Mathew stood in his full battle gear, he kept [Doozkora’s Rod] in his personal storage for now. He was going to use one of his backup staves for the night. It was one of his elemental themed ones, being ice.
Jeffery was wearing his full armor set. Beth found it both adorable and genius Mathew had a set made. Half an hour before the hoards were to show up, everyone headed off to their respective spots.
Mark was down near the front lines, choosing to take the first shift as a show of power. That even he, their leader, fights next to them. Mathew agreed it was smart for morale. His role was to sit and wait until he was needed. If he was to use the hoard from the last floor as an example, it would be about halfway before anything super dangerous showed up.
It was different having eight people versus around a hundred. Even those without fighting classes still took up arms to help out. In total, there were eighty armed fighters. The other twenty were the medical staff. There used to be more, but they all cracked their tokens and left willingly or forced to due to being too weak and thus will get in the way.
Mathew didn’t secretly summon Agnox, in fear of him being discovered. As for the wisps, he could conjure them if he gets a moment to focus enough to do so. He didn’t bother using his new ritual either, since he wanted to test it out before using it.
He wasn’t worried. Even if it was twelve hours of nonstop fighting Beginner ranked creatures. Mathew knew they had every advantage. He with his entire arsenal cleared out a Beginner ranked dungeon without much threat to his life or his two main summons. Only a single wisp was taken out.
One of the other mages elbowed him. “Mark told me to keep an eye on you. I’m Patrick. I’m Mark’s lead battle mage. I’ve known your brother for a few years, one of his public relations spokesman. Anyways, keep an eye out for trouble, and I’ll let you know when to attack. How many different ranged spells do you have?”
Patrick was an average looking black man. The only thing discernable about him was burn scars across a part of his head.
Mathew looked at him. “Ah, yes Mark mentioned you. I have one main one that I’ll be using. I have a couple medium ranged attacks but my main one is Apprentice rank. Oh, and Beth said to mention it’s Ice typed.”
Patrick nodded. “Good, should be useful against the golems if Beth’s team is right on typed attacks having a meaning. Smart girl she is. Anyways, I have five main attacks. However they drain my mana like a bitch, so I’m in reserve until something big shows up. Let me guess, you still have [Mana Bolt]?”
“Still? What do you mean?” Mathew asked curiously.
“It’s just an idea, but Beth thinks certain mage classes will get their [Mana Bolt] changed eventually based on its affinity. Your Apprentice ranked, so is the skill. Just means I have to wait another tier before I can possibly upgrade it. Having an Uncommon class is kinda a bummer, but we can’t all have rare ones like Mark.”
“Makes sense, what are your spells if you don’t mind me asking?”
“My [Mana Bolt] is fire themed. I have a short fire attack, one long ranged lightning aspected attack, two medium ranged water and plant themed ones. Plant one is useless here, since there are no plants.”
“I can see your mana issue now.” Mathew said, thinking if he should mention Mana Channels or not. “Bah, I can ask Mark or Beth about it tomorrow. He can’t do anything about it at this short notice.”
Everyone was quiet. Waiting. Time ticked by until an echoing gong washed over them all.
Mark raised a sword, “Here they come!” His voice filled the room and everyone was ready.
Mathew found the tense stillness worrying. It was a bit unnerving, something he wasn’t that used to.
The first sounds of battle echoed from the north west side of the cavern. Mathew couldn’t tell what was being fought, but it was either kobolds or goblins. He would have seen the towering golems from here.
Moments later a group of rabid goblins and kobolds came barging into view of Mathew’s tunnel. Instantly a volley of arrows and other ranged attacks flew through the air killing off dozens of the small creatures.
The first few minutes of their defense went like that. Just low intensity ranged attacks picking off the weaker creatures. Those minutes sooned turned into an hour. Occasionally the ranged fighters would rotate out with the melee attackers.
Nobody stepped past an invisible line, letting the creatures come to them. Just like last week, their bodies dissipated into nothing not long after their death.
Mathew watched with interest of the various fighters. He did detect common patterns in certain people’s way of fighting. “Those all must be using the common culviation manual Mark mentioned.” Mathew thought to himself.
He felt a bit miffed about the situation. It’s been over an hour and he hasn’t lifted a finger to help and fight. Injuries have been minimal. Anyone with an injury passed a bruise or shallow cut was sent to be healed, and would return soon after they were battle ready once again.
However, that luck changed at the two hour mark. Thundering footsteps echoed as golems started to appear. The ten foot tall massive stone creatures were slow, but hard to put down.
“This is where you come into play.” Patrick said as two orbs rose from his hands.
Mathew nodded and aimed his staff at the ones further back.
“Aim for their cores, that’s their weak point, if you can’t hit them, do your best to aim for the limbs instead.”
Mathew just smiled slightly. He fired a medium powered [Mana Bolt]. It sailed over everyone’s heads and adjusted midair as it slammed into the red crystal center of one of the Golems. Mathew had it empowered with his Axiom of Resistance, feeling a heavier attack would do better than Piercing.
And right he was. The Golem crumbled apart instantly as its core was destroyed in a single attack. Patrick gave a low whistle in surprise. “Damn, okay. New plan. You keep doing that to the ones further back. Think you can keep hitting that perfectly? I’ll have the other mages focus on other priorities.”
Mathew just nodded, “I can keep it up, but not forever.”
“That’s fine with me. Do your best. I bet Mark is glad you are here now more than ever.”
Mathew killed golem after golem. Even for Beginner ranked creatures, they were easy to take down. Between heavy waves, Mathew asked Patrick about them.
“Golems are super defensive everywhere but their core. It’s hard to hit normally since they move. You're one of the few with the ability to direct their attacks midair. Even then, your the only one who can take them out in one hit.”
It wasn’t long before it was the three hour mark and Mathew took a break. He pulled out a staff to drain off mana he stored inside of it previously. He had fully stocked his staves inside the Crafting Challenge, but he didn’t have an endless supply of staves. He is going to need better ways to figure out his mana problem in the future.
Four hours into the night, the first major injury occurred over by the North West tunnel. Apparently the kobolds were smart and used the golems as mobile walls. Once the golem fell, five or six kobolds flew from their backs and were able to reach the second and third defense lines.
Word spread fast thanks to Jon and his group. They were fast, faster than anyone Mathew had seen run. It was obvious they put points heavily into Dexterity and Endurance.
Thanks to the quick messages, the south tunnel was able to prepare for the tactic and had no problems. Mathew watched as Mark danced through the hordes and killed anything that was within his reach.
Everything he fought nobody attacked it. Regardless of what he fought, be it goblin, kobold, or golem. All died by his blades. A few times Mathew noticed him using a Technique. His blades would glow blue and ice would be left behind covering the creature's wounds.
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Other times, Mark would shoot a lone icicle attack. It was longer and more physical than Mathew’s own [Mana Bolt].
At the six hour mark, the waves waned off. Mark came back to rest next to Mathew, he was covered in sweat. “I think tonight will go better than expected. No deaths so far.”
“Easier than what I experienced last week, that's for sure.” Mathew said as he drank from one of his water bottles.
“Keep up the good work, you’ve impressed me with your single spell. Do you have anything better?”
Mathew shook his head, “Nothing that far in range as useful as that one.”
Mark patted Mathew on the arm. “All good, most people are only using one or two spells. Good target practice at least. How are you doing? No mana problems?”
“Nope, I have good mana control. We can talk about that later, I might be able to help your people out. However, it will be after the World Quest.”
“Good. You being here is good public relations work. You are going to gain trust from these people. Once our two groups are able to travel to each other’s zones, it will make the change less problematic. They see you fight with them. They already are thankful for saving most of their lives from Harrison. Now? Well, let’s say I foresee you getting toasted in the feast.”
Mathew pointed at the tunnel. “Shouldn’t you be fighting and not talking with me?”
Mark waved a hand, “It’s twelve hours of fighting. Taking a breather is good. Plus, it shows I'm still human. I could fight for the entire night, but be basically dead at the end. You should learn a thing or two about being a leader with me. You don’t have as much practice.”
Mathew looked ahead at the fighting people. “I’ve gotten better. A few bumps here and there back at Blue Oaks, but I think I do pretty well. Not as good as you thought.”
“You’ll do fine. You're a McGonald. Leadership and power is in your blood.”
Mathew nodded, “That much I can’t disagree with.” He honestly couldn’t. Considering all five living brothers were high on the level board is something that can’t be argued against. They were all strong and powerful. Even Luke, although he wasn’t Apprentice rank yet, Mathew knew he was powerful in his own regard.
Mark stood up with a stretch. “Come on, we are not even halfway through this thing. Time to gain some more experience.”
He jogged back to the front lines, leaving Mathew alone. Jeffery gave a disappointing sigh. “Relax. You will have fun in a couple days. Enjoy the easy night.”
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The lack of blood was disappointing to him. He was hoping there would be more of it on this floor.
His own blood danced around him killing anything that got too close. Kobolds and Goblins appeared out of practically nothing, ravaged and far more sinister than their normal counterparts. He killed all of them with minimal effort.
Walking into the light of battle, it took several moments before someone noticed him. “Hey, we got a guy! He’s walking toward us killing the monsters too!”
Word traveled back to their section leader. The blood mage was waved closer. “Dude, get in here, we can keep you safe. You must be tired! What’s your name?”
He smiled and feigned fatigue, “Aaron. Thank god I found someone. It’s a bloody hellscape alone!”
He was pushed back behind the wall of people. There was no reason to start killing them now. That can come later, when it would be more fun.
A woman came up to him, fully decked out in heavy armor and had a giant shield. “You the crazy guy who was by himself? Shit, you look horrible too, but no blood on you. How you manage that?”
“It’s her! The blood I found! Yet, she isn’t pure enough…” Aaron smiled at her, as if thanking her. “Well, I have a few tricks, but I’m all tuckered out. Thank god I found you all. How the hell are you all surviving this shit?”
The woman chuckled a bit, “With sheer numbers and tactics. Hold on here, my Uncle will come and take you to the infirmary. Keep in mind, we won’t trust you completely, we had a recent scuffle with some trouble makers. Behave, and we can get you some food before too long.”
A dark clothed man appeared next to Aaron. “This him Beth?”
“Yea, take him to Uncle Adam. He will fix him up. Make sure Dad and Jonny know about him too.”
“She has a father. That must be his blood I detected, or possibly an uncle? Depends on if the blood was through her father or mother, and the relation to the two uncles.”
The dark clothed man escorted him. He wore a dark green armband. “You are crazy fucker, coming at us like that. I’m surprised you weren't killed in the crossfire.”
“Me too friend.” Aaron said. “I’m just glad I can finally rest. Those things are way stronger than the previous floors. Especially those golems.”
“Yea the golems are annoying.” He led Aaron into a tented area. The scent of sanitation filled the place. “Nurse! I got a stranger for you all. Come from deeper in the tunnels, get him checked out by Adam please. Beth’s orders.”
A random woman guided him to a bed. Aaron noticed several blooded clothes, but nothing heavy. Nobody has been severely wounded it seemed, or if they were, not in here.
“You poor thing! Here, sit down.”
Aaron watched as she walked over to a table to grab supplies. “Here, I have to do a magical check on you, is that okay? I don’t see anything external, no blood. You must have quite a high Endurance to not be bleeding from those monsters.”
“Something like that.” Aaron passively said. He let her examine her. Not the first time he suffered through such things. “Soon. One of them will show up. Come on, I want you!”
“You okay dear? You look a bit pale.”
“Oh, I’m fine. Just uh, hungry is all.”
“I can get you something small. Everyone is fighting right now, so no real meals until the fighting is over. I’ll be right back, you stay here and rest. Doctor Adam should be here soon.”
Aaron nodded and waited. The echoes of battle were dim inside the tent. However, the rushing of his own blood was all that he could really hear. His leg started to bounce in anticipation. “Soon. Soon. Soon.”
The tent flaps opened and a tall handsome man walked in. Probably in his late thirties, early forties. His brown hair and piercing blue eyes fell onto Aaron.
“Hello there, I heard you are my stranger patient. What’s your name? I’m Dr. McGonald, but call me Adam.” He already had a pair of latex gloves on and walked over to Aaron.
“Yes I can tell it’s him!” Aaron froze. For the first time in twenty three years, he froze before he killed someone.
“Sir? Are you okay?”
“-I’m better than okay. I’m Aaron Kinko by the way. Tell me, do you know a Psychologist named Benjamin McGonald? I have a feeling you two know each other.” Aaron said with a smile. A big smile.
The Doctor blinked. He didn’t get a chance to answer before blood sprayed across the white bedding. A screech pierced through the tent from the nurse in a panic.
Adam grabbed his chest, a gaping slash was pumping out blood. A bright light filled the room as he poured healing magic into himself.
Aaron licked his fingers. “By the way you taste, I take that as a yes.”