Roberion felt the mana potion effects immediately. A cool, energetic feeling started to seep into his body, like a mix of relaxant and energetic in one dose. He didn’t know how much mana was replenishing, but he know he needed it the top up.
“Shining Crown! Spit it out! Why did you drink all the mana potion??? Didn’t you read it?? You will overdose!”, Fujin dialled her device volume to the max.
Roberion could even hear the loud clicking of her mouth. Roberion felt the urgency and preoccupation she had of his mistake.
The only time I don’t read an info on a packaging, I get overdosed. To be honest, it was the first time I drank some medicine.
The undead were coming up, eager for blood. Roberion was also eager to lose all the mana he had before dying in a pitiful way. It made sense for him if he spent faster than it replenished, he wouldn’t overdose. He already felt a weirdy sensation in his body, like the energy was being compressed and trying to leave its flesh prison.
Roberion was ready to give the undead the blood they needed, but it was theirs. Roberion started casting a fireball from twenty meters of distance, to the hell with aim, this undead and his mana needs to burn.
Energized, Roberion shot the fireball forward, already casting another one in sequence. The old couple didn’t say anything of a backlash by casting spells in sequence. If he felt anything was wrong with his body, he will let the grotesque club sing.
Casting fireball and using the magic from the bizarre club would be a perfect way to end his mana and this challenge. Sadly, he wasn’t even that good with the fireballs; he needs to play things by ear and not try to make the situation get worse.
The fireball hit the floor, hitting two undead legs in the process. The undead promptly started to crawl after Roberion as they hit the floor. As for the null, he already readied his next fireball for the upcoming undead.
It was time to focus on precision. The thirty-four undead targeting a single target made the perfect opportunity to cast a fireball on their concentrated mass. He needed to risk losing some distance, but it would be worth it. Activating [Minor True Strike] his dexterity became better than normal. Sadly, he didn’t enjoy all the benefits because of the enchantment stat the Jubilant Choir consumed.
With his dexterity improved, he cast the fireball only three meters in distance. Knowing that the undead would follow him, he activated his [Minor? Air] enchantment, trying to make the undead lose balance by the air hit. After that, he activated the [Minor? Earth] for good measure, already trying to get some distance and activate the grotesque club.
Damn, now that I thought about it, I can use the gloves if mana starts to over-recover—, in a splitting second as both the fireball and the [Minor? Air] hit the targets. The fireball exploded the head of six undead, the compressed air hit their legs and helped the fall of their bodies, the corpses made some undead stumble and fall to the ground. The enchantment [Minor? Earth] making the terrain a little worse for them to get up from.
Not having concentration enough to run from the undead in close quarters and cast the spell, he had no choice but use the club. He was hoping that running and using the cursed bubbles enchantment would work as a safe way to eliminate them from a distance.
Dashing near the before fallen, and now rising undead, he swings the grotesque club, shooting the maroon bubble straight at their group. As the bubble explodes, the vines and branches start to penetrate and wound the undead.
To his surprise, the vegetation doesn’t limit its power to one undead; the thing keeps growing as if using the undead as fuel, hitting more than three undead, the holy light that permeates the thing corroding the beast’s flesh.
Continuing, he runs in a circle around the group; taking advantage of the commotion. Two more bubbles finished the group, but one of them evaded the last attack, and was already closing in on Roberion.
With no time for spells, Roberion hit the creature with all his power. He had a comically big weapon. If he was strong enough, dexterity would be an after though against these intellectually deficient beasts.
Roberion swings the club straight to the center of the creature. The damage was better than he was expecting, absolutely crushing the ribs of the thing. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to finish the undead as more beasts were closing in.
Kannon flames showed up, eating away all the undead in the distance. Roberion was preoccupied if using the club enchantment and trying to evade the undead, made a poor impression for Kannon and she decides to forget her promise.
He risked a glance to see if more undead were closing in. For his fortune, Kannon seemed to eliminate them all, there was a big chance that she would follow her words.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
As the beasts closed him he repeated the tactics of throwing cursed bubbles at them. If they came too close, he would cast the enchantment of the gloves to win some more time, helping him to evade the beasts. The battle was hard, but doable. Little by little the effects on the mana potion were spent. A headache was inflicting Roberion. For him though, that was more the effects on concentrating so much and not the mana potion itself.
Time passed. Roberion was now against six of the remaining undead, five in perfect health. One of them hurt, its body recovering from its fractured chest. His mana was almost spent. He lost count of how many times he used the enchantments, only remembering that the last one he cast the maroon bubble on the crawling zombies, as he feared they would recover enough to become a threat.
Fighting six of them in the melee would be a bad idea. If even Percival with his dexterity and battle smarts had a bad time, he for sure would fail.
He has run far enough. It was time to finish this. Wish his face itching from his wound. He concentrated on the fireball spell. He could still use his running tactics, but he wanted to make a good finish to this battle, afraid that Kanon would be unsatisfied and demanded more.
If I get a little hurt, so be it. I won’t have a similar situation to this, here I can experiment a little. Roberion soon cast his fireball and run right ahead.
The undead weren’t that concentrated as they were at least ten meters away from Roberion. Running right ahead was the fireball, not following the center of the group as Roberion hoped for, but was near enough of two creatures on the right side hitting directly at the middle of their sides. The explosion consumed half of their heads, enough to eliminate both of the creatures.
As for the remaining four creatures, they weren’t hit but were unbalanced enough by the near explosion. Not waiting much Roberion stopped his dash in front of the creatures, making a spin swing with all his might, the first creature on the left had its head explode, the second one was hit with a weaker hit and stopping the bat with the resistance of its head.
The caved skull of the creature is proof enough that its dead, its spraying blood joining the morgue juice on Roberion’s body. After this battle, I will be sure to use the [Minor? Water] enchantment of the glove as my improvised shower.
Roberion removed the grotesque club from the undead’s head. There was no damage visible except for a slight crumple from where the club hit the beasts, proving Jubilant Choir’s resilience. The eyes and mouth seemed to have the same resistance as the wood. Roberion didn’t notice if the body-parts made some additional damage to the hit, probably not, but being durable and hard as the wood is good enough.
The uninjured creature attacked Roberion's left side, cutting his chest deeply. Roberion didn’t wait, already feeling the pain. He swings clumsily at the creature's torso. The hit didn’t injure it much, but was enough to create some distance. Not waiting any time, he swings down, right on the head of the curved undead. The head didn’t resist caving in and releasing brain matter all around.
Not waiting for a chance, the last undead run after Roberion. Now for Roberion, even hurt, the creature alone wasn’t a threat anymore, he just needed to be smart about it. Evading and swinging with enough distance to hit the creature with the tip of the club. Feeling a trickle of mana, and trying to use this opportunity to the maximum, Roberion activated the first enchantment of the Jubilant choir.
The mouths sang in a holy tune as the eye showed an austere glance. Crazed, the undead attacked Jubilant Choir instead of Roberion with more rage and power, but the creature also seemed to be more clumsy and slow. Feeling the mana reaching its end, as the enchantment consumed it continuously, he made short work of the undead.
Hearing the angry clicking of the soldiers in the distance, he noticed that the enchantment attracted some of the near undead, as the soldiers killed the creatures nearer. The distance from where the undead come from seemed to be almost 250 meters. Roberion suspected that the enchantment only worked with creatures with low intellect, as no one of the soldier seemed to be on the effects of it. No offense Shining Crown.
Now with his head clear of preoccupation and with the insight of the battle. He learned a sad truth. His second chance at freedom after becoming a squire had an extra price to be paid, he have lost his perks during the change on his body.
I’m honestly don’t know how to feel, in one hand, I lost really useful perks, but on the other I didn’t become a slave. It was still worth it, even with the “revelation” of the fake Percival.
Roberion was taken out of his musings as Kannon called him.
“Good work Shining Crown, a little cowardly. But I’m a fiznault of my word. Let’s talk about rewards”.
Opening a recovering potion and taking a sip, Roberion was already looking at Kannon with glinting eyes. It was time for some compensation.
Roberion’s mental list:
Updated weapon info:
[Soulbond] - Last gamble of the Round Table
Tier: early-VII [Upgradable?]
II - Jubilant Choir - Sir Geraint’s last weapon
Enchantment:
[Mad singing?]: Seems to attract dumb beasts from at most 250 meters of distance, increasing their power but making them slower and dumber, seems to focus on the weapon instead of the wielder. by Roberion
[Cursed bubble?]: One of the chosen mouths creates and shoots a maroon ball. In contact, the bubble explodes, creating branches and vines enveloped by light. Supposition: If this vegetation finds flesh victims, they consume them and it to attack nearby targets. by Roberion
[Face of Dexterity]: Its inherent attribute is dexterity
Lost perks:
A heavy price to be paid for a little freedom.
Natural Born Killer: Strength/Endurance perk, after killing an entity, the user receives a rush of adrenaline, increasing its strength and endurance for a short while. Incarnation change is possible.
Trashed and Scattered: Endurance perk, when the user is on the brink of collapse, his health is regenerated slowly until it is ready again for efficient combat. Incarnation change is possible.