“I think the grenades are working,” Captain King grumbled, optimistically.

At this point, at least half of the skeletons had to have been smashed. Skulls rolled down the hill, splintered yellow bones made the ground unstable for the next line of bone warriors. But the flood was only expanding out of the rift. From 50 it had grown to a hundred, then two-hundred implacable, unstoppable, inevitable. Worse, they now had time to throw their spears before getting shot or dismembered by a grenade.

The Humvees had been pulled back and were facing away from the rift, ready to evacuate the soldiers. A heavyset man was pulled into the bed, screaming from a broken spear scraping the bone of his thigh, the wound spilling hot crimson that soaked into the floorboards. The medic unceremoniously ripping out the ancient weapon and stuffing fistfuls of gauze into the seeping wound… Healing spells were a luxury he no longer had the privilege of. The battle was long and his mana reserves were depleted.

King wiped the sweat from his face. Glancing at the back of his dusty hand he saw it smeared with blood. A cut in his forehead from bone shrapnel pouring blood down his cheek, dripping onto his uniform. But he didn't have time for it right now, his men needed him.

Kendra stood next to him, eyes narrowed and knees bent in a fighting stance. Her right hand clutching her service pistol, holding it at eye level. The weapon barked and one of the spear-wielding skeletons was struck down mid-throw. King could only nod at her, before taking aim with his own M9 and using a carefully aimed bullet to smash the vertebrae holding the skull of one of the foes, beheading it with a single shot.

Eric looked at the worn out soldier behind him. The man's rifle clicked instead of firing, and the man gave the 'hand out' signal, indicating he was out of ammunition. Eric looked behind himself, only a little over a dozen men still firing M16s.

Watching Tilly stand alone in front had shamed him, so he had moved up next to her. He thrust forward, slamming into a skull, but while it cracked the skeleton didn't falter, and thrust in return, Eric only barely dodged. He was out of mana, but his staff didn't take mana or bullets. He could fight here forever, unless he got killed anyway.

Guidry shouted, “Sir, we are out of grenades!” He looked at the ragged, shrinking line of soldiers still firing into the growing crowd of foes, kneeling to take careful aim, then letting their squad mates cover them as they moved back another dozen feet. A private stumbled, falling on his back, and his platoon leader grabbed his collar, pulling him to his feet. The Hummers were moving away from the rift at a walking pace, keeping pace with the retreating troops.

The Captain realized that if he stayed, he would start losing soldiers. So far-in part thanks to healing spells, no one had died that he could see. But if he pulled out to save his troops, those creatures would hold the rift. Who knows what else would emerge, what else could happen. He weighed his duty against the lives of those he led.

“Bayonets!” He called, then realized his gun was out of ammunition. He saw a spear roll towards him on the uneven ground and grabbed it up, moving forward, he would stand with his men.

Eric was startled as a soldier moved next to him, the same one who earlier had indicated he was out of ammunition. Then another, and another. Eric looked at the grim, determined faces, men who were willing to pay whatever price needed to hold this line. On the other side of Tilly he saw another, then Captain King holding one of the skeleton's spears. Eric could hear his blood thumping in his ears.

No, it was another noise, dominating the battlefield.

The song 'legends never die,' began to blare from a loudspeaker, and suddenly bullets tore into the skeletons. Eric looked up, a helicopter was above, a heavy machine gun pouring fire into the rift. Blue tracers showing the course of the rounds as they forced the horde back. Even the ones that were not smashed fell to the ground. Eric watched a skeleton trying to stand, to keep moving forward, but he refused to allow it. With a desperate thrust, he shattered its knee, forcing it back down.

By the time they reached “they'll run into smoke when the fire is fierce,” the horde of skeletons was finally shrinking. They could win this!

Eric kicked the skeleton he had hurt and moved forward, taking back the ground he had lost in the gradual retreat. Tilly slammed her spear into a foe on his right, forcing it back. To his left a soldier smashed the butt of his rifle into a skeleton's yellowed arm, shattering it. The helicopter's fire was now aimed at the rift, any skeleton that tried to reinforce the dwindling throng was blotted out before it could take two steps. The relentless foes kept trying to move forward, but here one was beaten back by a bayonet, there one was smashed by a butt stock. Careful aimed fire broke down their ranks.

Eric heard a scream of pain, and looked to his left, seeing a man stumble back, blood pouring from his neck. The man was clutching at his wound, trying to staunch the bleeding. Eric was exhausted, but felt he had enough for one more heal. He knelt, putting his hand to the other man's wound, a blue light shining. The blood flow slowed, but didn't stop. The man was pale, he tried to rejoin the line but stumbled, and Eric yelled at him, “Get to the medic!”

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As Eric turned back, he looked up at a female soldier as a spear hit her face, the metal point entering her eye socket. Blood and other fluids burst out, some splattered on Eric. He would never forget the song playing “You'll never see the price it costs.” She was already dead, even if he had the strength to heal her it wouldn't matter.

The line of soldiers fought forward, step by step. They had taken back half the land they had lost. New soldiers were dismounting the helicopter, throwing magazines to the members of the platoon who were out. On the back of the Humvee the man whose leg had been stabbed held his gun, carefully aiming shots to help win the fight. The mob had shrunk and with the new soldiers it was just cleanup.

King yelled “Let the bullets work,” and started tapping men on the back, pulling them from the line to go grab magazines. Confident that they had won.

Just as Kendra heard “Begging you to fight,” from the song, a new skeleton exited the rift. Wearing a purple robe, and with no weapon, at least that they could see. He looked at the helicopter as he took over a dozen rounds from the M60 and snarled. The speaker of the helicopter played “Pick your self up once more pick yourself...” then the skeleton in the robe pointed a finger. Lightning erupted into the vehicle and it pitched over and crashed. The song ended.

“Guidry, go check the chopper, see if we have survivors!” King yelled. The only silver lining was that the troops had already dismounted, so only the gunner and pilots would have still been in it. King thought about all the skeletons he killed, and his quest, and how close he had been to a level. Then he looked at his status.

Level gained! HP increased 25>34, MP increased 20>27, 1 free attribute point, 4 free skill points, 2 free ability points, share mana ability gained.

He saw Eric, the civilian was frozen, as many fights as he had been in, this was war. But right now that civilian was his only hope. “Eric, did you level?”

“Huh?” the man's eyes focused on something only he could see. “Uh, yeah.”

“Good, put everything you have into Sun Bolt!” Then Captain King used share mana and gave every scrap he had to Eric. “Use Sun Bolt on that thing, hit it with everything you have!”

Eric seemed dazed, but he looked at the leader and said “Sun Bolt,” four blasts of radiant light shot from Eric's hands, curving through the air to unerringly strike the skeleton's leader. As it turned to Eric he cast again, the lights blinding many on both sides.

The lich cackled and sent a blast of lightning at Eric, the blue crackling bolt flying through the air. A soldier stumbled into the way and the bolt crisped and blackened his skin, the man collapsing to the ground without even a noise.

Eric saw what happened and his face twisted in rage. Somehow he cast Sun Bolt just as the lich used lighting again. Three bolts of light smashed into the royal purple robe, burning holes into it and the bone beneath it. But one struck the lich in the arm, sending his blast harmlessly to the side. Eric used it again, the lich's robe was now in tatters, and blackened and cracked bone was showing, but the lich just laughed, aiming carefully, blasting Eric with raw electric power. Eric felt his nerves burning, his skin blackening, the bolt grounded through his legs and he felt the scorched pathways, burnt out blood vessels and muscles. But he was still alive and he still had mana.

Sun Bolt. This time the four balls of light went straight, aimed for the skull of the lich, slamming into it one after another. The first one cracked the bone, just below the right eye. The second hit the forehead and made another crack. The third hit to the right of the right eye. Then the fourth hit just above the nose hole. The cracks joined, and the skull shattered. There was a last piercing scream as the leader fell, its leg bones shattering as it fell to its knees, then the other bones shattering as they hit the ground. The bones quickly turned to dust and blew back through the rift.

Eric also collapsed, falling onto his back. Captain King checked on the man, badly burned, but still alive. “Medic!” He yelled, and the medic ran over.

Another helicopter sent dirt and bone dust flying as it brought more soldiers and another medic-one who unfortunately didn't have a class. It landed near the twisted wreckage of the first, and Guidry led the medic to the co-pilot barely holding onto life. His arm and leg both looked like ground beef and blood was everywhere. The gunner had been thrown from the vehicle when it was blasted and was found with a broken back and legs 30 feet away, but the pilot was crushed to death.

Eric woke up in a hospital bed to an angry doctor. Kendra and Captain King, along with Tilly, looking at him, worried. Eric felt loopy as the doctor complained. “I have woken you up against my medical judgment because your friends insist you have some sort of 'healing magic,' and because the Captain found someone with a bird on their shoulder to order it. So lets see this healing!”

Eric tried to shake his head into clarity, then just put his hands on his itchy legs and said “Lesser Heal.” He immediately felt better, but checked his status. He knew he normally healed about 12 HP with a cast now, and he was at...17/55. Luckily his mana was basically full, so he used it again, and again, and again. 53/55 was good enough. “I should be a bit better now,” Eric giggled, still feeling floaty from the painkillers.

“We'll see about that,” the doctor said, checking under the bandages, “What the hell?”

“No more floaty juice please,” Eric said, “Are there other hurt people, feels like that fight was bad, I can make better I think 10 times? Or 9? Not sure, still loopy.”

By the time Eric was recovered from the anesthetic he had used up most of his mana and the survivors of the battle were mostly healed. “So...what happened?” He asked.

“After you blasted that leader skeleton, we were able to easily clean up the rest, then we medevaced you and several other wounded-who you just saw, and brought back the dead in the Hummers,” King answered.

“How many dead?” Eric asked, remembering the woman stabbed in the eye, the helicopter going down, and the poor man who got between him and the lighting-he couldn't tell if the last one was someone saving his life or just being in the wrong place.

King sighed, “Four. Three of mine and the pilot of the chopper.”

“I'm sorry, it was my fault.”

Captain King shook his head. “No, that battle would have happened either way. You saw those things, there was no way we would trade with that. War was inevitable.

Guidry ran up, “Captain, turn on de TV!”

Once they turned it on, the newsman said “North Korean troops have already reached Goyang, again, the Korean armistice is over, the war has become active again. North Korean troops have high level classed soldiers and South Korean troops can't match them.”