Liv pushed out with her shield, knocking a saurian back far enough to run it through with her spear. She continued backing away from the saurian mob, when she heard Ograch call out from behind her. With a final shield bash, she fell back into a nearby doorway and prepared to hold the line. Meanwhile, Ograch ran to the second floor and began firing from the windows. Rather than aiming for the archers, he aimed down into the saurians attempting to get into the building.
The saurian archers only had a moment to think about Ograch’s confusing change of tactics when they saw Reaver run across the street and leap up the side of a building before pulling herself up with her claws. The archers immediately turned to fire at the raptor, but they could only get a few arrows off and none of them were very accurate considering how quickly Reaver was moving. Within seconds, she crashed into the first trio of archers, jaw closing on one’s head while her forward claws shredded and disemboweled the other two.
Suddenly, Reaver screeched in rage as an arrow managed to pierce her hide, causing her to turn a murderous glare on a pair of saurians, one of whom had dropped their bow in favor of a sword in order to protect their fellow. It didn’t save them as the furious raptor ran a few steps toward them to build momentum before launching herself in the air. She landed on the sword-wielding saurian, her sheer weight causing its bones to shatter while she kicked out with one leg. Her kick caught the archer in the chest, her wickedly curved claw punching into its neck and instantly putting an end to the miserable creature.
She turned toward her rider, seeing that the human had kept him safe and between the two had thinned their foe’s numbers. There were six remaining as Reaver took a running leap off of the roof and crashed into the rear of their lines.
----------------------------------------
Lanek suddenly found himself pushed back by the enraged champion, unable to close with it to use his sabre effectively. While he could still use his chain whip, it didn’t seem to be capable of piercing the behemoth’s scaled hide, so he was forced to aim for the creature’s eyes and throat. Unfortunately, the saurian recognized this issue as well and simply ignored any strike Lanek sent its way that wasn’t targeting its face or neck.
Getting frustrated, Lanek decided to push Kazuma’s mist out, quickly becoming the center of a billowing mass of fog that eliminated his foe’s visibility. While in the mist, Lanek released Sanguineus, urging the wolf to keep the champion’s attention without directly engaging it.
Sanguineus proceeded to dodge through the mist loudly, forcing the champion to keep turning to face the sounds. Lanek already missed the increase in reaction speed that Sanguineus gave him while in the whip, but he needed raw damage right now. Focusing on his stealth skills, Lanek crept through the mist, flinching at every perceived noise he made despite the fact that the saurian never seemed to hear him.
Making his way to the saurian’s rear, Lanek took a two-handed grip on his sabre and swung it with all of his might at the monster’s knee. He knew that he wasn’t likely to do much damage normally, but he hoped that his [Assassinate] skill would make a difference and provide the extra oomph that he needed. The monster roared in pain as the sabre tore through the muscles and tendons on the back of its knee, the blade only stopping when it struck bone.
Lanek rolled to the side as the monster spun and desperately lashed out with its reclaimed hammer, but this only exposed it further. Sanguineus burst into motion and clamped his jaws down on the back of the monster’s other knee and began savaging it. The champion barely managed to stay upright as it twisted back around to strike at the wolf, but Sanguineus was already gone. Lanek considered the foe before him before releasing Kazuma from the sabre, tasking him with keeping the cover going and attacking as he saw fit.
What followed would have been a pity-inducing sight had the monster not attempted to kill Lanek first. When the beast turned to deal with Sanguineus, Lanek would step forward and use his [Assassinate] skill to do devastating damage. Kazuma and Sanguineus would then sweep in and target tendons and muscles when the champion turned to attack Lanek. The trio kept switching positions in the mist, smoothly reorganizing so that the monster could not pinpoint where Lanek was, giving him more opportunities to strike out from stealth.
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The creature stumbled back, finally losing its footing as the bones in its knee joint finally snapped after repeated blows to the same spot. This combined with the shredding and mutilation of its muscles and tendons had left it unable to move properly, putting a huge strain on its legs that simply proved too much for the tortured limbs to endure. It knelt on the ground, its hands holding it up, struggling to rise.
It was at this point that Kazuma launched himself at the monster’s face, claws tearing through everything in his reach. The big cat resembled nothing so much as a furry blender as he struck so fast that the monster’s regeneration could not keep up. Just before the monster could bring its hands up to remove the cat, Lanek thrust Kazuma’s Vessel into the side of its neck, cleanly piercing all the way through. A moment later, the monster fell before the trio and Kazuma allowed the mist to fade away.
You have defeated Ash Saurian Champion (lvl 45).
Extra experience has been awarded for defeating an enemy more than five levels higher than you.
Shinobi awards you an additional 50% experience for defeating an enemy that is a higher level.
Congratulations, you have leveled up!
Soulbinder lvl 37 → lvl 40
Shinobi lvl 10 → lvl 15
Ranger lvl 10 → lvl 15
You have unlocked the ability to select an additional subclass.
Damn, Eldros wasn’t joking. I really was close to the third subclass. He dismissed the notifications and turned to look for his companions. The subclass and status screen could wait until he made it back to the monastery.
Lanek spotted his companions walking toward him, having finished off the last of the saurians when Reaver had struck them from behind, allowing Liv to get some relief and go on the offensive. Lanek could see more than a few fallen saurians with arrows in their corpses just before they faded from view. Liv and Ograch had already looted the corpses, returning with several cores and healing potions. They had left the weapons and armor behind, not impressed with the poorly maintained gear that was on the brink of failure.
Seeing his friends in one piece, Lanek turned back to the saurian corpse, finding a trio of stones sitting where the creature had fallen. Picking up the stones, Lanek couldn’t get any real information from them even when using [Identify].
Reward Stone
(Epic)
Exchange for rewards.
“What the hell?” Lanek asked aloud as his companions joined him.
“What’s up?” Liv asked, shaking her head in confusion when Lanek showed her the stones. “I have no idea what those are. The System’s being a bit vague, isn’t it?”
Lanek nodded. “Yeah, it’s almost as bad as just showing question marks in the description.”
“I don’t think Nerek or the shamans will know either. If something like that had showed up in the tribe we would all have known in pretty short order. Maybe Caelis knows?” Ograch said, handing the stones back to Lanek.
“I’ll have to ask her when we get back. So, was this battle as rewarding for you guys as it was for me?” Lanek asked, telling them about his level gains and new subclass slot.
“Damn,” Liv said with a whistle, “Another subclass? That’s nuts. But yeah, I got a few levels out of that fight and I could even feel Yuri getting stronger.”
“Same here, a few levels and Reaver got stronger. She hit level 25, but I don’t see any signs of her evolving. I’ll have to look into it when we get back home.”
“Well, maybe Caelis or Nerek can help with that as well. Either way, here’s hoping that the merchant’s guild is empty after this fight. I would find it odd if there was anything left in there waiting for us after they sent out this group to stop us.”
The group moved toward the edifice at the end of the street, staying alert just in case something else was waiting in ambush. When they neared the structure, Lanek was pulled back by Sanguineus tugging on his pant leg. He looked down in confusion, only for the wolf to nod toward Kazuma.
“Oh, right. I remember. Do your thing, buddy.” Lanek said as a very smug Kazuma dissipated into his mist form and entered the building ahead of them.