Read Online The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) by Aleron Kong - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Aleron Kong
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were full now so he had access to the 1000 maximum. If he used his personal mana and took the rest from reserves, it would leave 100. The village recharge rate was determined by the total mana the village could have divided by hours in the day. Put another way 1000/24 gave 41.67 mana regen per hour. So he just needed to know…
“Futen, how many hours until the upkeep is due?”
“Four hours and thirty-seven minutes, my Lord.”
Richter stared at the remnant in surprise for a moment, not having expected such a specific answer. It was useful information, though. It meant that if he cast the spell now, the village would only regenerate 192 mana by the time the upkeep was due. It would leave him more than a hundred mana short of the upkeep!
He stood in silence for a while. He understood the importance of the defenses around the village. The Confusing Mist enchantment was definitely important. On the other hand, the hunters had not seen anything dangerous coming too near the village. They also had the trench and the sprite warriors if something randomly made its way close. He did a few more quick calculations.
The cost to recast the enchantment was 800 mana. His own mana would refill at about 12 points a minute so his 300 would be full well before the village’s had replenished. Counting his own 300, only 500 more mana would be needed. That would take… just 12 hours. He made his decision, the risk was negligible. It was time to get a familiar! He chose ‘Yes’ on the prompt hovering in his vision.
Suddenly, there was a complete absence of sound. Richter blinked, then snapped his fingers, but still heard nothing. The Great Seal changed. The spiral of black became a hole devoid of all light. The edges of the hole distorted space, causing the floor to ripple and bend. The spiral of gold tile was replaced by an arched doorway standing ten feet tall. A gentle radiance spilled into the room and a shining gold tree could be seen through the portal, waving in an otherworldly wind. The blue spiral was replaced by a swirling pool of water. The spiral of Air became an actual ten foot tall swirling maelstrom, lightning crackling across it. Each transformation was independent and silent. In the center of it all stood Richter. He was amazed at the power around him. He could not have left the Great Seal if he wanted to. The boundary of each transformation touched the next, leaving free only the grey diamond in the center of Great Seal.
The silence was sundered by a horrific tearing sound. A small black rent appeared in the space above Richter’s head. It started small, no larger than his forearm, but quickly widened to the height of a man. The sound intensified proportionally to the size of the tear. It kept growing until it reached all the way to the top of the vaulted chamber and stretched from one wall to the other, bisecting the room. On one side was Richter and the transformed Great Seal. On the other side was a white sky. Black clouds were lit with orange bolts of lightning. Beneath that alien sky, was canyon formed of midnight blue rock. The surface of the rocks was multifaceted like the inside of a geode, and each streak of lightning lit the canyon with reflection. At the end of the crevasse were massive trees festooned with thick vines. As Richter watched, a monstrous reptilian head poked through a break in the grove. It looked about with copper colored eyes, scanning for the source of the noise that had drawn its attention. Two large slits were at the end of the snout and as Richter watched, a forked tongue sampled the air.
Instinct took over, and Richter froze in place hoping that the wormhole, or whatever he was standing in front of, acted like a one-way mirror. He did not want this THING to see him! That hoped faded as the bus-sized head oriented on him and the jaw dropped open. The monster stared at him with a sadistic leer. The steel colored fangs were each the size of short swords and it rolled its beet colored
“Futen, how many hours until the upkeep is due?”
“Four hours and thirty-seven minutes, my Lord.”
Richter stared at the remnant in surprise for a moment, not having expected such a specific answer. It was useful information, though. It meant that if he cast the spell now, the village would only regenerate 192 mana by the time the upkeep was due. It would leave him more than a hundred mana short of the upkeep!
He stood in silence for a while. He understood the importance of the defenses around the village. The Confusing Mist enchantment was definitely important. On the other hand, the hunters had not seen anything dangerous coming too near the village. They also had the trench and the sprite warriors if something randomly made its way close. He did a few more quick calculations.
The cost to recast the enchantment was 800 mana. His own mana would refill at about 12 points a minute so his 300 would be full well before the village’s had replenished. Counting his own 300, only 500 more mana would be needed. That would take… just 12 hours. He made his decision, the risk was negligible. It was time to get a familiar! He chose ‘Yes’ on the prompt hovering in his vision.
Suddenly, there was a complete absence of sound. Richter blinked, then snapped his fingers, but still heard nothing. The Great Seal changed. The spiral of black became a hole devoid of all light. The edges of the hole distorted space, causing the floor to ripple and bend. The spiral of gold tile was replaced by an arched doorway standing ten feet tall. A gentle radiance spilled into the room and a shining gold tree could be seen through the portal, waving in an otherworldly wind. The blue spiral was replaced by a swirling pool of water. The spiral of Air became an actual ten foot tall swirling maelstrom, lightning crackling across it. Each transformation was independent and silent. In the center of it all stood Richter. He was amazed at the power around him. He could not have left the Great Seal if he wanted to. The boundary of each transformation touched the next, leaving free only the grey diamond in the center of Great Seal.
The silence was sundered by a horrific tearing sound. A small black rent appeared in the space above Richter’s head. It started small, no larger than his forearm, but quickly widened to the height of a man. The sound intensified proportionally to the size of the tear. It kept growing until it reached all the way to the top of the vaulted chamber and stretched from one wall to the other, bisecting the room. On one side was Richter and the transformed Great Seal. On the other side was a white sky. Black clouds were lit with orange bolts of lightning. Beneath that alien sky, was canyon formed of midnight blue rock. The surface of the rocks was multifaceted like the inside of a geode, and each streak of lightning lit the canyon with reflection. At the end of the crevasse were massive trees festooned with thick vines. As Richter watched, a monstrous reptilian head poked through a break in the grove. It looked about with copper colored eyes, scanning for the source of the noise that had drawn its attention. Two large slits were at the end of the snout and as Richter watched, a forked tongue sampled the air.
Instinct took over, and Richter froze in place hoping that the wormhole, or whatever he was standing in front of, acted like a one-way mirror. He did not want this THING to see him! That hoped faded as the bus-sized head oriented on him and the jaw dropped open. The monster stared at him with a sadistic leer. The steel colored fangs were each the size of short swords and it rolled its beet colored
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