Watching them approach I quickly weigh my options. First, I could attack them and hope for the best. This would no doubt provide a lot of experience. Not to mention the experience I would get from inevitably having to heal my companions. On the flip side there are way more of them than there were last time, and they are way higher level than those others were. Even with my new copper shell talent I don't think I would last very long.
I also feel like I'm not the only one observing the orcs. Harold and Mark have moved up to the front of my shell and I can tell by their body position they are quietly observing the orcs as well. They don't seem to like our odds any more than I do. To their credit though they are both still willing to try. I've never really been fond of hopeless battles though. Especially when they can be avoided.
As much as it pains me to do so I eventually come to the decision to sneak away until I am far enough to start running back. The others agree that the important thing is for Eldenvale to be warned. I really don't like this. I thought that I was finally through running away and hiding but I guess not. Although to be fair with my earth manipulation I could probably defeat them if there were as many as last time. even with their higher levels.
Nevertheless, I do eventually start to head back at top speed which when you factor my speed in with my huge size which gives me a large stride length is pretty darn fast if I do say so myself. Along the way I mention to Yuna that I'm hoping to use my healing aura to gain a few levels before the orcs make it to the city. I can sense her trying to weigh the pros and cons of me getting stranger before eventually coming to a decision. She says that after warning everyone she will speak with the clinics healers about having the wounded brought out for me to heal.
We make it back in record time and they head of to inform the cities leadership of the news. Fortunately, at their current speed it should take at least a few days for the orcs to get here. It's impossible to be more precise than that since nothing much is known about orcs. We have no way of knowing how often they plan to stop and rest or how long each rest will be. From what I gather nobody is even certain if the orcs will even need to stop and rest. I can't imagine any living thing marching continuously without rest though.
After a while I get a message from Yuna that they are about to start bringing out some of the less serious cases for me to heal. I would prefer they bring out the more serious cases. It feels like a weird thing to insist on however, so I don't say anything and just agree to treat the least serious cases. Eventually they start bringing them out and are amazed when they are completely healed in less than an hour.
That's when it dawns on me that I never told anyone that my healing aura had improved. Compared to where it is now my healing aura was almost completely useless the last time they agreed to try this. That's why they only wanted to bring out the cases that only really needed minor healing. Now that they realized my healing effect had improved it didn't take them long to start bringing out the more serious cases. For my part since it was a passive skill I just relaxed and watched the experience points come rolling in until the inevitable happened.
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I levelled up.
Congratulations on reaching level 17 Please Chose Whether To Receive Skill Points Or A New Skill Decision Confirmed Skill Points Assigned
You Have Unassigned Attribute Points Please Use Them As Soom As Possible.
I'm tempted to throw everything into defense. In the end I think it would be best to remain well rounded. It just feels wrong to put all my points into a single stat.
Name Thomas Race Giga Turtle Size 60m Level 17 0/180 Health 15,000/15,000 Attack 71 Defense 91 Speed 71 Skills Active; Water Manipulation level 2(0/10), Earth Manipulation level 2(2/10) Mirror Shield level 3(0/10) Passive; Regeneration level 4(0/10), Healing aura level 7(0/10) Talents Copper Shell, Improved Mental Fortitude, Last Stand, Telepathy
On the plus side I did manage to get mirror shield to level 3 meaning it now reflects 30% of the attack power back at the enemy. This in turn means they now need even more attack power to make it through the shield. Combine that with my defense which determines how strong mirror shield is and the fact that I just improved it as well, and I'm feeling much more confident than I was. My regeneration has also improved to the point I can now regenerate one health every thirty minutes. Not a significant improvement in the short term, but in the long term it can reduce healing time by days.
The only other thing of note was that my size increased by 50% going from 40m to 60m. It's a good thing I insisted on remaining a good way away from the city. Being awake for it this time was rather trippy as from my perspective the entire world appeared to be shrinking before my eyes. That is when another problem suddenly dawns on me. Eventually I won't be able to really see Yuna and the others anymore due to the sheer size difference. I can't believe I never thought of this. Already I am as big as a football field is wide. Maybe even bigger, I don't actually know.
Either way this certainly puts a wrinkle in my future plans. Still, I need to level up more If I'm going to help my new friends.