The lake had frozen completely, Jazmel shouted down to them and Sadé knew it because she heard the cry of the attackers as they charged across the frozen walk space now and hurried towards the outpost. Sadé was shocked at the cries and yet she was ready for the fight.
“Here they come!” Katie yelled and she whirled her chain above her head before she flung it out across the wall aiming at something Sadé couldn’t see yet.
“Stay together if you get split up, at least try, and find another group to join. That’s how we survive this, tonight!” she yelled, and she touched her source of Mana and compelled all her tails to flare out, she was incensed. She had grown to love the feeling of the Mana, the power she thrummed with. Kazumi bounded out of her ring and yipped her participation. She was now ready to support her.
“Here come the first wave!” Jazmel yelled from the top of the wall and fiends and ghouls clambered over the wall with quick, rapid ease.
Foxfire!
Foxfire!
Foxfire!
She pulled Mana and activated the skill, and the ten orbs of blue flames quickly became thirty. She cast them across and burned the first few fiends that even made it down the stairs of the outpost wall.
DING!
X4 TIER III SPECTRAL GHOULS KILLED!
+4 DEX
She felt her stats jump and her dexterity leapt with it. the remaining spectral ghouls leapt into the retainers, and she was too worried about hitting them for her to cast her skills so close. she drew her short sword and the sabre, rushing in. she took two heads before they whirled on her, but before they could attack her in unison. The lower levelled retainers ambushed them, stabbing and striking with their enchanted spears and swords. The ghouls died quickly, and she watched the eyes of a few retainers glaze over as their stats were bumped up and their levels rose.
Yip!
she heard and looking over to her side she saw Kazumi tearing the back up of a spectral ghoul was biting into the neck of a retainer, she leapt over and when she reached it the ghoul raised its head to try and reach Kazumi, she swung her sabre and took its head off from the shoulders, it died shuddering.
“You alright?” she asked, and the girl whimpered as she quickly pulled a health potion from her ring and guzzled it down, her wound was gaping, but the potion made quick work of it, leaving it looking like an age-old scar, she would need to heal more for it to disappear, but now wasn’t the time for that.
“Get up and find a group!”
“Sadé!” she heard turning, she saw one of the harbingers swinging its scythe above its head and preparing to slash it down on a group of retainers it had backed into a corner.
Thunderfire!
She cast her skill and burnt a hole through the back of the hooded head, the harbinger dropped, and she felt her stats jump.
DING!
TIER III HARBINGER KILLED!
+3 STR
+3 AGL
+2 WIL
…
THUNDERFIRE HAS EVOLVED TO TIER II!
She felt her skill mature, that was the only word of which she could think. Before she could consider it, three harbingers leapt at her and she danced around their feet, parrying and slicing with her two blades. She created some distance and threw fox fire orbs into the air. As the harbingers rushed her, something twinkled in her mind. An epiphany, as they circled her and tried to pin her down, she cast thunder into the orbs and they rained down around her, bombarding the harbingers but also burning her.
DING!
NEW SKILL LEARNED!
LIGHTNING FALL TIER I!
She cast the skill two more times, and the harbingers were wrecked with the new skill. One was burnt so badly it burst in a shower of crystalised glass and she ducked away from the swing of another’s scythe. She leapt in the air.
Thunderfire!
Lightning fall!
Her thunder and lightning rained down, burning and shocking both harbingers. The retainers closest rushed in and stabbed them till they stopped moving with their spears. Roaring with joy and battle rage. She could share the exp after all.
DING!
X2 TIER III HARBINGER DEFEATED!
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EXP ACCRUED!
…
+2 PER
+2 END
…
LEVEL UP!
+1 STR
+1 INT
+1 VIT
Her body almost vibrated with her newly earned stats, but the pleasure was short lived. The barred doors banged under the might of a heavy strike, three more befell them before the caved in. the gorge giants had reached.
Patton and Bannerman were there as soon as the doors broke in, but one giant had broken away and charged at the retainers who were fighting off the fiends and still doing their best.
“He’s mine!” Sadé yelled, for herself more so than anyone else. She didn’t know who else was there. She ran towards its legs; it kicked out at her, and she deftly averted it. stabbing into the knee joint and using the blade to swing herself up. She heard it roar and it did the silly thing of trying to swat her away. She stabbed into the palm of its hand and as it raised it up to shake her off, she pushed herself off of its hand and leapt at its face, with both blades freed. She stabbed into the eyes, it wailed; blinded and in agony from her relentless attacks.
Thunderfire!
She cast with a free hand and the bolt bore through the skull of the giant, killing it instantly and blasting her with brain gore. She retched but swallowed it back, as it fell backwards. She freed her blades and jumped off the body just before it hit the ground.
DING!
YOU HAVE KILLED A TIER III GORGE GIANT FOR THE FIRST TIME!
YOU SUFFERED NO DAMAGE FROM ITS ATTACKS!
…
+4 END
+4 WIL
+3 DEX
+3 AGL
…
TITLE EARNED!
FEATHERED GRACE! The world is tumultuous, uneven grounds everywhere you go. The path is not even, but you are not bothered!
+4 DEX
+4 AGL
She hummed at that! She hadn’t gained a title like that before; she hadn’t even seen anything like that before. But she was surprised by it all the same. Her body grabbed at the stat points, and she felt her speed and balance forming a serious harmony, she was reaching the 100-stat mark, and she knew that when they all reached 100, she would undergo ‘tempering’ something that adjusted the limits for the body similar to a tier tribulation. She had even forgotten about it, but once Jazmel had told her he had gone through it she wondered just how hard he had been working.
She turned and saw Bannerman and Patton fighting off the gorge giants between them, Bannerman had turned into a wolf man hybrid; she wondered if that was a new skill of his or had it been after his tier tribulation. She was about to join them when she saw Mary sailing through the air with the sound of elephant trumpets all around her.
Mastodon!
Her Mana was burning, literally steaming off of her body and she crashed into the head of one of the gorge giants. She burst through its head; pulping its skull with her bestial power.
Radical smash!
Timone appeared, charging through the knee of a giant, it crashed to the ground; growling and wailing, its knee bent at an odd angle.
Ion beam
She shot her beam from her mechanical arm into its face and its nose burst as the beam passed through and pierced through the back of its skull. She roared and rushed after another giant before it crashed forward into the retainers she was leading the charge of.
They seemed to be holding their own, that’s when the first screams could be heard. The barrow knights appeared. They wailed their death cries, and the chill of the paralysing feeling could be felt all around, but she didn’t let herself suffer beneath it.
The first barrow knight came through the gates and rushed towards her, she met its charge with a slash from her bloody sabre and she skirted its own rusted blade before unleashing her skill with her off hand.
Foxfire!
The orbs burst through the rusting armour and burned the spectral form of the barrow knight. It wailed a different scream and as it turned to try and leap at her. Kazumi bounded forward and spewed fire at it, her own fox fire. The barrow knight was melted, its armour and spirit.
DING!
TIER II BARROW KNIGHT DEFEATED!
MARAUDING FOX!
TIER I SUN GEM LOOTED!
EXP ACCRUED!
…
COMPANION; KAZUMI HAS LEVELLED UP!
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP
LEVEL UP!
COMPANION HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!
COMPANION IS READY TO EVOLVE WILL YOU ALLOW?
Y/N?
Kazumi could evolve further. Of course she would accept!
Kazumi barked when she accepted and immediately was shrouded in flames, she became a blazing bonfire.
DING!
KAZUMI IS ASKING FOR THE KITSUNE MASK
WILL YOU ALLOW?
Y/N?
She accepted, this was unchartered territory for her, but Kazumi was her companion and her being stronger, meant Sadé was stronger too.
…
DING!
KAZUMI IS ASKING FOR THE TIER I SUN GEM!
WILL YOU ALLOW?
Y/N?
She accepted and they disappeared from her ring and were dumped into the bonfire.
KAZUMI IS EVOLVING!
ITEMS HAVE BEEN ADDED!
…
…
A bark from something much bigger than a small fox bellowed from within the bonfire and it burned quickly and much brighter than before, Sadé had to shield her eyes as it reached its peak.
DING!
COMPANION HAS EVOLVED!
KAZUMI HAS BECOME A FIRE HOUND!
COMPANION LEVEL 10!
The bonfire blazed but was ebbing away, from within a big fox hound stepped from within. Its coat was winter white but orange and red fur covered her chest, shoulders, and tail. Kazumi’s face bore the markings of the kitsune mask, red tears under each eye and in her forehead the sun gem sat; emblazoned.
She was huge! The side of a small horse and she was strong the Mana broiling off her was enough to let Sadé know that, stroked the fur, and found it warm to touch.
Climb on! She heard in her head, Kazumi could speak! She pulled herself onto the spot just behind her shoulders and Kazumi barked before darting forward into the rest of the barrow knights and wights. She bit off the head of one, clawed through two and spewed her fire all around her.
DING!
KAZUMI HAS LEARNED FOX INFERNO!
SHE HAS KILLED X10 TIER II BARROW KNIGHTS!
EXP SHARED!
Sadé felt her body thrum with the shared exp, and she shuddered with the strength. She smiled, they were going to be formidable, she sheathed her blades and began casting from atop the back of Kazumi, just the two of them decimated the tier II barrow knights and the tier III barrow wights.
DING!
X3 TIER II BARROW KNIGHTS KILLED!
…
+3 PER
+3 END
DING!
X6 TIER III BARROW WIGHTS KILLED!
+2 STR
+2 WIL
The stats were thrumming into her body, and she felt her muscles strengthening with them, the barrow wights had been destroyed, the knights were decimated. The gorge giants were hardy, but they were being quelled.