Chapter 11

New Journey [https://imageshack.com/i/poMK6bntp]

“Is this it?” Orla asked.

“Indeed,” Linus said without taking his eyes off the self-drawn map.

“Get your blades and noses ready,” Jack laughed and unstrapped his iron mace from his side, and readied his tower shield.

Rock flew through the air and hit him on his steel helmet.

“If you going to speak so much, I will take yours, geezer,” Orla snarled.

“Ha, somebody is grumpy today,” Jack said, “Some levels are what you need right now. Right, Zaun?”

Zaun was ignoring them. Instead, he was warming up for the fight and simply swung his war axe around in the air. His rectangular shield was smaller than the one which was carried by Jack, but it still covered a large part of his left side.

Mad Dogs of Rosmorre were ready.

Jack Mors

Status Class: Guardian Lvl: 8 Xp: 13% Mana: 0/0

_ Divine grace Language of Empire Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Will of Guardian _ CON 8 END 0 STR 0 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:

* Recovery

Orla

Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 8 Xp: 11% Mana: 7/7 _ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman

_ CON 8 END 0 STR 8 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:

* Warrior’s conditioning

Linus

Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 8 Xp: 11% Mana: 31/31 _ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman

_ CON 8 END 0 STR 8 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:

* Spearman's thrust

Zaun

Status Class: Silent Watcher Lvl: 8 Xp: 12% Mana: 10/10 _ Race talent: Growth Tier I talent: Eye of the Silent

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_ CON 0 END 0 STR 8 PER 24 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:

* Watcher’s sense

While approaching the rift there was a completely different atmosphere than last time. Mad Dogs have grown. Every single one of them was focused and ready. They were armored and prepared to face whatever would come their way.

Their first experience didn't scare them away. It made them stronger. It made them more confident and more equipped for what awaited them in front of them. Fighting with Souleaters was dangerous, and messy and they made many mistakes.

But what it gave them was the first step.

The first step was the hardest step. When that was put down all that was left was to continue moving. And Mad Dogs of Rosmorre moved with confidence in their steps.

Rift showed itself in front of them in all its glory. Purple light shined from it as bright as the sun. If they could even slightly believe Linus' awful map, this particular rift was connected to the Outer strata of the Eldritch plane. They should be met only by the weakest of rifkin, but even then, one wrong move might spell their doom.

A rift opening was hanging slightly in the air right in front of them.

But they didn’t reach it.

Zaun was the first to react and move.

Just before riftkin exploded from underground, he was already moving.

A dog-sized spider with hard chitin carapace unearthed itself from right under Linus' legs with chunks of earth flying everywhere. Linus lost his footing and fell over, but before riftkin could use opening Zaun’s war axe split its head and took its life.

Congratulations! Your party has slain Lvl 2 Eldritch Crawler!

“Divines!” Linus said struggling to get back on his feet in heavy armor.

More Crawlers unearthed themselves all around them. While Linus tried to get his footing, a battle erupted around him. Mad Dogs took their stand around him in a circle and Crawlers advanced.

A wave of Crawlers was met with a wall of steel. Spear, axe, and mace did their bidding and every hit mowed one more approaching enemy.

Jack smiled. Mindless enemies approached him one after another and he just let his mace work without thinking about it. Crawlers were as high as his knee height so he would have to bow down and land strikes at uncomfortable angles, but luckily for him crawlers always jumped when attacking.

What would be a scary thing for most was just convenience for him. He didn’t have to bow down as he swung his mace and crushed them in the air as they jumped towards him. He was swatting them left and right in the air like flies.

Each swing meant that a new Eldritch Crawler lay on the ground with a broken carapace.

Two new foes jumped towards him. He hit one in the air and blocked the second with his large rectangular tower shield. Crawler hit the shield but his sharp legs only bounced off metal and he landed back on rocky ground. Crawler squatted down and prepared for a new jump when the axe came from the side and split it in half.

“I can’t stand! Bloody hell! Give me a hand!” Linus shouted.

Zaun worked with his axe on the Crawlers around him. He hid behind his large shield and worked around it like a woodsman cutting trees. Axe flew like lightning cutting down Crawlers as they crashed into him.

"Guys! Please!" Linus shouted

Crawler ran past Zaun and Jack and jumped on Linus pushing the struggling man back to the ground. The monster tried to bite into his head, but its fangs broke unable to puncture his new steel helmet. Linus still felt an uncomfortable force from the bite through his helmet bouncing his head back and making him dizzy.

Crawler screamed in pain because of his now bleeding mouth and got silenced by a spear thrust from Orla. She pulled her spear back and turned around just in time to hit another Crawler using her spear as a staff.

She held her spear tightly with her backhand and slide it through her other hand using it for guiding where her trust lands. The spear pierced the stunned crawler right in the middle of its body. Crawler twitched his legs for the last time and died.

A light round shield strapped to her forearm didn't hold her back as she was able to wield her short spear with both arms raining fast precise strikes towards approaching Crawlers

She brought her spear back from the corpse of the dead Crawler and pierced the next one still in the air. Crawler slid down on her spear and stopped besides her hands.

More came but Crawlers had no chance to overpower the human party.

After just a minute of combat, more than 20 Eldritch Crawlers laid dead before them, and no more came after them.

Congratulations! Your party has slain Lvl 1 Eldritch Crawler!

Congratulations! Your party has slain Lvl 4 Eldritch Crawler!

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Congratulations! Your party has slain Lvl 2 Eldritch Crawler!

“Weak,” Jack pulled up his face guard and spit on the ground.

Zaun helped Linus get up. Linus was happy that his helmet hid his red blushing cheeks. He brushed off his armor and straightened up.

“I need more Strength.”

“These spiders didn't give us any experience,” Jack said looking at his status page.

“Of course, they will not give you much,” Orla cleaned her spear, “If you could progress fast by killing weaker foes half of Empire wouldn’t live all their lives in tier I and tier II classes.”

Rift was still floating in front of them and they could even see the black desolate landscape on the other side of it. If they would cross it, they would find themselves in the Outer strata. Young Delvers killed weak riftkin at the entrances of these rifts for years in order to become stronger.

Eldritch Crawlers were barely a threat to a fully armored party. They could pierce armor only in joints, but they were too stupid to put any thought behind their actions. This would be a great place to settle down for as long as their supplies allow and spend their time slowly grinding experience in a safe setting. You could find stronger foes even in Outer strata, but they were far and between.

But Mad Dogs just stood there in silence staring at the rift. Time went by as no one spoke first.

Linus sighed, “We are going west, are we?”

“Indeed.”

“Then we better move.”

Mad Dogs of Rosmorre picked up their bags and ventured further west from human lands.

Riftlands welcomed them.