Torb was consumed by pain. Several bones in his body broke from the last clash, but he couldn’t afford to slow down.
Another fireball flew past Torb as he reached the giant Infected. The ball of fire exploded in the Infected’s face right before Torb’s Warhammer crashed. He targeted the same leg as before and crushed it for good.
The Infected’s leg caved in, but the undead didn’t seem to mind. Its arms swept down to squash Torb. The dwarf evaded the first arm by a hair’s breadth, yet the other arm impacted heavily. The shield was sturdy and protected Torb, but the impact spread through it and into his arms, shaking them thoroughly. A pained scream escaped Torb’s lips, but his eyes glowed defiantly.
His scream transformed into a roar as he pushed forward. Torb didn’t even notice David appearing beside him. David was drenched in sweat but wore a confident smile.
His vibrantly glowing sword streaked through the air, leaving behind a magnificent trail right before it cut into the Infected’s arms, severing it in one go.
The vibrantly shimmering trail didn’t stop as it severed through the giant Infected’s arm. It moved on as David pushed forward. The giant Infected’s bodily fluids, remnants of its human blood, even if it was gray, almost black, splattered everywhere, covering David and Torb.
[You have been infected.]
David ignored the infection and moved onward. His Holy Sea was about to be sucked dry, but it was enough to keep going for another quarter of a second.
David twisted his body, evaded the Infected’s other arm, and severed its undamaged leg. The warrior longsword cut the leg cleanly. It passed through the rotten flesh and corrupted bone in one go.
A headache started tormenting David’s head, but he ignored it while retreating. [Holy Touch] retracted from the sword. It flooded back to David and spread through several energy pathways before the last bits of holy power had been used up. The Aether in his body transformed slowly, but David would have to survive without his Skill Runes until his Holy Sea recovered some holy power.
The Infected’s severed leg remained rooted on the ground, but not so the rest of his body. The Infected slid cleanly from the severed leg and crashed to the ground. Its crushed leg recovered quickly, however, the severed leg and arm didn’t show any signs of healing.
“Good job!” Torb exclaimed, “Now heal me and cleanse our infections!”
David was covered in cold sweat, his expression distorting into a grimace.
“Do you think it’s easy to coat my sword into [Holy Touch] this long?! My Holy Sea is not an ocean, flat-nose!”
“Don’t yet talk about my nose like that, boy!” Torb retorted, his cheeks turning red.
The giant Infected didn’t look as massive now that one leg was severed and the other crushed. Nonetheless, the giant Infected was far from dead. A true death, at least. Its remaining arm shot forward, ready to crush David, but Torb appeared between them. He blocked the Infected’s arm easily and counterattacked, crushing the undead’s hand in one go.
“Good job depriving the undead of its momentum! Make sure it can’t recover. We’re finally at an advantage! Keep crushing its arm and leg whenever it's healing!!” Melach instructed Torb from the back.
This time, a large missile shot past David and Torb. It struck the Infected square in the face and pierced its flesh and eye in one go. The Infected’s brain remained unscathed, but some damage had been inflicted.
That looked like Flora’s [Mana Bullet], but bigger, stronger, and faster.
David was about to move again as his Holy Sea had recovered traces of holy power, but Torb moved before him. The dwarf was faster than David. He grimaced in pain, yet his Warhammer struck down harder than before. He accelerated and crushed the Infected’s arm with one move before turning around with his shield raised. Suddenly, the Dwarf accelerated again. He turned into a blur, and his arm holding the shield shot forward.
The shield smacked hard in the Infected’s face, stunning the giant momentarily. At that moment, Torb’s Warhammer struck again. It whipped forward, trembling dangerously right before hitting the target, crushing the Infected’s skull in one move.
David’s eyes bulged while beads of sweat formed on Torb’s forehead. It trickled upon his felty, brown beard where his sweat gathered.
“Impatient fool,” Melach didn’t pay much attention to Torb’s exhaustion. He released another bout of [Mana Bullet]’s enhanced version. It pierced neatly through the hole Torb’s Warhammer had inflicted and found its way to the target. The Infected shattered hand shot upward to block the blue bolt, but the attack came too fast. Its momentum taken, the Infected had to take the attack head-on…and succumb as it pierced its brain.
[You contribute to the elimination of a Mutating Giant Infected.]
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[You have defeated a Pseudo Mini-Boss.]
“Pseudo Mini Boss?” David asked while circulating holy power through his energy pathways. He’d trained all energy pathways in the last few days and nurtured them as much as possible. Recovering his used-up holy power was, thereby, no problem.
His holy power was already up to use [Cleanse] once, which he did. David cast it on Torb, removing his infection.
[Patient’s infection has been cleansed.]
[Proficiency of Cleanse increased.]
[[Proficiency of Cleanse reached 100%.]
[Tier-0 II] → [Tier-0 III]
“The Giant Infected was mutating and would have transformed into a proper Mini-Boss if we hadn’t killed it in time,” Torb responded, turning around with a small crystal.
“It dropped a Fragment?” Melach was also sweaty, but he approached the others with hurried strides, “That shouldn’t have happened.”
His expression soured as he inspected the purple crystal. Melach conjured blue motes in his palm and willed them to revolve around the crystal.
“Fragment of Power. Even Mini Bosses at the Iron rank shouldn’t drop something like that easily, let alone a fake Mini Boss,” He turned to Torb, “The intel was wrong. This wasn’t your average Mutating Giant Infected. The mutation would have pushed it to the Bronze Rank.”
Torb’s expression reflected how Melach felt. It turned sour and then grim, “You’re saying the Infected would have transformed into a Bronze Rank Mini-Boss if we hadn’t defeated it in time? But that cannot be. The mission was clear. I remember every little detail about the mission!”
The Dwarf tapped his head a few times as if trying to show what precious information was hidden underneath his thick skull.
“I know, but something like the Fragment of Power cannot drop from your average Iron Rank Pseudo Mini Boss,” Melach retorted, his voice dripping in frustration.
David cleared his throat, “I have no idea what you guys are talking about. This Fragment of Power seems like a big thing for you, so how about we’re happy that we defeated that mutant?”
He had many questions, but bombarding the Dwarf and Elf wouldn’t help. They were confused and angry about something.
“Yes…It’s good the mutant is dead. If we wasted any more time eliminating it, we would have died instead,” Melach tried to force a smile on his lips but failed miserably. The corners of his lips twitched uncontrollably, and he ended up with a thin line.
David didn’t have many good experiences with others since the Earthen Union integrated into the Pantheon, but he didn’t feel too bad around Melach and Torb. The main reason was probably Torb saving his ass when the Giant Infected attacked him after severing his limbs.
David felt something on his back, and he was about to attack when he heard the Dwarf’s firm hand slapping him. Torb laughed, “I guess you helped us a lot, human. If not for you severing the Infected’s arm and leg, we would have struggled to defeat the undead as its mutation progressed. You saved our lives.”
He cleared his throat, his expression more serious, “That’s also why I’m being generous today. I forgive you for insulting me! But this is a one-time thing. Do not ever call me flat-nose again!!”
David was ready to respond with a joke but noticed early enough that Torb was dead serious.
Did I insult his family or what? Well… maybe I did. I have no idea what it means to dwarves when someone calls them flat-nosed.
It was ridiculous to think he was talking to a Dwarf and an Elf. If it had been a week ago, David would have been sent to the psych ward if he’d said something like that. It didn’t make sense. Dwarves and Elves weren’t supposed to exist in reality. But the same could be said about the undead, Kobolds, and everything else David had seen last week.
He was a Healer, capable of mending broken bones with some holy power.
“If not for you, we would be dead. At least Torb would be dead since he got infected even before you jumped in to help,” Melach nodded, ignoring the Dwarf’s glare, “I’m sorry for asking such a personal question, but did you say you have [Holy Touch]? I heard it earlier…It doesn’t make any sense, though.”
“A Cleric who has [Holy Touch], but no [Purification]. Does that make any sense to you?” Torb asked the Elf in ridicule, but Melach only shrugged, “You saw his sword and how easily he severed the Giant Infected’s arm and leg. His Body property is even lower than mine, yet he was strong enough to do that.”
Torb’s lips parted. He was ready to start a verbal fight with Melach, but David intercepted.
“I do have [Holy Touch], yes. Is there a problem with that?”
The Elf and Dwarf looked at David in unison, no words escaping their lips.
“I got it for surviving a battle against all odds. Someone has been watching me. Apparently, he is interested in me, or whatever.”
The Dwarf’s jaw hit the ground, while Melach’s eyes widened slightly.
“You’ve garnered the interest of the Pantheon? Already?” Melach asked, to which David responded with a shrug.
“It has only been a week since the integration of this world, hasn’t it?”
David nodded. He was slowly losing track of time, but it shouldn’t have been longer than a week.
“This world is different than I’ve expected,” Melach murmured, his eyes trailing to the Fragment of Power before returning to David, “Do you want to come with us?”
David upped his guard instinctively, but his interest was caught, “Go where?”
Torb regained his senses and nodded vigorously, “You should join us. Come with us to Arc!”
Melach saw the confusion in David’s eyes and smiled.
“Arc is what we call the nearby System Sanctuary.”