Other information was also exchanged with the clone, they were inconsequential, so after the clone finished preparing his breakfast, he cancelled him.
Releasing a contented sigh from the filling meal, Alex grabbed the twin rapiers off the ground. He bundled them up with the other swords on his back, the next thing he did was check if any valuables were left behind.
And apart from his newly bought furniture, there was nothing of importance left. Closing the door behind him, Alex walked along the empty street.
Suddenly, a bright light shone on his face, blinding his left eye for an instant. Instinctively crouching, Alex looked towards the source and saw that the gem on the spire had shot a beam of light towards the sky.
Alex followed the beam and his hands shook at the meteor, no, dungeon heading his way. The beam hit the dungeon and shaved off a part of it, making it rain rocks - or potential smaller dungeons if they are big enough - onto the wilderness.
He smacked himself and sprinted towards the church. Alex opened the doors and saw the whole church filled to the brim with familiar faces and those of livestock, they gave him scared glances and pried him off of the open door.
Not caring, he marched towards Father Orkon. The man looked absolutely badass, wearing crystal armor reminiscent of Mercy's fabled surface and on his back was a giant crystal sword.
Around him was an aura, and behind him the glass mosaic glowed with the colors of Mercy and splotches of Skorn.
He stopped, the familiarity with the man he knew as Father Orkon was gone. In front of him was someone completely different, not the kind, soft eyed man, but a hardened warrior.
He stepped up into his presence and felt suffocated. As if an entity greater than himself was scrutinising him. Alex smiled manically, enamored with this new sensation.
"Father Orkon, you look amazing for your age." He tried to joke, but his words came out monotone. Alex had to breath heavily every time he uttered a word.
"Alexander." The warrior simply said and gave him a grave nod. "You need not to fear for your mother, they shall be protected here in Mercy's sanctum."
"You aren't going to participate in the defence." Alex asked while looking for his mother, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was ok.
"No. This trial set by Skorn is for the nascent talents, it is unbecoming for an old soul to steal the fires of battle." The warrior uttered, and his aura surged, expanding to encompass the whole church.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The church replied in unison, beating, glowing. It felt like it was alive, it was alive. The murals on the walls, for long just stone, sprung to motion, illustrating their stories as if they were happening in front of them.
Alex conceded that this was a very humbling experience. he unfortunately had to leave, for he had hopes of getting something good out of this whole situation.
He exited the church, knowing deep down in his heart that his mother would be protected against any trick or monster Skorn threw at the church.
At that moment, he had a full view of the Dungeon barreling through the sky and towards the city. He gripped tightly into his swords as the spire fired one last beam before the gem atop it crumbled into ash.
The dungeon, so close for a brief instant he could see the red lava on its surface. The dungeon landed in the inner district, and for a moment he thought that was it.
An instant later, the ground surged and knocked him off his feet and into the air. The instant after, still in the air, he got hit by a heat wave that made him close his eyes.
Then the sound came in, pushing all the air out of his lungs. Perhaps if he had his eyes open, he could have seen the harsh red light that instantly disintegrated a whole district.
No, he had the misfortune of being rammed straight into a collapsing wooden house. At the last moment before he landed, Alex pushed himself into a roll, saving him from back breaking landing.
The only thing he had to deal with was the wooden splinters in clothes and clothes. Groaning, he wiped away all the wood dust from his eyes and opened them.
Alex saw utter devastation. The whole neighborhood was toppled over, every house was broken apart by debris from other houses. Whatever caused him to launch into the air had caused the houses to just…fall like sticks.
He could even see the four newly constructed walls - who were thankfully still standing - from his position through the rubble. The church was left unmarred, protected by a blue shield.
Alex silently thanked Father Orkon for his presence and crouched behind some rubble.
His skills have upgraded since the last encounter with Glen Crows, and he could probably summon more clones.
[Swordsmanship, Level 35 -> 55]
[Physical Conditioning, Level 41 -> 60]
[Natural Healing, Level 20 -> 22]
[Battle Flow, Level 7 -> 17]
[Leadership, Level 7 - >9]
[Marksmanship, Level 4 -> 8]
[Singular Focus, Level 2 -> 17]
[Last Hurraw, Level 1 -> 24]
[Solid Footwork, Level 1 -> 14]
The amount he had gained was simply amazing. He should probably stop delaying the skill level ups, it made his mind and body feel fuzzy from the level ups.
Alex breathed in and drew one rapier, focusing on a leaf that was riding on the wind. Activating all of his skills, he thrusted and impaled the leaf on his rapier. [Battle Flow] in a little corner of his mind nagged him that he should hurry up to the inner districts, apparently their fall would spell death to the whole city.
He summoned five clones - he can't provide the clothes or the masks necessary for the extra two clones - and gave each a sword. The clones and Alex had the masks on, considering that the city was literally in danger of destruction, it shouldn't be a problem.
"Alright, the plan is to scout out where the monsters of that dungeon are going to come from." Alex held command and pointed towards the landing location of the outer wall. "We need to see if that monster hoard has reached the walls. Either way, our main priority is to go out there, kill monsters and preferably save some poor schmucks."
The clones nodded and Alex smiled. The walls and the soldiers looked unharmed, the mage gradually going around healing the bruises earned from the few who had taken a rough tumble.
"Mercy to you all! Do you happen to know if someone needs a team of classless awakened?" Alex shouted to the mage.
"How the hell would I know? Be smart and go towards the dungeon." The mage scoffed and shook his head, returning to his work.
Alex shrugged and set his pace into a jog with his clones.