenity of a warrior who knew who she was, and what she was about. But that was what was on the surface. From his brief encounters with her, she seemed like a woman lost in a different time. One who wanted the joys of a family, but had it cruelly taken from her.
It pained Varrus that Nightsong and his wife didn't particularly get along. He wanted to do right by his new mother, but it was a process.
So he thought to himself, perhaps Lor'Themar could be of some help.
He had seen how the old man acted around her, and he knew that Lor'Themar, for all his strength, was also greatly hurt by the Scourging of Silvermoon.
"Yeah, go for it!" Koren enthusiastically cheered from the side.
"This isn't some prank is it? Because whilst everything till now has been in good fun, I swear Vandercross-"
"I'm serious. I think you two would be good for one another." Varrus interrupted, and held his palms up.
"...I'll think about it."
"Well think about it sooner than later. We're restoring the Sunwell within days. Then, the campaign against the Scourge will begin in earnest, and there will be little time for romance." Varrus said tersely, then walked off to join Rho'dan for further sparring.
"Hah. You're still too young, the best place to romance a woman like Nightsong is on the battlefield." Lor'Themar shook his head with a grin, and called out at Varrus's back.
"He doesn't know how good he has it." Koren bitterly spat.
"Eh, don't be jealous. Even if you did get together with Lady Liadran, I do not think it would last." Lor'Themar shared his sage wisdom.
Koren wordlessly pulled on the reins for his mount, and took to the sky.
Lor'Themar chuckled, and drew his bow.
'Poor kid can't see the writing on the wall. Loadran is married to the Light, she hardly has time for another love.' Lor'Themar thought to himself in pity, and prepared to spar once again.
Lor'Themar shook his head as Vandercross's words rang in his head. Bah, the pup was right. What did he have to lose?