Page 21 of I Ran Away to Evil #3

Damage Control

Julian

There were frogs. Everywhere.

“You could have reported this ,” Julian confronted his rogue.

John was standing at attention with an armful of confused frogs, his face impassive. “I could have.”

The city knights were out in full force, corralling a swarm of civilians-turned-frogs.

They were doing a surprisingly good job controlling the area, but it was the layout of the street itself that was the saving grace.

The Hall of Inventions wrapped around a busy corner in a distinct L-shape.

The right side continued in a row of shops, and the left side had a stone wall blocking off carriage parking and storage for the Hall.

The frogs had nowhere to hide there.

Opposite, there was a corner café nestled close together between a crepe shop and a barbershop.

Queen Henrietta was zipping around with an outrageously fast travel ability, picking up amphibians and dropping them off at the foot of the stairs leading into the Hall of Inventions.

Julian had used his [Barrier] to prevent the frogs from entering the Hall.

Half of the knights were managing the crowds, while the other half used his protected area to create a safe space for the captured creatures.

Minstrel Bronwynn had climbed on top of one of the dragon statues beside the Hall stairs and sat on its head.

She paused from playing her lyre harp only long enough to down a mana potion before launching back into song.

Julian resisted her [Siren Song] even as the skill hit him.

Luckily, Brownie was a high-enough level that it worked on most of the frogs.

They were drawn to her music and climbing over each other to croak at her feet.

“Move them toward the music!” Captain Auralee yelled over the noise of the crowd.

“You’ve got this, love!” Rufus called out from farther away. The beastman was using some sort of calming skill to slow down the frogs that were outside the bard’s area of effect. As he walked, he scooped up the creatures and gently tossed them into the puddle of happy frogs at the bard’s feet.

It was chaos, but it was under control.

“John, drop the frogs and go get Chloe.”

She was the most powerful mage he knew who specialized in curses and poisons. He would try to heal the frogs himself, but he wanted all the help he could get.

“Yes, Your Grace.” John put down the frogs inside the [Barrier] then sunk into his own shadow.

Around thirty frogs were at the bard’s feet, and Julian counted another twenty hopping down the road. He downed a mana potion before activating his highest-level ability.

“[Multi-Target Shield]!” he shouted, and magical shields appeared around many of the frogs making their escape. He could have done this without speaking aloud, but it was better to show everyone that their duke was here, and he was doing something productive. “[Divine Heal].”

[You have attempted to use the Perk: Multi-Target Shield . Shield Arts [Divine] 12 + Dexterity 22 = 34 Shields. Available Targets: 21. You have selected 21 Targets. You have partially succeeded. 18 Targets Shielded.]

[Select Durability Type: Communal or Unique. You have selected Unique Durability. Individual Shields will each have their own Durability.]

[Select Durability Strength: 10 Mana per Level. You have selected 1 Durability. Mana Cost: 180 Mana.]

He targeted the frogs farthest from the fray and made his selections without actually reading through the perk information.

He’d done this enough times to know the drill.

With one durability, the shield would break after taking] ten points of damage or defend against one attack up to a hundred points of damage.

Any additional damage would carry over and land on the target.

He switched to his next perk.

[You have attempted to use the Perk: Divine Heal . Targets equal to Shielded Targets. Available Targets: 18.

Heal : Select Health increase. Mana Cost: 2 Mana per 1 Health Point.

Cure : Kazil detected. Exhaustion detected. Bunions detected. Misheal detected.]

Julian selected all and mentally chose [Cure].

[You have Cured 18 Kazil. Advanced Poisons cost 15 Mana each. Mana Cost: 270 Mana.]

[Warning! Your Mana has dropped below 10%]

[You have Cured 2 Exhaustion. Status Ailment Minor cost 5 Mana each. Mana Cost: 10 Mana.]

[Warning! Your Mana has dropped below 10%]

[You have Cured 1 Bunion. Status Ailment Critical cost 20 Mana each. Mana Cost: 20 Mana.]

[Warning! Your Mana has dropped below 5%]

He probably shouldn’t have healed the other status ailments listed, but he had five hundred mana from his combined twenty-five Perception and twenty Intelligence.

He had used a hundred and eighty mana to activate his shields, and another two hundred and seventy to cure them, leaving him with fifty mana to cover the rest.

The low-mana effects hit him hard, and he reeled from the headache and nausea, but managed while he summoned another potion.

Closing his eyes, he tried not to throw up as the mana potion brought his stats back to normal.

He opened his eyes to see the shielded frogs had turned back into people.

Family and friends rushed forward to help their loved ones, but were kept back by his ability.

He cancelled the shields.

A little old catkin lady sat on the ground right beside Julian, looking around nervously before patting herself to be sure she was there. Julian helped her stand and handed her over to a nearby knight.

Thankfully, the kazil poison was a magical replica of the [Frog Curse] spell, and those who suffered its effects had all of their apparel and equipped items changed with them.

Julian would have had a nightmare on his hands if twenty-odd naked festivalgoers suddenly poofed into being on his city streets.

“I think we’ve got them all, Your Grace.” Captain Auralee, leader of the capital city’s Black Brigade Knights, walked up to Julian, pressing a fist to her heart in greeting. The last three frogs were rounded up and deposited at Bronwynn’s feet.

“Good job, Captain,” he said. “Make sure that everyone who was affected stays long enough to give a report. Necromancer Chloe should be here any second. The frogs are affected with kazil poison, and we can start using any antidotes on hand to try and mitigate the effects.”

Rufus approached Julian and the captain. “Duke Julian, Bronwynn will only be able to hold the frogs for another fifteen minutes or so.”

“Were you here when this happened?” Julian asked.

“I was,” Rufus reported calmly. “I arrived early and grabbed a tea across the street. The rest of my group arrived not long after the final match. That was when a woman working in the café started handing out free samples—”

“Captain.” Julian didn’t bother waiting for the beastman to finish his story before pointing at the café. She was gone in a flash of fast travel.

Rufus continued. “My passive effects notified me in time, but Bronwynn turned into a frog right away. I gave her an antidote, and when she was back to normal, we started on damage control.”

Julian sighed. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Chloe’s voice echoed through the crowd. “What in the nine rings is happening here?”

Perfect timing.