Collectively, the group of them studied the aftermath of the battle. It had been both harder and easier than they had expected. Tom shot an annoyed look at the chosen. It was significant that they had stayed out of the fight. Not completely, of course. They had helped with a couple of shields, but they hadn’t helped offensively even when an intervention would have been helpful. He knew the reasons, but it still rankled, so much power constrained by what he saw as ridiculous morals.
Everything they fought in the trial was a construct. Not killing them on ethical grounds was non- sensical but there was no arguing with them.
“Glass cannons.” Thor declared, kicking one of the strange square bodies. “There’s no way I should be able to one shot a monster four ranks higher than me.”
“That’s only twenty-five percent stronger,” Keikain objected. “That’s not beyond the realms of imagination. Four ranks is just not that big of a gap anymore. I was regularly crossing both larger absolute and percentage gaps in the tutorial.”
“Whatever,” Thor waved the comment away. “They were weak. I expected a bigger fight.”
“It was plenty hard.” Tom shivered as his mind played through the battle. “Fragile sure, easily taunted as well, but they were fast and that magic is devastating. They’re not a great opponent for us.”
“They weren’t that bad.”
“If I wasn’t there, you’d be yelling to a different tune. They weren’t that bad because I was protecting your arse. That magic alone…”
Everlyn looked at him in concern. “Was the magic really a problem? I saw them cast it and it cutup stone and tore apart other zlotorcs but you seemed to evade it easily.”
He hesitated… If it hit him… which was more than possible. It wasn’t like it would take the world turning against him for one of those to strike. The spells, despite their destructive power travelled ridiculously quickly. “Yeah, they’re a problem.” Then he froze and looked up at the sky. He felt like kicking himself. “Maybe not. I’m an idiot. I just need to use my reflection skill more aggressively. Most of them I’m dodging easily. I just feel like if a couple came at me from my blindside at the wrong moment…But if I’m using my reflective skill…” he mused. “Even in the chaos of battle, it’s not going to catch me fully unaware. And the skill is so responsive.” He caught Everlyn’s eyes. “False alarm. I’ll be fine.”
She appeared relieved. “That’s great. My professional assessment is that those tactics work. We can even scale them up to fight large groups. Especially when with the narrow tunnels, a single good chaos bolt is sufficient to allow us to disengage.”
“Yes, that worked a treat,” Michael agreed enthusiastically.
“I think we can use my rituals too,” Harry volunteered. “I’ve got something that can hold them for the ten seconds we need to disengage.”
The elder flew to hover next to Everlyn. “Perceptive one. I noted you did not ask us to fight and I thank you. Your instincts are right. The Zlotorcs are too close to sapient for us to be involved.”
She did not look at all surprised. “Largest One, caution is prudent for now and won’t cost us. We can fight them easy enough. They’re vulnerable to air and crushing damage. I think if we pick our battle locations they become a good match up for us and you won’t be required.”
The elder bobbed up and down. “Thank you, Perceptive one.”
Everlyn nodded. “Well, guys, all we need is to find some decent ambush spots.”
Tom cleared his throat. “I don’t want to be that guy, but that’s not required.”
“It is,” she disputed instantly.
“No…I mean… the searching component. These passages are all the same. It’s going to be faster to shape a random spot to suit us than to keep exploring for a specific layout.”
“Not so fast,” Keikain argued. “There are areas we can’t use. On the way here we passed a two hundred metre stretch that was stable. If we’re in these tunnels, we won’t be able to collapse anything.”
“I saw them.” Tom agreed easily. “There were a couple of those spots, but the rest of the tunnels will give us what we need. We should move as a group and then bunker down when we’re close to our targets. It’ll speed things up a lot.”
Everlyn looked between them. “Keikain?”
The earth mage sighed. “My sensing skill aren’t as good as his. If he says it’s fine, then it will be.”
That was apparently enough, and they went with the plan they had put together.
It worked surprisingly well.
Everlyn would find a swarm. They would spend twenty minutes shaping the environment along with Harry preparing rituals. Then she would trigger them and lead them right into a trap.
Tom would tank them briefly before collapsing the ceiling. Harry, when asked would initiate his rituals which would buy them all time to retreat the thirty metres they needed. Then they would rinse and repeat up to another three times until the majority of the enemies were dead. For the type of fighting, it was surprisingly low risk. Now that he had the reflective shield enabled to intercept the magic attacks from his blind spots it was relatively safe for the rank and quantity of monsters they were fighting. He would suffer a few scratches in the frantic opening twenty seconds of the fight and then the fate generated by the dodge would overwhelm that of the enemy and after that he was safe.
The zlotorcs had their own fate, but it appeared to trigger exclusively for defence related activities and it repeatedly failed them when multiple tonnes of rock fell on top of them.
The engagements were glorious and Tom could almost taste the experience flooding into him, or at least the anticipation of it.
They completed another pitched battle. All of them were smiling. It felt good to turn the process into a routine execution. They understood what they had to do, and they were able to execute the plan almost flawlessly.
“Everyone who’s on clean up move,” Everlyn ordered.
Dutifully, everyone but Everlyn, Tom, Keikain and Harry proceeded forward. While they couldn’t currently check the experience allocation, they knew enough about how the system worked to be able to predict the likely distribution.
Tom, of course, was out earning everyone by what was presumably a significant margin because not only was he physically killing almost half the zlotorcs he was also protecting them all from harm. While he doubted he would hit the experience cap, how slayer titles worked he would not be getting as much of a bonus by cleaning up the hurt monsters as the others.
The other three were held back for similar reasons. Harry’s contribution with the rituals was clearly material, and it wasn’t just the mana regeneration ones that let them keep going. His ritual ability to stop a flood of creatures for the critical ten seconds meant he would receive a significant amount of the experience that Tom was getting from the rock falls. And he was worth it. His presence allowed them to go significantly faster than what they would be able to manage without him.
Keikain and Everlyn were more fringe cases. The earth mage was included because he was a key contributor to shaping the battleground which was expected to earn him a lot of passive contribution and he triggered the occasional rockfall to get direct kills. Everlyn’s point came from a similar mechanism. While her arrows only put her middle of the pack, it was lost on none of them that she was acting as the supreme battle commander and her drawing the monsters into the ambush needed to count for a lot.
The five on clean up re-entered the rock fall area. This battle had required four separate rockfalls that were spread out over almost a hundred metres. They walked over the broken stones, shattered rock, and collapsed boulders carefully. Above them was the smooth yellow bedrock of what both Tom and Keikain thought of as the underground stone. It shone softly in the glow of their magical lights. As they walked, they chattered and rocks shifted in response. Michael approached the spot with his spear out. He checked the stones that had moved and thrust the weapon repeatedly down between the boulders. A short time later, he stopped satisfied that he had killed his targets. His weapon was covered with a dark green blood.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
They continued on with people regularly pausing to finish off trapped monsters, most of them revealing themselves as they were thrown into a frenzy by the proximity of their voices.
Ahead of them, Thor abruptly froze, and a portal appeared in front of him. With hands almost trembling, he snatched out a piece of paper before reading the contents. “Yes!” he yelled, throwing it in the air. “It worked.”
“Selena?” Everlyn guessed.
Thor nodded vigorously. The portal had yet to close, and he reached into it a second time like he was about to grab something precious and pulled out a scroll. He unrolled it slightly. “She did it.” He grinned. “She actually did it. She got the signatures.”
“What are we looking at?” Everlyn asked pointedly.
Thor still treating it like it was fragile unwound the scroll further to read more of the details. “Exactly like promised. It’s an agreement between all signees to cooperate to kill the dragon along with a pledge not to rob or hurt each other while the hunt continues or for a month after. There are a dozen or so other security clauses… but they’re mainly irrelevant. She’s onboard. She’s agreed and sent a contract through.”
“And did they agree to drop the interference?” Everlyn asked intently. “You know like we discussed, so Tom can check they’re trustworthy.”
Thor smiled wryly in response to Everlyn’s question. “That was a point of contention. I understand their reluctance. If I was in their position, I would feel the same way.” Thor threw Tom an apologetic smile. “The idea of someone else sharing my mind, knowing everything about me, that’s creepy. I almost want to buy personal protection just for myself. No offense Tom…but.”
“Thor, did they agree.” Everlyn almost snapped.
Thor grinned like a maniac. “Yes. They blinked. It’s in the contract.”
Concern radiated through Tom. It was about how Thor was phrasing things. The interference was annoying, but there was strategic value in them thinking it worked. “Wait… please tell me you didn’t let on that I can pierce their interference?”
“I’m not an idiot,” Thor answered. “They think you’ve tried to spy and whatever they purchased successfully rebuffed you. Them agreeing to drop the interference is a huge win. Necessary considering the lack of trust between us… the fact you could get through the interference meant I was willing to fold if that was what was required to get their cooperation. I wouldn’t have been happy, but I was willing. But in all the communication, I kept telling them you were blocked.” Thor waved the scroll. “This is powerful, but we all know there’s ways around it. They knew we knew and given that and that I kept insisting they relented. They want to normalise relationships and to achieve that they’ll drop the interference to let you independently monitor their compliance. However, they were very clear that dropping the anti precognition skill will only be until we meet. After that, we’ll need to rely on your binding contract skills, but that has far more teeth to it than a piece of paper.”
“I’ll start working on a draft,” Michael said immediately.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks to get it right,” Thor said instantly. “But it needs to be watertight by the time we meet them, so pass it around once you finalise things.”
“And the contract.” Everlyn pointed at the scroll. “Is that live now?”
“No, it has to be countersigned. The moment it does it comes into effect.”
“By who?”
“Myself, you, Michael and Tom by name.” Thor told her. “Four of them have signed their part. Yes, including Jenny,” Thor said before Tom could say anything. “Along with Jane, Selena and the artefact crafter. From what Tom said, that’s more than enough key players to protect us from treachery.”
“After this, does this mean that humanity will be considered to be aligned?” Everlyn asked in sudden excitement.
Thor grinned. “That’s mine and Selena’s hope. Personally, I think the prospect of loot was what got her over the line. Phil’s onboard, Vidja’s always been willing to help. Once we sign it, we’ll complete that quest.”
“Are we?” Michael asked. “Are we signing it?”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Toni inquired, sounding puzzled. “This is a good thing. They won’t ambush us and try to rob us once this is in place.”
The healer shrugged. “There’s reasons. They might have snuck in restrictive clauses.”
“They haven’t.” Thor said instantly.
“Can I check?” Michael held out a hand, and the scroll was passed over. Together with Keikain, Rahmat and Thor hovering nearby they poured over the paper.
“We’re doing it.” Thor said defiantly. “There’s nothing suspicious there.”
Michael nodded cautiously. “Yes, you’re right.”
There was a ding.
“We’re aligned!” Everlyn squealed in excitement and clapped. “The quest’s completed.”
“What’s the reward?” Keikain asked excitedly and looked around. His face fell. There were no loot portals waiting for them to grab a treasure out of.
Tom shut his eyes and stepped sideways.
The Balancing Quest has been completed.
All human parties are aligned in cooperating to complete the trial, so the reward box has been released.
Calculating the best team leads to receive reward…
A prize box has been awarded to Vidja as the most highly regarded team lead.
Tom returned to the real world. He had only been gone a moment.
“My message didn’t say who got the reward.” Michael stated.
“It was Vidja,” Tom informed them.
“But?” Michael looked perplexed at the news. “Vidja received it? Why would it go to her?”
“Maybe the weakest party.” Keikain suggested. Then he shook his head. “Who knows.”
“It’s because the prize had to go to a leader. Frankly, no one trusts Phil and then Selena, and I hate each other.” That description was not exactly right from his end, as he did not hate her. She had made a mistake, but he understood the pressure that saving humanity put them all under. Plus, she hadn’t wanted to rob them. It did not mean much because she had still ultimately betrayed him… but it meant a little. Not hate more distrust. Which was enough for the system. “Vidja was deemed the most liked of the four of us because of that.”
“It’s not important who got it anyway,” Keikain continued. “Though Vidja’s better than the other rats. Infinitely better, when I think about it, because they would have probably stolen it. With her it’s safe, but that aside what I want to know is what she received.”
“Presumably it’s something to help kill the dragon.” Michael said.
Keikain nodded. “However, there are a million things that could match that description. I doubt we’re going to get a dragon banishment charm, for example.”
Thor was flicking in and out of the system room. “I’m sure Vidja’s composing a note now. Give her a few minutes and we’ll find out.”
“Guys…” Everlyn called out. “She might not be available to check. All our traps here are spent. Can we reposition to somewhere slightly safer.”
She meant a stretch of tunnels where Tom could collapse the ceiling on anything that attacked them. No one argued against the suggestion because she had been right. They didn’t know how long it would take for Vidja to respond. After all, they spent almost half their time fighting and sometimes battles could extend for hours depending on what they were facing.
They reached a safer area and while they prepared the space Everlyn went to bring in another swarm.
“And?” Everlyn asked over her party chat link.
“Sorry, nothing yet.” Thor reported.
“It’s been over fifteen minutes.”
“Not my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Everlyn continued all business once more. “Stop checking. I’m drawing a swarm now. This group is almost two thousand.”
It felt like a massive number, considering their first battle had been against a quarter of that and he had been at risk. But they had six sets of Harry’s rituals set up, which meant they could cope with the larger swarm.
“We’ve shaped the battleground.” Michael reported. “The numbers won’t be a concern. We’ve got contingencies to handle up to three thousand.”
“I’m on my way.”
Two minutes later she sprinted down the corridor and skidded to a stop ten metres behind Tom with her bow in hand. She stood ready to shoot past him and kill the monsters. They repeated their tried, true, and tested method of exterminating them. They were careful never to cut off any passages. While most would find alternative routes to them they didn’t want that. If the creatures couldn’t reach them easily, some might choose to retreat. With the chosen unwilling to fight, and the implications of what that meant Tom didn’t want any of them finding another swarm because they might be capable of communicating their tactics. The last thing they wanted was a swarm that knew about the rock falls in advance. Luckily, they were still predominantly monsters and providing a sapient creature was within thirty metres of them and there was a clear route to attack. Then that’s what they would do. They would fight to the death.
Tom taunted them when they came and once the density increased, he collapsed the tunnel. There was no deliberately leaving a gap to the side open anymore. The fallen rocks would provide a way through above them so it was unneeded. In the forty seconds that collapse would buy them, everyone rushed forward to kill all the monsters on their side of the rockfall and then they retreated.
The dust settled, and the Zlotorcs came bounding down the corridor… this time Tom, with the help of Harry’s ritual held them off. They collapsed the tunnel, rinsed and repeated. They only needed five tunnel collapses to defeat the swarm.
“To easy,” Everlyn said brightly. “Thor have we—”
“NO!” Michael interrupted. “Not until we are in a safe spot.”
It was clear Thor wanted to check immediately. Even Tom had to actively suppress the desire to sneak into the system room to do the same, but he resisted the temptation. They walked over the rubble, finishing the job, and then kept going deeper until Everlyn was satisfied that the position was defensible. They zlotorcs as far as they could see did not move from where they nested, but she did not want to get caught off guard like what would happen if night fell and they all went to migrate to their feeding grounds or similar trigger for a mass migration.
“Thor,” Everlyn said. “Check.”
His face went inanimate for a moment. A portal burst into flames next to him and he broke out into a huge grin. “We have an update.”