《(Merged into Burra: Short Stories In the Shaper Universe) Enlarge》 Chapter 1 - Reluctant Tale Sam was sitting on his porch smoking from his pipe and drinking a cold ale from the cellar when he saw the Mayor and a fancy pants riding down the lane toward his farm. He would have gotten up and gone inside to leave his wife to deal with them, but the earful he would have gotten from her after doing that made him cringe. So, he waited for them to reach the porch. The mayor jumped off his horse. You would not have guessed he was in his fifties, but he was an adventurer in his youth, so had some good stats. His companion was getting off slower with care. I would guess he did not do a lot of riding. ¡°Hi Sam, mind if we join you?¡± Said the Mayor with a cheerful voice. Sam was tempted to say no, but he had to live here and the Mayor was alright, he just wasn¡¯t in a good mood for conversation. He just limited his response to a grunt as the Mayor climbed up on the porch and turned to his companion. ¡°This is the senior historian all the way from Jorn here to talk to you.¡± Said the Mayor, which ended any doubt I had about what they wanted to talk about. I sighed. ¡°Have a seat.¡± That was the extent of my hospitality, no offer of a drink, which the Mayor caught with a frown. The historian seemed both excited and dismayed at who he saw before him. I must admit I am not much to look at. Unlike most farmers, I have worked mostly on building up my Intelligence and Wisdom versus Strength. As a result, I was a little big around the middle and not a striking image of a hard-working farmer, which is due to my ability, which of course why the historian is here. The historian leaned forward expectantly saying. ¡°My name is Harris Gardener Mister Warner¡­¡± Sam interrupted him there saying. ¡°Just call me Sam.¡± Harris smiled, replying. ¡°Then please call me Harris. I was here to hear the tale of how you saved the village right from the source.¡± ¡°I am sure you have heard the tale already from better storytellers than myself.¡± Harris shook his head and said. ¡°Perhaps, but they are exactly that, stories. I want to hear the truth from the source.¡± I sighed, I had tried. ¡°Well, what do you want to know?¡± ¡°Well since your ability was key in saving the village can we start with how you got it?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I haven¡¯t talked about that in a while. It happened when I was fourteen and still working on my father¡¯s farm. While I was digging in the fields I hit a stone. After unearthing it I found it was a crystal about as long as my hand, with swirling red motes of light within, and as I held it in my hands I felt a shock up my arms and passed out. My father found me like that clucking a blacken crystal.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I was out until that evening when I woke to my parents arguing, which is unusual as they rarely ever disagreed. As I sat up in my bed I would see light from under the door dimly illuminating the room. I also saw something flashing in my lower left field of view. It moved as my eyes tried to follow it, always maintaining the same place relative to where I looked. As I tried to look straight ahead and focus on it at the same time it suddenly expanded.¡±
Congratulations You have unlocked your ability Enlarge, 50 XP awarded. Basic 1.
Enlarge, Basic Level 1 (0%) This ability allows the user to enlarge any whole or part of an object by 1% per skill level. An object can only be affected once by this ability.Does not affect sentient creatures. Size Affected: Affects objects up to 100 pounds. Max size increases by 10 pounds per skill level Cost: 1 mana per pound. Minimum cost 10 mana. Range: 20 feet plus 2 feet per skill level Duration: Permanent
Harris interrupted. ¡°Do you still have the crystal?¡± ¡°No, my father destroyed it with a sledgehammer thinking it had cursed me.¡± Disappointed Harris gestured to continue. After that, I told my parents what happened and they were relieved. Then the next day I tried out my powers. I was going to pick one of the chickens, but my dad said I should use it on the eggs since I could only use it once something. My intelligence at the time was ten, so I only had 50 mana. The eggs were small, so I just had to spend the minimum, which was ten mana per use, I would use it twice before working on my chores and then using it again. Gradually I improved and we could see a noticeable increase in size.¡± ¡°In the years that followed our livestock was prized for its size and we were able to expand the farm several times before I purchased my own farm. People, of course, knew magic was involved, but the effect was permanent, so no one had any cause to complain. I made out fairly well and expanded the Farm over the years to the size you see today.¡± ¡°You have 400 acres now?¡± Harris asked. ¡°Yes, I do.¡± I said with a smile, sighing contently until I remember what we would be talking about next. ¡°Now could you describe what happened last May?¡± ¡°Well it was the end of May after the spring planting when one of the count couriers galloped into town leaving a message, isn¡¯t that right?¡± I said looking at the Mayor. ¡°Yes, the courier dropped off a missive indicating the Count of Northridge was marching his men through the siege out Count of Glasmore. Not that we really cared usually. Other than paying our taxes we have very little to do with our Count. In this case, Northridge would be taking some two hundred men through our village on the way to Glasmore castle. Northridge was known to be a cruel man, so it would no doubt go bad for the village. The problem was he was only a day behind the courier.¡± Sam nodded. ¡°Yes, that was the problem. It took almost a day to inform everyone and then it was too late to flee. Since I was well off I had several horses and wagons. I loaded everyone up on the wagons and sent them out of town, while I went over to my parent¡¯s farm to get them.¡± Chapter 2 - A Hero is Born Harris said. ¡°I am sorry, I can come back again if you can¡¯t go on?¡± ¡°No that¡¯s ok, its best to get it over with now.¡± I continued with obvious sadness in my voice. ¡°As I came around the turn to my parent¡¯s farm I smelled smoke and saw a group of men on horseback in the yard in front of the house. I heard shouting and men held my parent¡¯s while they set fire to the farm. I could not tear my eyes away as one of the men in a bright red vest ran both of my parents through. I couldn¡¯t help myself as I shouted ¡®No!!!¡¯ at top of my lungs. Of course, the men heard me and several of them turned and started galloping toward me. ¡° As I was lost in my thoughts of that day, Harris gentle asked. ¡°What happened next?¡± ¡°I saw four of them galloping toward me and I think I considered running for a minute. With my enlarged horse I was sure to outrun them, but after watching them kill my parents I didn¡¯t want to run, so I looked at the men and remembered a trick I pulled on my brother a long time ago. I concentrated on the four rider¡¯s saddles and enlarged them.¡± ¡°I had been using my ability for almost twenty years at that point, so I was at maximum level. This means I could double the size of an object and the saddle with its straps met that definition, so when the riders turned to hit the bridge across the creek their saddle all turned sideways to varying effects. One was thrown clear into the creek, another was unlucky enough to hold on sideways until his head struck the post at the end of the bridge. The other two both had fallen but twisted their ankles in the stirrup and they were dragged by their horses. I then turned thinking about how I can hurt them more for killing my parents.¡± ¡°I race down the road, which cut between a low cliff about thirty feet high and a modest size stream about fifteen across and three to four feet deep. After I got past the cliff I took the trail up to the top, which only my enlarged horse could handle. After I got to the top I took a careful look at what I had to work with. The rocky cliff had several pieces of stone jutting out of the soil at the top of the hill and in some cases, trees grew right up to them. I planned to enlarge the tree roots to split off the boulders and then enlarge the boulders as they fell. Now I just had to wait, but it wasn¡¯t long before the group from the farm came around the turn. There were fifteen of them, so the four I injured and one other rider was missing. As the lead rider made it about three quarters of the way along the cliff I let out a yell as I focused on the ten trees I have picked out and suddenly their roots and trunks doubled in size splitting the stones with sharp cracks and I started enlarging the stone that either broke loose or looked close to separating.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Down the years I had found that for inanimate objects I could choose which direction to enlarge the object in. This makes it easy to enlarge the stones so they jutted suddenly into the air over the cliff unbalancing the already unsteady stones to fall below. After the last stone broke loose I tried something I had never done before. I focused on as much loose dirt as I could and enlarged it sending a ton of dirt down below to smash the few that were still standing down. I leaned over the cliff edge and repeated sending down tons of dirt until the last man stopped moving. I was sweating and had a mana headache. I was glad I had used some of my money to hire an endurance trainer years ago to increase my endurance above 50 so that I would not pass out when my mana dropped below 50%. At the time it was just an investment in my ability, basically doubling how much mana I could use, but now I was happy to have it for a different reason. I led my horse back down the steep trail as I didn¡¯t want to risk riding him down. Looking at my combat log I see I killed 16 of them. 15 with the improvised landside and another that hit his head on the bridge post earlier. Listen to me, looking at my combat log. I snorted, I never thought I would be doing that. I also gained another level along with two points in intelligence and one point of wisdom. I place the unallocated point I received in intelligence. I have a feeling I may be needing more mana. Now that my immediate need for vengeance was satisfied, I wanted to catch up with my family in case any of Northridge¡¯s scouts run into them. Chapter 3 - Reluctant Stand As I rode to catch up with my family I slowed down as I saw a group of about a dozen riders coming toward me wearing Glasmore colors. A man in his early fifties shouted. ¡°I am Half-Captain Garner. Halt and identify yourself.¡± ¡°My names Sam Warner. I own a farm near here and was just riding to catch up with my family.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you with them already?¡± Garner asks suspiciously. ¡°I went to get my parents.¡± When I did say any more Garner asked. ¡°Well, where are they.¡± I gritted my teeth as I hissed. ¡°They are dead, Count Northridge¡¯s men killed them.¡± ¡°You witnessed this?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How did you get away then?¡± ¡°I got away because I killed them.¡± That got a bunch of scoffs from the men, though Garner didn¡¯t dismiss it out of hand and instead said softly. ¡°Let me see your combat log.¡± I shared the combat log with him, which only contained the fight with Northridge¡¯s men. I waited while Garner finished and then stared at me wide-eyed. ¡°How did you kill someone with a bridge post of all things and then cause an avalanche that killed 15 men and their horses?¡± The rest of the men were quite surprised at hearing that. ¡°I have an ability at max level, which allows me to enlarge objects. I used it to cause the cliff to collapse on the men. As to the bridge post, that is what happens when you are taking a turn at speed onto a bridge and suddenly your saddle it twice as big around as it should be.¡± ¡°Incredible. Well, I am glad we ran into you. There are a lot of refugees on the road and we were sent by Count Glasmore to try to slow them down. Everyone here is a skilled bowman, so we are hoping to get some good positions and rain down some arrows on them. We could use your help. Anyone with a Sage level ability would be helpful.¡± ¡°My ability is not a combat ability and I just want to catch up with my family.¡± ¡°Well let me put it into perspective for you then. Count Glasmore was called to send troops to Brisban. The city council there is trying to wipe out a group of bandits that have been plaguing the main trade route. As a result, we have very few men to protect Glasmore, which Northridge is no doubt counting on. So, your family is going to be in serious trouble if we don¡¯t manage to at least delay Northridge. You can either fight here or at Glasmore when we are sieged.¡± I haven¡¯t had a need to curse much, but I certainly tried to make up for it after hearing what Garner had to say. ¡°Ok, I would guess it will take them an hour or so to clear the road near the cliff. I would suggest we head up the road back the way you came for about a mile to the to the Downer farmer. There is a small hill the road skirts around and there are some trees for cover. Your bowman can hit them there and I will see what I can do.¡± Garner considered it and then with a command we all turned and headed for the farm. After we arrived Garner had the men dig in and they had a low dirt wall up in thirty minutes. They also dropped a sack full of metal caltrops on the road. Garner said he hated to do that to horses, but a lot of people¡¯s lives were on the line.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. We all waited in silence as a column of troops came into view. The lead elements were twenty men on Taravens, which is a large lizard that runs on all fours and masses about 3 times a good size horse. The Taravens had barding and their claws were shod in metal. There were about 150 troops following them in plain chainmail. Garner cursed when he saw them. ¡°Well men we are not getting out of this, but we should try to take as many as we can.¡± I looked at Garner and he replied to my unasked question. ¡°Taravens can easily outrun a horse before they need a rest. We won¡¯t be able to get away from them.¡± I turned to really focus on them and asked. ¡°I forgot to ask do you have any mana potions?¡± ¡°I have two if they will do you any good. They will each restore 200 mana, but there is a ten-minute cool down after drinking one.¡± He says as he hands them over. I put them in my inventory as I described what I would try to do. He chuckled darkly and said. ¡°We at least this should be entertaining. Alright, boys, Sam has an idea. When they get at 300 feet start peppering them with arrows. We want them to charge.¡± At 300 feet the twelve archers including Garner started firing with a steady rhythm. I could see all of them were targeting the same rider. The System would allow larger parties to join for a war party, but you had to already be in a military unit, which is why Garner hadn¡¯t invited me. It was obvious to see who he was targeting as all the archers hit that figure who raised his shield and charged. With a cry all twenty Taraven took off at a sprint. Thank Horth I had already targeted them before they started running. As they came into range I enlarge the breastplate on the Taraven¡¯s chests, which was a thick steel plate about three feet high that was only about one foot off the ground at the bottom. You just can¡¯t imagine the sight of a Taraven at full sprint when it¡¯s breastplate doubles in height, plowing into the earth and slamming into their necks. Most of them flipped over crushing their riders. I pulled out the mana potion and gulped it down, it was the first one I had ever had and it tastes like a cherry jam I was fond of. Less than 11 men survived and per my direction, the archers focused on those with the worse injuries. Several men started running up the hill holding their shields high. They must have the truly monstrous strength to run in plate mail. I targeted the 7 remaining as they got to the tree line and they all collapsed. I first enlarged their legs extending them so they all fell forward. As they fell I enlarged the rest of their armor, which left them with twice the weight and no leverage to turn over as their enlarged arms and legs joints no longer aligned with their elbows and knees. After that, it was easy to chop them down. We now looked at the remaining troops, which were rapidly turning around. I looked at Garner as he started to laugh. ¡°Look at your notifications.¡± He said and there it was, Northridge was apparently one of the Taraven riders and with his death, in such a spectacular way the rest of the army turned tail. Sam looked up at the historian who had been avidly listening to the tale. ¡°That¡¯s about it. Of course, Northridge¡¯s wife is much more reasonable and we haven¡¯t had any trouble since.¡± Harris looked curious as he asked. ¡°I have heard that Glasmore offered you a commission and that several guilds were interested in you joining, but you turned them down. Can you tell me why?¡± ¡°Well, why would I want to join? For gold? I have everything I want here. For fame? I already have too many people stopping by as it is. No, I am very happy living my life right here.¡± ¡°Thank you so much for telling the tale first hand. I know you said you are not interested, but if any of your children or grandchildren are ever interested the King of Jorn would be happy to sponsor them. I know none of your children had an ability, but sometimes an ability will only surface after you have a vigil in a Starter Area Temple of Vera.¡± As the Mayor and the historian left riding down the lane a small inquisitive figure could be seen peeking through the door. ¡°Did you eavesdrop the whole time?¡± Sam said. A small figure popped open the door and ran over to their favorite place and plopped in their grandfather¡¯s lap saying. ¡°I always like hearing the tale.¡± ¡°I thought you would be out in the barn practicing?¡± ¡°I was, but I got a new skill progression level and wanted to show you.¡± Chuckling Sam made a dramatic gesture saying. ¡°Your audience awaits.¡± The young face no older than eight summers took on a serious focus much beyond their years as a small ball of light appeared in the air in front of them. Slowly the ball flattened and expanded into a small bird that began to flap its wings and flew down to the boy¡¯s outstretched hand. Sam laughed in delight. ¡°You have outdone yourself this time Thomas.¡±