Ice Hammer

*Tchk!* *Tchk!* *Tchk!*

The wet sounds of knights’ footsteps polluted the air. They ran from every direction, and every single knight turned their gaze towards Staas as if he is the only enemy on this vast battlefield. Although looking at the state of the fae right now... it was the complete right attitude.

The muddy soil of the farm fields made their movement quite impeded, yet their desperation to overthrow the terrifying entity in the center of their formation did not fade in the slightest.

Staas who’ve been jumping around the dry road of these farm fields then decided that it’ll only be fair if he’s also get dirtied by the mud. Although, if he stood on the higher ground it would be more advantageous for him since his short body will be more parallel with those knights' heads.

*Splash!*

And jump he went to the watery field, with the splashing muds waved into the nearby knights’ helmets, ruining their vision for a glance. However, it was enough time for them to lose everything they ever grind for.

*Shook!*

Staas thrust his spear onto the nearest knight’s eye-slit and blood spurt out of his helmet, as his body is now left soulless and slowly falls to the muddy ground.

The other knights tried to ignore their just now dead friend and continued their advance. One by one they came running at Staas with their swords and spears, which blades were coated in cyan ice, trying to cut a hole in Staas’ body to end his rampage among their lines.

Swings, slashes, and thrusts were thrown profusely at the boy. Yet he easily dodge them as if his body was the weight of a feather. And every time Staas attacks it was in perfect precision right at their eye-slit.

Magics and arrows flew through the air like rain, showering Staas without minding the other knights who engaged in melee combat. Since those armors are enough to repel every single one of those projectiles.

Staas spear spun like a whirlwind, blocking every attempt thrown at him whether they are physical or magical. Even though his body is as hard as a diamond.

“(Agh... they’re too many, focusing this hard making my head hurt…)” Staas thought to himself while continuously taking the souls out of his enemies' bodies.

The boy decided to back it off a bit, and look around for a solution. His gaze was then attracted by large figures coated in huge armor. Seeing them refreshes his memory about what Nightfall told him yesterday in the Fae’s military headquarter.

“Listen, Your Grace. Among the types of our enemies, there is one type that is really good at destroying walls and armors.” The chief’s voice began playing on his head.

“They are called ‘Hammerer’, as the name said, they use a hammer as a weapon. This weapon can bend or break a knight’s armor since it was made out of the same thing.”

“If you got the chance, steal it from the hammerer and use it to fight the knights. Ah, right... I’m sure you never saw a hammer before, they are—”

“A big weapon with a long stick for body and a large square block for head.” Staas finished his memories of the chief words by saying them out loud from his mouth.

The nearby living knights got startled as they heard what he’s saying and realized that he’s now aiming for the hammerers or their weapon.

“By the Goddess! This is bad!” Either way, it’s not good.

The mage who heard it immediately covered his hand with cold mist. Azure light glowed from his eye-slit, as he made a stance to cast a spell and smoked the air with snow crystals.

“The winter rain shall bless us!”

Giant ice walls shaped themselves, higher than even the town walls of the Plantation, painted with snow crystals. They blocked Staas view onto the hammerer, also his yet-to-be-done attempt approaching them.

The thought of just jumping or running through the wall occurs into the boy’s head. But he also found doing so would be boring as he just saw the scene where the knights attacked the town walls.

He wanted to do the same thing.

Unfortunately, Staas didn’t know how the cannons work. So instead of making them, he created cannonballs. Lots of them. By spawning tree roots, and curling them into solid balls.

“What is he doing?” The knights went confused. But it didn’t stop their attempts in intercepting whatever that was.

Another root grew itself, and it collected every single ball Staas created, guard them safe, and moves along with the boy while he was busy also dodging all the incoming attacks.

When he thought it was enough, the collector root threw the balls at him one by one, then he kicked them. Rapidly. With full power at the erected walls in front of him.

Ice isn’t as hard as metal or rock, they crack and slowly shatter as more and more cannonballs get kicked at them. It didn’t take long until Staas puncture a hole on that wall, a giant one at that.

Fearing the mage gonna repair it, he immediately jumped through that hole, to confront the large knights known as hammerers who held a giant hammer in their hand. The head of that weapon glowed in cyan light, as it was covered in frosty ice. One of the sides of the hammer’s head is a bit pointy as it's purposed to puncture someone’s armor.

Unfortunately, a problem arises. Those hammerers wore a different helmet than other knights. Its eye-slit is only made out of tiny holes, not a long side-stretched one which he can pierce his spear through.

“That’s not fair…” Staas pouted in front of one of the hammerers.

The one he faced then raised his hammer high and swung it from top to bottom until it meet the ground and cracked it. Tens of ice thorn spawned after the impact, spiking the crashed area like a porcupine’s back.

Staas can easily dodge it since it moves so slow unlike the spears and swords of the other knights. Regardless, the hammerer's attack enlightened him about how devastating that hammer is.

“Come!” The boy moved closer to that large knight and provoked him to strike him once more. The hammerer he’s facing took the bait and again swung his hammer directly towards him.

*Smack!*

And Staas kicked the hammer’s head, taking balance away from the big guy's feet. That giant weapon then fell from his hand, thrown away from where he stood. Staas quickly jumped to it and stole it while he grew plant vines on his back to carry his spear while he grabbed onto his newfound weapon.

“Got it!”

Staas then hopped on to the next hammerer with the stolen hammer in his hand, and vigorously pound the poor knight with its pointy side.

A powerful shockwave emerged from its blow, sending the nearby knights falling from their feet. On the other hand, the one who got hammered found himself flying despite his size and weight, with his armor heavily punctured.

Blood puked out of his helmet. Hence it doesn’t matter since that body was already left soulless. A single swing is enough to take his life away.

“Oh Goddess…” The knights were sent into a state of panic, they are screwed if that hammer hit them. This siege was a failure. They needed to retreat, just like the knights who pursued Staas before.

But before they even got the chance to initiate a retreat, Staas already flying above them, with his hammer held high, ready to ravage the ground where they stood.

*Crash!*

It was mightier than a thunderstruck. Everything flies like a pile of leaves blown upward by the wind. The earth shattered, and muddy waves emerged from its hitting point. The knights were thrown with all of their bones broken. It was catastrophic.

“By the Queen! Retreat brothers! Retreat!” As the knights' captain shouted the order, a loud warhorn blew to send it to every knight in the area.

Suddenly a huge portal opened itself, it was the shade of black and cyan. All the knights ran straight to it, falling back to the safety of whatever lies behind that giant entrance.

It didn’t take long until the farm field went silent. All that left were dead bodies and Staas standing on top of them.

“Why is it always like this?” The boy was left confused. “All I need is just to use their weapon, and it’s over…”

On the other side, while Staas was busy questioning both of the battles he fought, the faes yelled on top of their lungs, celebrating their survival from the fearful advance of mankind.

Thousands of praises were sent to the All-father that day, all the way through the night. They set a huge party for Staas, giving him gifts and swearing eternal loyalty to his name. It was a feast to behold.

Yet everything just doesn’t feel right to Staas. Something is missing, something is wrong. Was he really winning? That’s the question he continued to ask himself.

When the party was over, he’s once again rested his body in the hot spring of this town. Along with his aide, Gytha.

The girl saw the troubled face he was making then initiatively hugged him from behind while asking, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know… and me not knowing it is wrong.” The boy replied. The water didn’t even feel that relaxing to him anymore.

“Does this victory seems underwhelming to you?” Gytha tried to specify.

“Underwhelming? Yeah… I guess so.” Staas found the core of his sadden uncertainty. Yet the uneasiness on his chest didn’t lessen in the slightest.

“That’s because you’re fighting weak enemies.” Said the girl.

“Weak enemies?” Staas muddled.

“Yep, what you’re battling just now is just a tiny part of what made the human army so strong, they are the biggest race in this world after all, and to be honest they seemed pretty young,” Gytha explained.

“You mean like… they’re the weakest of all humans?” Staas' confusion slowly turned into curiosity.

“No, silly… but if you said the weakest of all human army, then yes.” The girl answered. “Nymphs and Faeries are both weak races, humans don’t need to send a strong army to conquer them.”

“But then I came…” Staas added.

“Bingo! You’re an anomaly. If they knew you—the All-father—going to defend the faeries, they probably going to send the mightiest of their army.” Gytha said with a huge smile on her face to cheer him up and made her stories more interesting.

“Mightiest? Such as?” The boy wanted to know.

“Hmm… maybe the Queen? You know… the one who attacked us on that hill when we're collecting the dawn herbs.” Reminded Gytha.

“That’s the Queen!?” Staas was shocked, but he can remember feeling a cold powerful aura coming from her.

“Yep! Every leader of each nation—which possesses your essence—is super-duper powerful! They are the Champions of Elements like you after all!” Gytha raised both her hands high to gesture the grandeur of those Champions.

“Are you also strong when carrying the [Nature Essence]?” Staas asked.

“Nope! I’m just a vessel." The girl smiled, not giving him any more details about it. "Now, let's continue our fun bathing session and go straight to bed. Tomorrow we’re going to continue our journey to the Songmire!” Gytha shut this topic now that Staas has cheered up. “Do you want some massage again?”

“Yes, please. Pounding that hammer made my hand feel funny…”