Chapter 25 – Speed Over Damage

Jebediah left to speak with Melody and Ann who wanted to help with the coordination and overall health of the survivors. Suzie took Emily to find some weapons, preferably a gun, and gear. That left me with Gr’ex and Jek’jon.

Gr’ex spoke up. “I figured you would want to discuss this without any of the other huemons around.”

“Discuss what?” I inquired.

“Discuss what he asked.” Gr’ex grumbled.

“That is what he said my friend.” Jek’jon chimed in.

Gr’ex sighed. “You do not yet understand my friend. You have not been around him enough. Just watch.” He said to Jek’jon before turning to me and continuing. “Your increased muscle mass and height, you had a threshold breakthrough, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. You could tell that just from my muscles and height?” I asked.

Gr’ex shook his head. “Your presence actually. You are both more commanding of attention and in better control of your aura. Such things can usually be traced back to a threshold breakthrough. Such things are more common with pure cultivators, but I know you use mana.”

“In the short term I’m going with a more balanced distribution of my stat points. The different perks and titles I’ve gotten have allowed me to barely pass the second threshold.” I explained.

“What?! Th-that requires a hundred points in all primary stats! You are only level 10!” Jek’jon exclaimed.

Gr’ex looked at his friend. “Do you see what I’m talking about now? I have never heard of anyone having those kinds of stats at level ten. He doesn’t even have a class yet! This is what I have been dealing with! He defies all logic.”

Jek’jon nodded. “It is most impressive. I must tell our people as it will only further rally our kind to his banner. Speaking about that, you really should consider designing a banner.”

“Hold on a minute! You just accept all of this my friend? How are you not upset? I know for a fact huemons only get 5 points per level, that is 50 points maximum. I know he possesses the World’s Champion title...” Gr’ex chimed in before Jek’jon interrupted him.

“There you have it. That is said to bestow massive increases not only when receiving the title, but it gives slight boosts to other titles. I do not see the problem, my friend. Our way is to follow the strong and powerful. If Shadowalker is this strong at level 10, just imagine what he will be able to do once he has a class.”

Gr’ex spoke in frustration. “But goblins only get 4 points per level! Our class and core bonuses cannot even...”

Jek’jon put his hand on Gr’ex’s shoulder. “You were the first goblin to pledge fealty to our master. I have heard several among my people call you wise for doing so, do not let your pride and ego cloud your judgement now my friend. The clans will need guidance and I have little interest beyond farming. You know that is my dream. I will fight and do as commanded, but my love is to grow things. Our people will need your guidance.”

I watched the interplay. I knew I drove Gr’ex nuts at time with my defiance of the status quo. I would have to be mindful that jealousy did not fester and poison our friendship.

Gr’ex looked at his friend. “You are right. I gladly welcome the chance to guide our people to glory, even if it is in service of others.”

Jek’jon clapped his friend’s back. “That’s the spirit. Now I must return to prepare for our arrival. I will see you both later tonight.”

Jek’jon bowed to me and then left the cabin.

I turned to my friend. “Do not worry Gr’ex. I need you. I hope you understand I appreciate your help more than you may know.”

Gr’ex smiled and nodded. “Okay, okay. Enough of this sappy emotional stuff. Let’s go kill some people and gain some levels.”

I chuckled. “Ha! Sounds good to me.”

It did not take our party long to get ready and head out. Duncan had a Kevlar vest and some heavily padded clothing, with a metal baseball bat as his weapon. Jebediah had his guns, some blades, and even a few grenades. Suzie wore some yoga outfit that I imagine was for speed of movement. Emily was wearing something similar. Suzie had her guns and a long bow she found in Paul’s arsenal. Emily had a few guns strapped to her, she also found a compound bow and a quiver full of arrows. Gr’ex had his staff and grabbed one of my short swords just in case.

“System, make a reminder for me to teach Gr’ex how to handle a firearm.”

Reminder Added

As for me, sure I had a few pistols equipped. I also grabbed a sword from my personal collection. Yes, I collected a few. I even tried my hands at learning smithing, which Paul had encouraged me to pursue. I figured I should try to synergize what knowledge was in my head with what I thought I knew.

I repeated the plan as we got closer to enemy territory. “Alright everyone, group up. Donuts I want you and I in front. Suzie and Emily in the middle. Jebediah and Gr’ex in the back. We prioritize speed over damage. Hit em, kill what you can then fall back. Then we loop around to another area. Rinse and repeat. Any questions?”

“What if we can’t outrun them?” Emily asked as she looked at Jebediah and Gr’ex.

“Don’t worry about me darling. I put plenty of points into Dexterity and Constitution.” Jebediah commented.

Gr’ex looked at Emily and smiled wickedly before summoning a Dark Bolt. “Any that get to close get one of these or one of the many curses I know.”

Emily took a step closer to Suzie. “Got it. Sorry I asked.”

“No need to apologize Emily. You were just concerned for the team. That is an admirable quality. Look alive everyone goblin patrol incoming.” I said before catching up to Duncan as he charged the patrol to get all their attention on him.

There were six goblins.

Goblin Scout Level 20

Goblin Warrior Level 19

Goblin Scout Level 21

Goblin Archer Level 16

Goblin Warrior Level 18

Goblin Warrior Level 17

“Donut taunt as many as you can. Girls, target priority: kill any archers, then scouts. Guys scouts, then warriors.” I ordered as I charged the level 19 goblin warrior.

My target had a shield and sword. The goblin warrior blocked my first swing, but I didn’t realize how much strength I put behind the blow and it caught the goblin off guard causing him to stagger back. His shield was Now off center leaving him open for a follow up attack. I took the opening with a quick riposte. The move allowed me to slide just out of the way from an axe swing from one of the goblin scouts.

As I ripped out my blade, I backhanded the goblin scout who stood in temporary shock at the speed in which I dodged his attack as my combo move finished off his friend. Again, I didn’t realize my own strength and my simple backhand lifted the goblin off the ground as he spun back, crashing headfirst into a nearby tree. I heard an audible snap as his head turned an angle it wasn’t meant to.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I did a quick scan of the fight. Duncan had picked up the fallen shield and was easily keeping the two goblin warriors at bay. The archer was already dead, an arrow in one eye socket and a bullet hole where the other eye used to be. The girls were already taking aim at the two warriors Duncan was tanking.

Jebediah took one of the scouts with a shot in the heart, he was dead on the forest floor. The last scout was squirming on the ground, clearly in agony before a Dark Bolt ended his life.

By the time I turned to help Duncan, the girls took out the remaining warriors.

“Great job guys. No issues. Girls, great shift to the warriors.” I said as I walked over to the goblin I backhanded into the tree and confirmed he was dead.

“What the hell was that?” Jebediah asked.

“Huh? What was what?” I replied.

“These guys may be smaller than us but that hit had enough force to snap its neck on impact. I’ve never seen you move like that in all the years I have known you. How high is your Strength?” Jebediah said as he looked at me.

Gr’ex growled. “That is not something you can ask! It is considered insulting to ask a stranger, let alone an ally such a question!”

I raised my hand to Gr’ex. “I put a good number of points in Strength and Dexterity. I also gained a perk that imparted knowledge of weapons.”

“You can gain perks like that?” Duncan asked.

Gr’ex was the one to answer. “Of course, the capabilities of the system are vast and rather impressive.”

“That’s cool.” Suzie commented.

“Agreed.” Emily said.

Jebediah visibly calmed down. “I did not realize you would put all your points into Strength and Dexterity. When we would all discuss what we wanted in life you always talked about being a mage. I thought you wasted your chance to be one.”

“That is still the long-term goal, but right now we have to survive.” I replied.

“I just hope you didn’t cripple your chances.” Jebediah said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

“Not a chance buddy. I appreciate the concern that I blew my chance by spending all my points but don’t worry. I have a plan.” I said as I tapped the man’s arm in acknowledgment he was just looking out for my future and not rushing into something that could be an issue later.

‘Here I thought he wanted to know how I could generate that much force. Guess he hasn’t figured out it takes over 100 points in Strength to do that kind of move. Well, I’m not going to tell him.’ I thought as Jebediah nodded at me.

“Very well.”

“So now that you two are done with whatever that was. Can I start raising the dead, master?” Gr’ex asked.

“Sure. Makes sense. A necromancer needs undead minions.” I answered.

“He’s doing what now?!” Emily asked in disgust.

“Gr’ex is an Apprentice Necromancer. Did we not mention that?” I replied.

“No, you most certainly did not!” Suzie said in agreement with her friend.

“Sounds cool.” Duncan commented as he offered me a donut.

I gladly took the donut and passed one to Jebediah. The three of us watched Gr’ex work and ate our donuts in rapt attention.

Suzie and Emily volunteered to go scouting to make sure we weren’t disturbed. In truth, they just wanted to be anywhere else.

Gr’ex cast Raise Undead Minion six times. Each time grayish-black energy would rush out and surround the corpse. Then it would delve deep into the body, filling and closing some wounds. The arrow in the goblin’s eye was slowly pushed out as the Undead Zombie rose to its feet.

Duncan raised his hand to get Gr’ex’s attention. I put his hand down. “This isn’t school man, just ask your question.” I told the excited man.

“Oh, okay. So, Mr. Gr’ex do they always get raised as an Undead Zombie?”

Gr’ex stood a bit straighter. He liked being the center of attention when he knew things others did not, especially about his craft. “No, not at all. Undead Zombies are the most efficient and easiest to produce. There are other spells that can raise skeletons or make them more sentient. If they were a caster, there are spells that can turn them into Undead Mage able to use their magic. Those are the most used variations when working with bones or a recently deceased corpse.”

“Man, that is convenient. Instant army.” Jebediah commented.

Gr’ex sighed. “There are limits. Level, affinity, class, stats, titles, perks, known spells, etc. all play a hand in how many undead you can control. My clan grants me a title that helps with the number of undead I can control. Kit’erak, my old master, also helped my clan gain perks to increase our Death magic capabilities. All of these guys are trash, but their bodies aren’t too mutilated, which reduces the mana point or MP cost to raise them.”

“Can you keep them up indefinitely?” Jebediah asked.

“That’s what she said.” Duncan joked.

After a few chuckles later, a confused Gr’ex answered. “That is one of the benefits of Necromancers. If you are raising existing corpses or using them as fuel it can last indefinitely. There is a very small mana drain but it’s negligible. That is what makes necromancers more appealing to summoners. Well unless you are talking about a Dark Summoner but those are legends so not much point discussing.”

“What’s a Dark Summoner?” I asked.

Gr’ex sighed. “Fine, I’ll answer your question. They are the pinnacle of both necromancer and summoner. They do not require materials to create their minions, though they still benefit from raising corpses. The major difference is they can summon permanent undead and other typically dark-aligned minions to do their bidding and then store them in their own pocket dimension. It makes them a one man or woman, army. They are the most feared weapon of the Dark, or so that is the legend. I know of no Dark Summoners in existence.”

“Wow, sounds really cool.” Duncan commented.

“I totally agree. Now that would be an awesome class to be able to pick.” I commented.

“Agreed. Though I’d still prefer something where I can use explosives to blow up bad guys.” Jebediah chimed in.

“Well, it looks like you’re done raising your new minions. We should probably find the girls so we can keep repeating this process.” I said as I headed in the direction, we saw them going off to scout in.

We found them about ten minutes later. The two ranged fighters had taken out a scouting group of four goblins.

“We hit them from two sides. They were dead before they even realized what had happened.” Suzie explained.

“These goblins don’t seem very smart. One ran right into a tree branch knocking it out. The other ran right at Suzie without trying to take any cover. Just dumb.” Emily chimed in. As she turned to see Gr’ex, she was worried she might’ve just insulted him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Gr’ex looked at her confused for a minute before it dawned on him. “Why would I be insulted? These are Bone Marrow goblins; they are not exactly known for their intelligence. All huemons are not the same, are they?”

“Well, no...” Emily answered.

“Then why would I take insult when you speak about other goblins, especially ones from a different clan. Silly huemon, I mean silly elf.” Gr’ex said as he walked past her to begin raising these goblins too.

“Ugh, not this again.” Suzie complained.

“Eh, leave the green skin alone. We would be fools to ignore the tactical advantage his class can give us.” Jebediah chimed in.

Gr’ex looked back at the trigger-happy man and gave the man the briefest of nods in acknowledgment of respect before going back to raising his minions.

‘Hmmm it seems even across species, men can convey similar ways of communicating.’ I thought as I watched the byplay.

After Gr’ex raised the now tenth undead minion, he smiled. “I just leveled up!”

“Really? You can level up from raising undead?” Jebediah asked.

“Of course! It’s a core aspect of my class. How do you think blacksmiths and other crafters level up?” Gr’ex answered.

“I hadn’t really thought about it. I just figured you kill stuff, you level.” Jebediah replied.

“Well, yes. That is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to level but by far not the most common.” Gr’ex stated.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Emily asked.

Gr’ex switched into his mentor mode. “Most people are non-combatants. Sure, plenty still do some level of fighting or militia work, but usually they rely on their class and professions to help them level. Sometimes the system will provide quests related to your profession for added experience. Like right now I have a quest to raise 50 undead minions. As I plan on doing such a thing anyway it is a nice benefit that helps push you closer to your next level and embrace the path you have chosen to go down.”

“That’s good to know and something to consider.” I commented.

“I have a quest like that. It says to feed 50 people one of my donuts. I got it after I made my hundredth donut.” Duncan shared.

“Huh? That seems a bit random.” Suzie said.

“Not really if you think about it. Donut here loves em, it is no surprise that the system would encourage him to do what he loves.” I hypothesized.

“Exactly! That is at the very core and nature of the system. Good, bad, or indifferent, it does not matter. It helps facilitate our focus which helps figure out our purpose.” Gr’ex explained.

“So why haven’t we gotten anything like that?” Suzie asked.

“Simple. You haven’t been focusing. When you are all over the place and distracted, the system has a harder time helping you on a course of action. Start intentionally doing specific things that matter to you consistently and see what the system does in response.” Gr’ex further explained.

“Worth a shot.” Emily chimed in.

Suzie nodded in agreement. “Alright. Why not. Well to start I want to kill some more goblins for invading our home.”

“Lead the way.” Jebediah replied.

“Sure thing. I’m going to...” Suzie stopped mid-stride. “Son of a...”

“What’s up?” Duncan asked his friend.

Suzie turned to Duncan with a smile on her face. “I just got a quest to kill 25 Bone Marrow clan goblin invaders. That little pompous goblin was right.”

“Pompous. I’ll show you pompous you ungrateful...” Gr’ex raised hand and started to summon a Dark Bolt. He was interrupted by my hand on his arm.

As he looked at me, I shook my head. “Fine, but I’m not saving her if she gets in trouble.” Gr’ex said as he dropped his spell and sent his minions ahead of him as he further walked towards enemy territory.

I turned to the party. “He may be harsh in his communication, but this is the apocalypse. Being nice and fake will get you killed. Don’t take for granted the knowledge he freely shares, or the kindness I share.” I said the last bit as I let go of the tiniest bit of my Dark Mantle ability for the briefest of moments before turning my back on them and heading after Gr’ex.