Sam fired off an explosive blast at the Spectres attacking her. The group attacking her was small, but that was only when directly compared to the larger swarm still circling above. The blast of Mana tore through a couple undead in one go, which brought several pop-ups. One of which was something she was pretty happy to see.
EXP Earned!
EXP Earned!
Level Up!
Level 20 to Level 21
She was in a fairly interesting place in terms of her Level. While Sam was definitely well above the average amongst the camp, she honestly wouldn’t quite place herself as an elite. That was a title that she believes was reserved for those who would soon hit Level 30.
If she had maintained the same Leveling pace as just a few weeks ago, then perhaps she would still have matched their strongest members. Not counting their new face Evelyn, or especially Jaco, of course. But that just wasn’t quite how things had turned out.
No, she had instead fallen behind. While Adam and Burt continued to regularly go out as scavengers, Sam had found herself staying back more often. As the teens like Alex feverishly went out to seek Levels, she was busy getting people organized and maintaining order.
Even Noah eventually caught this same spark. As he had once been the strongest person in the camp, before Jaco first arrived. And when Noah then left to venture into the city for the first time in a while, Sam had remained here to temporarily take up his responsibilities.
As such, all their main elites were now ever closer to hitting Level 30. And that meant it wouldn’t be long until they crossed the major step of reaching their Class Evolutions. While she was still a few steps below being able to reach that same point.
But with the increasing escalation of new dangers, Sam was ready to switch gears. After the horror of the undead horde and the deaths it brought, she could longer afford to just sit back and administrate. So while she didn’t understand where this undead swarm had come from, she was more than happy to get things going by taking their EXP.
Sam then threw out what she personally dubbed as Mana Hail. A version of her Arcane Spellcasting Ability that allowed her to create a ball of Mana that then turned into a cascade of smaller but empowered bolts. As the smaller bolts pierced through the next wave of flying undead, she took the chance to look around.
And Sam then took note of something she found to be immediately interesting. Rather than swarm the camp as an entire mass, the majority of Spectres seemed to simply be content hanging around in the air. Instead, there were only several pockets of undead attacking that seemed to be rather self-contained.
She watched as Alex fired off a Slash to cut down the Spectres coming toward him. On the other side of the encampment, Noah used his own magic to do the same. Then both Burt and Adam were fighting side by side in another area. Alongside them, the other more powerful elites of the camp were all preoccupied with their own battles against the undead.
Wait a second. Normally, undead should just target every living being in sight. But it’s only our stronger members being attacked? Sam asked herself. She glanced at the Levels of the next set of Spectres heading her away, as she prepared another Mana Hail.
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 18
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 13
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 16
Throwing out the Ability, these undead were quickly disposed of. Sam then took the chance to check the Levels of the other Spectres that were currently being fought off. And it was here that her theory was quickly given some credit.
The Level range of the Spectres seemed to be relatively consistent with the person they were attacking. Like the weakest ones attacking Sam seemed to be a bit over half her own Level. While the strongest were much closer, there weren’t any yet that matched or surpassed it. Then when she saw the Level ranges of the ones attacking the other elites, that same thing seemed to remain true when compared to their own Level.
Sam glanced back over at Alex, and saw that he was no longer being attacked. Now the teen had started to run around and then killed a few lower altitude undead. Even as he moved directly under the purview of the other Spectres, the rest didn’t seem to take notice of him.
The same thing also appeared to be the case for herself as well. Now that Sam was taking a good look at them, only so many of the undead were actually flying directly around her. There seemed to be a clear separation between the Spectres that were currently targeting someone, and then the rest that just idly flew around.
So not only did the Level ranges of the undead relatively match the person they attacked, but it looked like there were only so many that actually targeted each of them.
Isn’t that almost too good to be true though? To be attacked by Spectres with just enough strength and numbers to not really be an actual threat? Sam couldn’t help but question it. Yet even while suspicious, she couldn’t just not continue to kill the ones that still aimed for her.
Sam took several steps back to create a bit more distance, before firing off a few regular Mana Bolts. They pierced straight through the incorporeal torsos of the undead. And unlike Skeletons whose skulls needed to be crushed, this was enough to defeat the Spectres as their forms then dissipated.
But it was then that something happened which Sam almost immediately took note of. The majority of the total swarm seemed to split off into two directions. A few hundred went to aggregate toward a spot just outside of the camp’s walls. Then as a few beams of fire shot toward them, Sam felt it was safe to assume that was Jaco’s current position.
She began to glance over to the other direction. Well, it’s Jaco. It makes sense that he’d attract the most-
Sam’s eyes widened with pure surprise. That thought midway within her mind was just as quickly discarded. Of the more than a thousand, hundreds of Spectres were rushing around where Jaco was. It was enough to make the amount everyone else individually dealt with already look like nothing.
But what shocked her now was how the rest of the undead reacted. For between the whole swarm that had remained in the sky until now, it was actually the smaller half that went toward Jaco. The rest, easily a couple hundred more than he was getting, were heading in almost the totally opposite direction. And just by leaping onto one of the earthen huts, she could see who it was that could possibly be attracting so many.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The one they were being pulled toward was a familiar woman with ginger hair. It was Evelyn. The redhead stared up at the spectral mass as they spiraled down to her. And as they did so, they released a collective shriek that easily matched the booms of thunder in its pure fury.
Yet Sam could no longer afford to get distracted as she still had more Spectres of her own to deal with. Forcefully tearing away her eyes from the sight, she switched her focus to them. But with the rest of undead now being pulled away, it made it clear that this was the last batch Sam would have to deal with.
Raising her wand once again, she made herself focus on her Ability for now. She still had plenty of Mana left, so dealing with this final wave wouldn’t pose any issue. With a deep breath, Sam released the magical power building up with her wand and unleashed it against the undead.
EXP Earned!
EXP Earned!
EXP Earned!
And then alongside more Experience notifications as she continued to slay the attacking Spectres, Sam was rewarded with another step of progression.
Level Up!
Level 21 to Level 22
With the last of the undead attacking her now defeated, Sam was now freed up. Yet when she turned back to the massive swarm still spiraling toward Evelyn, she couldn’t help but frown with confusion.
It simply made no sense for so many to be targeting Evelyn. She was still just Level 30, right? While that was extremely impressive, Jaco was still a whole dozen Levels above that point now. So surely, it should have been him that drew the ire of the majority of Spectres. But the sight now before her very eyes had clearly contradicted that expectation.
Had her earlier theory actually been wrong? Yet when she thought back to everything before this point, it had all fit into a reliable pattern. This was the sole discrepancy, but at the same time, it was simply too big to just be written off.
Until now, it had looked like the Spectres’ strength and numbers were based on the Level of the individual. But what if there were actually other factors in play too? Factors that Sam hadn’t been able to think of? If that was the case, however, then just what was deciding this?
Just what could possibly be the factor that had seemingly overridden the big Level difference between Evelyn and Jaco?
—--
Evelyn found herself frozen in place. The heavy drops of rain fell on her body. But rather than relieving, each drop felt like a cold needle being plunged into her skin. Hundreds upon hundreds of the spectral undead were swarming the air directly above her. So large were there numbers that even despite their largely translucent bodies, they completely hid the dark clouds further up.
The redhead’s hands had been raised in a fighting pose. Having given up her sword earlier, she was currently unarmed. But with her Abilities and high Level, just her bare hands would normally still have been enough. A sword wasn’t required for shooting out something like a Slash, for example. It helped make the arc larger and empowered it by using the blade as a conduit, but the Ability could still be performed even without one.
Yet the redhead’s raised arms were currently shaking. She had initially been prepared to fight this sudden wave of a new kind of undead. But as they now moved toward her like a flood, her resolve had started to falter.
Because even though the Spectres had no faces and were expressionless, Evelyn began to see something else. When she blinked through the downpour and looked at one of the closest undead, a face stared back at her. That of a man whose expression was twisted with pain and terror.
Immediately glancing away didn’t help either. Due to their sheer numbers, simply looking upward meant her eyes landed on another Spectre. And when she did so, the redhead saw a different face. This one of a woman whose lips were twisted into a furious snarl. Everywhere she looked, more and more faces began to appear of both men and women alike.
Despite being a former member of the Chosen Few, Evelyn had tried to internally separate herself. She had wanted to believe that she was different from the rest of them. That despite everything that happened these last two months, she could still be considered innocent.
Evelyn’s trembling fists slowly unclenched. Her hands were covered in armor. But even despite that, she could somehow see the skin underneath. And now they were stained red with blood.
Her breathing became shallow and ragged. The world around her started to become blurry and distorted. Even the booming collective shriek of the approaching swarm sounded far away and distant.
“I-” Evelyn’s voice was caught within her throat. She wanted to defend herself. To say that things she had done weren’t truly her fault.
That she hadn’t understood what kind of monsters the Chosen Few were when she initially joined them. That the first human life she had taken was done so only due a misunderstanding from then twisting the truth into a lie. Then the second life was just from defending herself from retaliation due to the first, while still not knowing the truth of what had really happened.
A part of her still knew that every atrocity committed afterward had also been forced. Whether it be through direct deceit or more subtle methods. Yet no matter the reasoning or excuses, it was still her hands that still got covered in blood. But that small part of her mind was easily crushed under a tidal wave of guilt.
The mass of Spectres were now upon her. It was only a matter of seconds until they were close enough to strike. But under that guilty wave, even the desire to defend herself was squashed like a feeble candle.
“I’m sorry!” Evelyn sobbed. Her arms dropped to her sides as she collapsed onto the ground. Tears streamed down the redhead’s cheeks before they were quickly mixed into heavy downpour of rain.
“I’m sorry I’m-” Evelyn was cut off as a transparent hand clawed against the back of her head. She didn’t even know the Level of the attacking Spectre. But the strike carried enough force to smack her forward and into the muddied dirt.
And it was just the first of many. Hundreds of hands began to wail against her back. The majority of them felt weak. Weak enough for her to normally be able to just shrug them off. But mixed in were more powerful strikes like the first. Even these didn’t carry enough power to be truly dangerous on their own. But they still did enough to hurt, and could very quickly add up in damage. Especially for someone like Evelyn, who had greatly favored Agility over Endurance in her Stats.
Despite her shaky mental state, Evelyn’s base instincts for survival tried to spur her on. To have her pick herself up and make use of high Agility. For her to use her Agility-dependent Ability as a Flashblade Blitzer to fight back and start tearing through the undead.
In between the stronger attacks, Evelyn did manage to get up to her feet. She then quickly managed to create distance by jumping backward. Her fist then glowed with light as she started to channel her Ability. But before she could unleash its power, several undead had already turned around. And when she met their empty gazes, more faces flashed across her vision.
At that moment, her focus was broken once again. Then the next moment, the swarm surged to quickly close the gap. She just couldn’t do it. Whether it was their power or just an illusion created by her own mind, the result was the same. Evelyn couldn’t gather the strength needed to strike down those she had wronged for a second time.
The hundreds of Specters were then upon her. Yet unable to even bring up the will to fight, she just fell back down to her hands and knees. The guilt and regret was simply too great.
There was no excuse that could be made. She deserved death for her actions with the Chosen Few. Even if they were just hallucinations, perhaps it’d deservedly come from the faces of those she had wronged. It would be a painful and drawn out death as they could only do so much damage at a time. But maybe that too was something she deserved.
Yet right before the first wave of Spectres could crash into her crumpled form, a wave of fire cut them off. And at the same time, a figure jumped between the redhead and the swarm of undead.
With a wave of his staff, he quickly decimated another large number of Spectres. It was then that he turned around and grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Evelyn! Are you alright?!” Jaco yelled. Yet when she then looked up to meet his eyes, Evelyn had hardly even been able to register his words.
Despite the Druid’s good intentions to come to her aid, it wasn’t worth the effort. Because within her own mind, her own death was an owed debt that still needed to be paid.