William held his family close, those moments heartbreaking, yet the closest he had been to his mother and sister in a long time. He was proud to be his father’s son, the man would always be William’s hero after today. He gave his life in an instant to save Jane. It was what any parent would do for their child, but to be as strong as he looked when the hammer came down took a deeper, inner strength. His father knew his days were done when he acted, but still encouraged William with that look he gave. This world was cruel, ruthless, and full of assholes. William reaffirmed his resolve in that moment, his goal of more strength being honed by his willpower to protect his family and friends. He would keep them safe.
As if by some trigger to William’s resolve, sounds of shouting occurred, drawing the attention of everyone present. William looked towards the shouting and saw the remaining villagers organized in what appeared to be a defensive formation by the hole that Daris had came through. Bandits soon followed the shouts, streaming in through the breach into a series of arrows and multiple castings of [Fire-bolt], the first few rows of bandits fell, their rows consisting of about four men per row. Those first casualties acted as a trip hazard for the next few rows, slowing the momentum and adding more bodies to the pile. William smiled as the next few rows of bandits that made it through were intercepted by the two other remaining fighters and the two scouts that still lived, including Jane’s friend Jill.
William knew that the line would break if he didn’t get involved and soon, as the bandits began to grow in number at the back of the ones clashing currently. William needed to be the hammer against the nails. He got to his feet and saw that his resources were as followed:
HP 395/600
MP 470/640
SP 300/750
William looked at his SP and frowned, getting to his feet and summoning his last SP potion. He was hoping that this time he could drink a potion without vomiting again. His family looked up at him questioningly, seeming lost.
He looked down towards them and smiled as he said, “The fight is still happening, I’m getting involved.”
William then popped the cork and chugged the contents. Coolness overcame William briefly before he felt sharp pains in his stomach and chest. He coughed some blood and felt like he would be sick any moment. This time he stood firm and held it down. Jane and his mother got up with concern, their eyes wide with fear.
“What?” William said, still fighting his stomach’s contents and their escape attempt.
Jane started doing healing on William, before he gently pushed her hand away, shaking his head.
Jane glared and said, “William, You’re bleeding from your nose and eyes, for fucks sake. You need healing!”
That would explain the concern he saw on his family’s face. It didn’t change things though.
“Jane, my HP isn’t going down, I’m fine. I’ve gotta get involved over there,” William replied, pointing to the battle as he continued, “If you’ve still got some MP then it would be better used on the people fighting. Mum, I know leaving Dad here isn’t what you want, but I need you to take John and get him inside with you, Devlin and Frenn.”
His mother considered his words for a moment before she nodded. William approached John a couple feet away and helped the guy up.
John looked at the battle and said, “I’ve got a potion for Mana so I’m good to fight, don’t worry about me.”
William smiled and replied, “I love the eagerness my dude, but I need you to protect my mum. I still don’t know if the two brothers can be trusted, and I don’t want my mum left alone with them now that betrayal is a legit possibility. If they do anything aggressive or suspicious, burn them. They’re level one, so a couple uses of [Fire-bolt] will be enough.”
John looked at William’s mother and saw the grieving women looking back at her husband’s remains as she walked. He looked back at William and gave a firm nod before following William’s mother into the hut. William eyed his SP after taking the potion and saw that it hadn’t been very effective, leaving him with just over five hundred SP.
William started to run towards the fight with Jane in tow. William summoned Sharpie to his other hand, deciding to go back for his daggers later.
“Jesus, William, you actually look dangerous with two swords,” Jane shouted, as the pair ran to battle.
William laughed a little at that as he replied, “I’m only now dangerous looking? I’d like to think my enemies all cowered in fear as they died.”
Jane didn’t give an immediate reply as the two drew near to the battle, and a glance back from William showed that she had some concern to voice.
“What?” Was all William asked, hoping it was enough.
It was as Jane sighed and replied, “You actually sound more and more like a warrior everyday. I just don’t want you to become a monster.”
“I am a monster. What matters is that I choose which type of monster to become.”
They had no more time as the sound of battle masked all other sound, mere feet separating the siblings from the bloodshed. Jane ran to the friendly backline where the few other remaining healers were. William charged straight into the fray, opening with the classic [Vortex Slash] and [Mana Investment] with Absolution, slicing and decimating several rows of bandits with William punching a long hole through what must have been thirty or more bandits as he used Sharpie for a [Vortex Thrust]. The opening salvo had decimated any formation the bandits had, prompting them to become a disorganized mass of steel, hate and greed, the best prey for William’s fighting style. He did have to store Sharpie away, unfortunately for him as the small amount of space he had would require a two handed grip on Absolution. He definitely would use that opening attack again in the future, he affirmed to himself, as he grasped Absolution firmly, ducking a swing from another sword user. A swift upper slice removed the offending hand before a horizontal slash opened the man’s neck up. William used the falling body as cover, going into a low pivot, severing the leg of another bandit and giving a quick thrust into the fallen man’s chest. William became a specter then, slaughtering his way through the horde of trash mobs. The enemy was so weak that William stopped paying attention at some point, just working off of muscle memory and reflex. Mass slaughter becoming just another mundane action, like a morning walk, or a recurring habit.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
William didn’t know at what point the bandits had began to flee, but a use of [Flash Stride] and another [Vortex Slash] with [Mana investment] through Absolution decimated the majority of the remaining bandits. All that remained were a handful of the attackers who all dropped their weapons and held their hands out in surrender. William saw the survivors showing genuine fear. Would they have shown mercy to villagers doing the same thing? William knew the answer.
William charged at the nearest one, slicing the man across the throat before darting to the next, before the man had time to flee. William wiped out a few more using [Vortex Thrust], before hurling himself at the last vestiges of the bandit horde, slicing and dicing through them, immune to the sounds of fear, crying, pleading, and some praying as he put every single bandit down. Even after the last one had died, William scanned the surroundings for more, sword ready, posture low, ready to dart forward.
When had he exited Greenwell? William had then noticed that he was outside the palisade, the gap made by Darris to his left, about ten feet away. William drunk in the sight of his slaughter. Bodies were everywhere, most consisting of multiple layers of bodies, his victims landing atop previous ones. He spent another minute counting them out of morbid curiosity and was shook by the final tally: eighty five.
He had killed eighty five more bandits. In summary, nearly one hundred and thirty bandits were killed by his hand. He subtracted the level one slave soldiers as they didn’t really count as bandits. Even if they were enemies, that many souls weighed heavily on his conscience. The only silver linings to be found were the EXP gains and the fact that his brain had stopped registering the faces of those he killed, making the burden he bore slightly lighter.
William stepped over what bodies he could, ignoring the brief flicker of guilt when he had nowhere to step but atop bodies. It passed quickly when he remembered who they were. Walking through the breach, he looked on as everyone stood there, motionless and mouths agape. It didn’t take long for William to understand why as he looked behind him. The devastation looked like it went on for a good distance from within Greenwell.
He could see about twelve people other than Jane, Stacey and Wallace. He spotted Jeff, Jill and Miss Jones still alive and well also. twelve total casualties, it seemed. Minus three in the Duncans. It was a lot of loss on their side. William admitted to himself that objectively, the number of dead on each side was astronomically different and that the losses Greenwell suffered weren’t as bad as expected. It would be empty to those who lost friends today. In a sense, William’s natural distance from most of the people helped him here, and everyone he was at least somewhat familiar with was still alive.
He noticed that his body was laminated in layers of blood. Some dry, some wet, and some in between.
“Is there something on my face?” William said, trying to lighten the mood.
The onlookers were mostly speechless still, but William noticed the eye rolls of both Stacey and Jane, and the thoughtful look of Wallace. Surprisingly, it was Jeff who spoke first, asking what William expected everyone else wanted to know.
“Is it over? Did we win?” Jeff asked, seeming nervous asking the question.
Did he worry about what William would say? William had to admit that he did look rather imposing, literally covered in the blood of his enemies. He was about to reply, when another voice cut in.
“It isn’t over quite yet,” The unknown person said, descending in a swirl of wind.
William immediately recognized the man; The Elf. William was surprised that the guy had formed a sentence that was clear and understandable.
“Explain,” William said, hoping the guy didn’t want to fight as William was too drained for that.
Fortunately, the Elf obliged.
“You see, I wanted Darris out of the picture as he had gotten too…eager to raid the local settlements. I wanted to be rid of him and go on my way, but was too weak to fight him. I’m now strong enough that I could win, but you were nice enough to do the job for me,” The Elf replied, smiling mischievously.
“Yeah, he’s dead, feel free to leave anytime. Why are you speaking in a clear way now? You didn’t when we first met.”
“Because I had to sound like one of those blithering imbeciles to fit in. Only Darris knew my actual manner, amongst other things. Thanks again for killing him. That pill was interesting I must say.”
“Why did the pill turn him into a fell-kin?”
“That’s what he became? Things are getting interest, I must say. To answer your question, I didn’t know what it was, nor did Darris. The guy said it was a performance enhancer and to use it if he was in a bad situation.”
“So, I almost got pasted because the big guy was doping to stay alive against me. Wonderful. I’m guessing you aren’t here to kill us all? Otherwise you would’ve done it by now.”
“Perceptive. I’ve been watching the battle from above this whole time. I didn’t expect you to win, but I’ve been wrong before. My real purpose was doing as I was instructed by Darris,” The Elf said, revealing a small cube shaped device.
“I’m guessing it isn’t a pat on the back?” William said, struggling more and more to overcome the nausea that had been building from the Potion side effects.
“Darris asked me to use this for a live recording to the other local settlements as a warning. He would destroy your village as an example to the others, intending to make them do as he bade,” The Elf replied, holding it aloft.
“You filmed the whole battle?”
The Elf gave a simple nod.
“Good,” William said, pointing his sword straight at the box before he continued, “whoever is watching, rejoice. The bandit known as Darris is dead. You saw the battle and know what our village of Greenwell is now capable of. You now know what I’m capable of. We want to live peacefully and make good relations, but if you wrong us, I will personally hound you until you succumb to my blade. You’ve been warned.”
The Elf clicked something and put the device into his pocket before he said, “That was good. I ended the recording there for the drama. I think the other local settlements will want to be best friends or whatever just so you don’t show up like...that.”
The Elf gestured to William as a whole. He was fine with that. Being covered in blood was becoming a regular thing it seemed.
“Anything else now that the filming is done? You gonna attack us later or something?”
William waited, expecting a yes. It was a big surprise to him when the Elf shook his head in disagreement.
“I have no desire to attack a poor village with no riches. Darris wanted everything, not realizing that true treasure is more sparse and not to be found in a level twenty zone. I hit that milestone yesterday by the way. Your regional quest won’t complete until I verbally concede, am captured, or die. It counts me as a member, even though the rest are all dead now. I concede.”
William felt yet another prompt appear in the back of his mind, but focused on the Elf.
“What’s your name? Are you my enemy?” William asked, feeling like he needed to know the answer.
“I’m not your enemy. Not at present. I have no desire to be for the foreseeable future, unless you get in the way of my plans. No I’m not saying what those are, but I do expect our paths to cross at some point. Whether we are friend or foe then, will depend on the circumstance. As for my name, it’s Ar’nass, or Nass for short. I already know your name, William. The recording caught the name too so you might be something of a celebrity around here for a while. I’m going now so...bye.”
William didn’t get a chance to respond to any of what Nass had said as he watched the man fly away in a gust of wind. “The Flying is still bullshit.” William thought, turning his attention to the numerous waiting prompts.
It was time to clear his mind and hopefully see that one of the prompts was a level up prompt.