Chris

"The fight was completely unnecessary! We should have left after seeing the boss. There's a wave tomorrow or did you forget?" My tone signaled how unhappy I was about the situation.

Killing all of the monsters the Wolf called with its howl was an annoyance at best, killing the boss was not.

It used its power expertly and out-leveled the two of us by over 6 levels. The experience it had gained from killing its fellow bosses made it a nightmare to fight.

It was given time to both accumulate power and get used to said power. We were lucky it ended in relatively light injuries. My fortitude staved off most of the damage that landed on me and a full boost from [Avalanche(R)] was hard to get through, even for bosses.

After teaming up on it, the ending was decided. I had better control over the ice than it did which negated most of its arsenal. With magic removed, it relied on its strong body to attack.

A strong body that couldn't stand up to mine. My strength of both arms and body added together was superior to its. A fact that decided the outcome.

Austin and I were both sitting in the aftermath cooling down. Both of us had cuts and scrapes but it wasn't enough for me to use a potion. Austin already had and his wounds closed faster as a result.

While I killed the riff-raff the boss summoned, he took some good licks from the boss. A hole the size of a golf ball was still working its way closed from when the boss skewered him with an icicle.

He hadn't been fast enough to get out of the way in time and it went straight through his gut, piercing both armor and flesh. If this was before he would be dead.

Now, all it needed was a potion and some rest. [Meditation(C)] would have him right as rain in a few hours. His natural vitality would even heal the wound if given enough time.

"Oh come off it. It was fun and we gained a lot. Stop complaining." Austin said while waving his hand dismissively.

While what he said was true, it didn't take away from the fact that the fight was reckless, a trait of mine I had been trying to tame.

"I -" The sentence died in my throat as something unexpected happened.

'Under attack, people and beasts combined. Unknown threat level.'

Abigail's voice bloomed in his head. It took a second to recognize it was her and deduce it was one of her profession skills. Contacting the owner of the pylon seemed like something a Town Mayor should be able to do.

After parsing the message, anger exploded in me. [Barbarian's Fury(Un)] threatened to activate on its own and I had to clamp down on the skill to avoid that.

Austin, sensing my mood, asked. "What? What's wrong?"

"Someone is attacking our camp!" I snarled.

As soon as the message arrived I picked up my discarded armor and rushed to put it on. If someone was attacking I would need it soon. Leaving it behind was faster but I was running into an unknown fight and it would be stupid to not be as prepared as I could be.

Austin followed my lead and redonned his armor as well. There was still the hole piercing through it but it would protect everywhere else.

The body of the wolf was left behind and we both sprinted toward home.

The ground disappeared below us and my anger rose. Someone was attacking my family. From the message it didn't sound like it was just a pack of bandits, it sounded like a full-blown assault.

I trusted in my family and their strength, but I couldn't help but worry. Austin and I were the strongest we had and we weren't there.

My expression continually darkened as we got closer. My thoughts spiraled about what was happening and plans of retaliation came to mind.

If they wanted a fight, they would get one.

The reservations from before were thoroughly gone. There would be no mercy like with the bandits and thieves. These people attacked with the expressed purpose of destruction and killing.

Something told me they wouldn't like my response. Mercy wasn't something I could afford to have anymore and I would show people the consequences of attacking my FAMILY.

I had lost my boost from [Momentum of the Avalanche(R)] after the fight and I worked to get it back. The skill was a mystery when I first got it but I had teased out its activation requirements and what was needed to keep it from going away.

It activated when I either attacked or defended when containing the intent to kill. I had to attack with the purpose of harm or defend an attack carrying the intent of harm for it to activate.

It wouldn't activate from spars or training. Finding a monster to bludgeon was hard at first since we had killed all of them in the area, but finding one wasn't difficult once we left the area.

Running by and braining a monster with my hammer was enough to start the timer. I still hadn't found the limits of how long of not fighting would keep the skill going so I made slight detours from the direct path back to camp.

I conjured javelins of ice while I ran and put my newly upgraded [Throwing Proficiency(N)] skill to good use. Any beast near got a javelin present courtesy of being in my way.

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Austin was faster than me and he took off at full speed, leaving me in the dust. He would be able to hold any attack off until I got there and I would be getting there with as much boost as I could.

The slight detours added to the time needed to get back but my rising stats made me faster. In the end, I wasn't sure which way would have been quicker.

Even so, by the time I finally reached the camp, both my anger and boost had reached new heights. The trip back was barely an hour at full tilt which made the boost half as strong as the maximum. Which was unfortunate but not all that important.

My strength stat was still over 450 and was probably the highest of anything attacking.

As the camp came into view I was thoroughly displeased. Craters from the catapults marred the land and most of the eastern field was on fire. Rachel wasn't holding back and her skills engulfed the area.

Deep yellow fire raged with small hints of blue at their base. I saw a massively empowered [Flamethrower] blossom out 15 feet in front of the gate, spewing flames everywhere. My perception wasn't the highest but I could see the gate was unbreeched.

Jonathan held it valiantly. There was something about him that was different and it put my instincts on edge. It was like facing a law for the first time but something else. It didn't matter now what it was but it was strong and gave him enough to hold the gate.

Continuing to assess the situation, my eyes drifted to the bodies. None of the dead were my family which let me sigh in relief. Even thinking about the possibility made my blood boil.

It was a mixture of monsters and humans that compiled the dead and it looked like a large number of them at that. I didn't stop to count but there were easily over 100 bodies lying before our walls.

The ground shuddered under my stride and I bounded toward the fighting. Austin was already there helping Jonathan against the attackers while Rachel burned those who came close.

This close to the fighting, I let out a roar and jumped into the thick of it.

Three [Ice Arrows(Un)] froze in front of me before being launched out. It wasn't Rachel's five or six, but it was still powerful.

At the end of their flight [Shatter(Un)] added to the damage done.

My hammer followed soon behind my opening attack and the first consequence of my retribution showered over me. The humans were pitifully weak compared to my near-peak state, my hammer vaporized them. Covering me in the aftermath.

Most of the blood beaded and rolled off but [Frost Armor(R)] was dyed red and would only get worse.

My hammer swings took two or three at a time before leaving them a disfigured mess of both dead and soon-to-be-dead bodies in my wake.

With Austin defending the gate, I was free to slaughter anything that came near.

After our arrival, the tide of battle swung violently in our direction. Bodies accumulated quicker than ever before as I crushed all who raised a hand against my kin.

Any thoughts of sparing them were long gone. I knew what needed to be done and I would do it. Granting mercy was just asking for them to come back and try again.

The oddness that I felt from them was swiftly ignored. How they acted mattered little when they were corpses.

My path led me toward their origin of attack as I left the wall behind. Rachel's fire was annoying and I didn't want to deal with it. Plus, I wanted to get to the heart of the attack.

That was where their leaders should be.

From the size and number of people involved, it had to be a joint attack from multiple factions. Or one giant faction formed from multiple smaller factions. It didn't matter to me which, they would die all the same.

I hadn't kept up with what others were doing and I would have to fix that. I had assumed that everyone was focusing on surviving the waves, not plotting to attack one another.

Assuming that was a mistake I wouldn't make again. It seemed the prize of conquering other pylons was too great for some and they reached their hand too far trying to claim mine.

I would show them the folly of that decision.

Far enough away from the fiery tempest, my true fighting form was unleashed.

[Hail(C)] produced asinine amounts of material for [Ice Manipulation(C)] to work with. Without the Blaze Lions to fight against, my claim over the environment was swift and left no room for contention.

My new skill made my attempt nearly effortless.

After fighting the pseudo-dungeon reaching level 40 was assured. Passing the threshold gave me another skill. One that I used to boost my power further.

Permafrost(Uncommon) – Freeze the ground around you or a targeted location, slowly damaging and slowing all enemies in range. Size and depth of Permafrost determined at the time of activation. Maximum diameter and depth are determined by mastery of the skill along with skill rarity. Temperature and effect are determined based on mana and Law.

[Permafrost(Un)] turned the very land I walked on into the tundra. Ice and frost rose from the ground and the grass around my feet froze. The circle of the Arctic extended out around me as more of the field turned white. The Earth froze under me and the area around me took a polar plunge.

Both [Permafrost(Un)] and a massive [Hail(C)] worked together to turn the area around me into a winter wonderland. The air dropped below freezing and the ground sapped any foe of energy.

The frozen dirt both slowed and damaged any who stood upon it that wasn't who I considered an ally. It was taxing on both my mana and Law but well worth it.

I couldn't keep it up forever but I would pay the cost of that later.

The attacker's environment turned against them and the ground worked to freeze their feet in place. The skill itself wasn't powerful enough to freeze anyone of true strength, but the addition of my Law and the fact they weren't that strong made it enough for my purposes.

With my authority over the battlefield thoroughly established, the slaughter rose to new heights.

When facing off against the Blaze Lions before, I could only handle 10 of my auxiliary snowflakes. Now, without the hindrance and boost from my skills, more than 20 froze into place.

My range hindered me the most now instead of my manipulation skills. There simply weren't enough enemies in range to justify conjuring more.

Bodies fell quickly and froze soon after.

A slew of massacred ice sculptures followed behind my path.

As I ran toward the forest the attack originated from, the raiders made to retreat. Any headed toward the wall turned around and tried to hinder me instead.

It was like they were throwing their lives away to stop me from going further.

While both annoying and frustrating, it wouldn't save them from the retaliation they were due. My hammer would come for them and being delayed by a few bodies wouldn't save them.

My slaughter continued and the bodies thinned.

After fighting through their defenses I reached where the leaders should have been.

The keyword there being should.

There was no one here. An empty forest clearing was my only prize for reaching the origin.

My anger spiked and [Barbarian's Fury(Un)] activated.

"You COWARDS! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!" My roars went unanswered.

The leaders I imagined deigned not to respond.

The cowards had fled. The spineless leaders behind the attack weren't here and they abandoned their army to die while they slinked away in the trees.

I was no tracker and chasing after them would have me guessing at where they went. A rational mind would have realized this.

I was not in a rational state of mind.

With my prize stolen from me, I took off in the direction I thought they went.

My anger made me not think about anything other than revenge. The rebuke at Austin about needless fights before the wave tomorrow long forgotten.

They kicked the hornet's nest and retribution was due.

They wouldn't escape my hammer.