CHAPTER 101
Michael rubbed his hands together in mock excitement. “Knock my metaphysical socks off.”
Tom focused on the knowledge he had of the meteorite spell. It was not instant, but for a spell of its tier it was quick and his burst cast skill that he had got to facilitate elemental summoning helped even further.
Power crackled. The world got heavy and then out of that dense pressure netball sized rocks orbited him. Five of them crackled into existence with all of them moving. They spun in complicated orbits, actively truncating their natural loops to avoid hitting both Michael and Everlyn who stood inside their normal orbital distances.
Michael studied them for a moment. He shook his head and then walked away. “Bloody Useless.” He whispered only just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Next to him, Everlyn burst into laughter. “That’s pretty impressive. I still think my rewards beat yours, but we’re close.”
Then she handed him a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Just read it.”
Tom did as instructed. It was a single page with dense writing on back in front and was clearly an account purchased from the auction house. When he finished, he looked curiously at her. “This is an excellent find. It’s claiming that subsequent waves increase by more than the two ranks advertised.”
“Different people have varied opinions, but that’s how I read it, too.”
“These guys sound like they got it worse than us. Eight hundred in the starting group. Surrounded by rank twenty monsters. They fought to a lower rank zone, losing around over three hundred, though everyone increased by at least four ranks, which meant from a combat perspective they were stronger than when they started. But that’s a massive loss of life.”
Everlyn smiled sadly. “I think it’ll be a common story. None of us thought this would be easy, but the key bit was they were all around rank twelve, settling into a similar ranked area. And by the fourth round they had to abandon because they lost fifty people. We’re an average rank of nine in a rank fourteen area. We’re going to be crucified.”
Tom nodded. “It’s not like we were ever going to claim the settlement in full.”
Everlyn laughed. “That wasn’t why I gave you that to read it. The key bit to me was that there was little danger increase for them for the first three waves and it was only the fourth wave that got dramatically harder.”
“You think that if we survive the first day we should do two more waves before leaving?”
She nodded. “That’s my view and Michael’s.”
“We’ll have to see how this goes, then. It’s all theoretical. We might not survive the coming assault. Rank nine in a rank fourteen area. And the only way people will stay is if it is an easy.”
“Lets get to our battle spots.” Michael yelled. He pointed at the two of them. “You two troublemakers. Can I convince you to split up?”
Next to him Everlyn shook her head. “Not for this.”
Michael blinked at that response and then shrugged. “I didn’t think so. I’ve assigned the golem to the southwest and you two to the wall on the north-west corner. Is that too far for you to direct it?”
Tom shook his head. “My connection to the elemental is over a hundred metres.”
“Good. You need to get to your new locations. Only a few minutes left.” The healer looked excited.
Despite Michael hurrying them up, there were still over ten minutes before the event would start. Rather than navigating along the cluttered top layer of the wall they went down to the central yard to use one of the ramps close to their assigned position.
The healing tent was front and centre and drew their eye. “I wonder what Harry discovered?”
Everlyn squeezed his hand. “We’ll chat later, but I saw his expression when he came back. It’s not good.”
Tom looked quizzically at her.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think he discovered anything.”
“That doesn’t make sense to me?”
Everlyn shrugged. “We’ll find out later.” She then stepped abruptly to the side as one of his meteorites shot through where her head had been.
Tom laughed. “You don’t have to dodge.”
“It was coming right at me. I’m not going to let it hit me.” With casual agility, she danced around another. “I hope they’re worth this hassle.”
“Yep. They’re great.”
She evaded another. “They’re super annoying.”
“That’s unfair. You don’t have to dodge them.”
She glared at him. “If you had one aiming for you, what would you do?”
“Trust it to go around me.”
“Bullshit.” She poked him.
“Careful! You don’t want to trigger their defensive algorithms.”
Everlyn’s eyes narrowed. “I know perfectly well you control that.” She poked him, this time hard to underline her point.
“Then why are you dodging them every time if you’re so confident in the spell?”
“I’m not confident per se. It’s not like I’m trying to tickle you.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Tom chuckled. “Harsh.”
She flinched and converted it into a backflip.
“Trust me, they won’t touch. I promise.”
“I’ll try.”
She ducked. “Don’t say a thing. I trust you but my instincts.” She looked away, embarrassed. “They’re hard to control.”
Tom didn’t judge her at all for dodging. He knew he would do the same.
One whizzed past her hair. “Were they really essential?”
“You’ll get to see them in action soon. Then you’ll change your mind.”
“I can’t wait.” She responded dryly.
They walked up the internal ramp to the wall and stood on their assigned platform looking north-west. Tom moved to the very corner. When he glanced down the west wall, he could see his golem appearing still but deadly on the far corner. While static, he could feel the alertness of the elemental, which was ready to defend against anything that approached. Its black shiny surface standing out versus the dark blue grey rock behind it. Obsidian did not lend itself to camouflage.
He returned to his own designated fighting location that would let him target monsters to both the north and west. He hoped the enemy would not spawn right where the dome currently sat. If they were that close, his Harnessed Meteorite would be useless and Everlyn would rib him mercilessly. Tom studied the base of the dome and as far as he could tell, there were no monsters directly behind it. Everlyn and he smiled. She was doing what he was and trying to spot the enemies in advance.
“Anything?”
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her shake her head.
They stood shoulder to shoulder. Both of them deliberately leaning into each to create a small amount of comforting body contact. Neither would admit it, but like all of them gathered they were apprehensive and these last minutes waiting with own your imagination were the hardest.
It was better than during the tutorial. Just having someone he cared about to experience the time improved the experience.
The not so translucent dome stretched out above them and then down to the ground it flashed.
“Two minutes,” she whispered.
Tom nodded not needing to say anything. The monster wave would come and they would see whether they could defeat it.
Another minute passed and with an apologetic look Everlyn pulled away to the side. She took two large paces, positioning herself outside the orbit of his rocks and then after a moment of distortion her new magic bow was in her hands. Tom was more subtle, with four throwing rocks appearing in his palm without the visible ripples. While everyone had seen Everlyn’s manifestation, Tom doubted that even Everlyn would have noticed his own.
He could do this.
But…
With a panicked thought, he shut his eyes and appeared in his system room.
“Display throwing skills?”
He pictured in his mind what he wanted. A general skill as high tier as possible in his budget. One that could be used with rocks of different size. Preferably, the skill allowed him to impart extra speed and accuracy. Tom knew there were probably dozens of throwing skills but most would be useless to him. He did not want a version that would add magical damage or one to let him remotely control the stones and curve them through the air or even ones that imparted accuracy after a high arcing throw. He didn’t want that. Straight line throws was what he needed the skill to aid.
Three options appeared on the metal wall in front of him.
Skill: Straight Throw - Tier 0
Provides a small bonus to aim and increased speed with each level
Cost: 3,500
At a basic level, it was exactly what he wanted. No frills and a skill that would grow with him even if it was boring.
Skill: Enhanced Arm - Tier 2
Increase strength for a short period in your arms at the cost of vitality. Can be activated at different strengths.
Cost 11,000
This was a straight physical boost that synergized with his Touch Heal ability almost perfectly.
Skill: Accurate Throw - Tier 1
Improves accuracy at the cost of reduced throwing speed. Can be activated at different strengths.
Cost 9,000
Tom hesitated.
All three were within his price range, and he had to admit that they were all good options for what he needed. The first was the sort of passive skill that would grow with him forever. The issue with it was that for right now it was weak. It was a tier zero skill that explicitly scaled with level. Tom had more than enough experience with how those types of abilities played out. When the skill level was raised to a hundred, Tom was sure that it would make it almost impossible for him to miss the throw and probably double his throwing speed, but for this coming battle wouldn’t even be noticeable.
The second option would increase the power of his strike. A bonus that meant he could ignore gravity in its entirety, as the stone would cross the distance too fast for it to have an effect. That was a minor boost to accuracy, but the combination would be more deadly against large enemies. They were sizable enough that he wouldn’t miss, and each rock would travel with a velocity that turned them into the equivalent of anti-tank rounds.
The last skill was the most interesting and Tom knew that how things stood, if he was fighting agile animals or god forbid aerial opponents then hitting a target would be more chance than skill. Yet it would weaken his throws… unless he toggled it off or on.
“Purchase Accurate Throw.”
The knowledge of how to engage the ability downloaded into his mind. It was a fascinating skill. The more he slowed the throw and focused on his accuracy the more the skill would do its work. It was a scalable boost to the accuracy of his throws. If he took his time, he would hit the bullseye of a dart board every single time.
It wouldn’t help him predict where an opponent would move to, but Tom had decades of experience in that space. It was rare that an enemy on the battlefield would dodge in a manner that surprised him.
Tom nodded. It was exactly what he wanted. Now he could at least hit his target.
He opened his eyes to the real world and everyone nearby was laughing.
“What?” he stammered, wondering what he missed.
Then he realised they were all looking at him.
“Bit late for the system room, isn’t it?” Thumper asked. “We’ve had hours.”
“I was busy?” Tom said back. “Plus, I had time.”
Above them, the dome flashed in warning, and then it expanded outwards. Tom had a sinking feeling. The dome had not vanished he could still see it. It had receded a long way, but they remained encased, trapped within a battleground, he realised. The top was literally kilometres above their heads and then on all on sides he could see it in the far distance. Five, ten kilometres away, but still there. They had been committed to defending their fortifications from the wording of the event alert, but he had truly registered how literal that statement was. They were caught in a space with whatever the event monster was and there was no fleeing the confrontation.
Everyone was stuck here till the challenge was defeated.
Tom’s eyes searched for the enemy. They had not started massed next to the smaller dome like he had feared but were instead almost half a kilometre away.
Goblins.
Like the horrible creatures normally behaved, they were clumped together and Tom could see that these were evolved versions. They moved with military discipline. They had front-line fighters, scouts, shamans, archers and champions. Neat ranks, but they were event constructions so they would be monsters and not sapient. They had been created by the system and would be disappeared by it after the event and even if they could be transferred into the wild, they would continue to act as monsters. They would be incapable of creating a society and any sapient they saw would cause them to fall into a rage and attack on sight.
“Confirmed by identify as monsters,” Everlyn said quietly, confirming his thoughts. “No resistances of concern, no vulnerabilities to target, average rank of ten despite their size.”
“Pretty much what we expected, then.” Tom summarised. “Magic users?”
“Two types, a weak buffing healing shaman, and let’s call them earth breakers. There’s only a few of them. If they get to the wall and are allowed to channel their magic for over ten seconds, they’ll bring it down. Earth breakers are ones that look like shamans with feathers on their head. They’re everyone’s primary target if they reach the fortifications.”
“Don’t let the ones with feathers get to the walls.” Tom yelled, and he heard similar shouts coming from other areas of the wall. Everyone with an advanced identification had come to the same conclusion. Everlyn wasn’t the only person with those skills.