I stood at the top of the fortress, watching the barge until it was out of sight. It would be safe to say I was a bit nervous. Releasing such a large magical vessel into the hands of two kids that I had only known for a few weeks was a risk but I trusted the six trained men on board to deal with any issues.

I sighed as the barge faded into the distance. I was alone and bored. Martin was busy with his politics, Fiona had Martin, and Ska was still out and about with a group of the Marshall’s men. That left me with the fortress and my work on the second barge. It would be idyllic if I didn’t know there were still enemies out there I hadn’t dealt with.

Since that one detection, while we were hunting the Black Dragon, there had been no sign of the Stygian Order. If they were a group like the Black Dragon that would have made me feel comfortable, but they weren’t. Their absence made me nervous and I wondered what bullshit they were up to now.

***

King Formus inspected the massive underground caverns that had been erected in the last few weeks. It had quickly become clear that the human city did indeed have his stolen mana cannons. He clenched his fist as a wave of rage passed through his body. They would pay for their arrogance and insult.

The plan was almost ready and the last of the explosives were being placed on the pillars that supported the cavern roof. Dwarves were donning armor and making sure their weapons were ready. The mages and healers were also readying as they slung belts of easy to reach mana potions across their barrel chests. His clan was no stranger to armed conflict. In his eighty years, he had fought in countless wars against other dwarves, orcs, goblins, elves, and humans. While his forces had been reduced to a mere two hundred, they were the survivors. Each one knew what to do without being told.

He stomped toward two waiting dwarves. “Report,” he ordered.

“The last charges will be ready within the hour, my liege.”

“Good. Get my squire, it's time for me to prepare.”

“At once,” the dwarves bowed and ran off.

Unlike leaders of the other races, dwarven royalty shared the front line with their subjects. A squire ran up and started attaching Formus’s full plate armor. The metal glowed a subtle teal color as the enchantments flared to life. Formus moved and shifted, having the squire adjust pieces that were too loose or too tight. When complete he was a juggernaut of muscle and metal. He reached out and took the spear from the waiting squire.

It was shorter than human spears but it gave him significantly more reach and reminded him of his days before taking on the role of a King. Formus had been a lowly spearman until he established his own clan. Through hard work and dedication, he had advanced his class to Berserk Lancer. His other class was King but the level of that class was reliant on subjects and he had dropped down to level two thanks to this human’s meddling.

He would reclaim that honor today by ridding the world of him, his friends, and his allies in the city to the north.

“Seal up the tunnels!” he roared.

Tunnels across the cavern started sealing over with rock. It would keep the dwarves inside safe from the blast. The King moved toward his position and the wall sealed closed behind him as the mages worked to block it off.

***

I had an amazing night’s sleep. After the previous day’s boredom, I decided to sketch out a new armor design for myself. My armor was good but it was becoming inadequate for the dangers I was going up against. The mana shield was easily destroyed by one good attack or even bypassed by people with tier two stats. And while the plates did a decent job of protecting me, the gaps between them were enough to slip a sword inside with enough force. Unfortunately, I wasn’t an armorsmith.

I could probably do a decent job with my current skills and with time become a decent armorer but I had so many other things going on that I couldn’t dedicate that time at this moment. I decided I was going to take my sketch to the Bazaar and locate an armorer to craft it for me. I needed to go there anyway to get some gear for Javier and Maria. It meant selling some more runic gear since I was broke so I spent the remainder of the night creating four items to sell.

I locked up the fortress and made my way down the ramp. Bella was napping in the shade below the fortress in her usual spot, I had left her out to roam since she had been cooped up too much recently. I had just stepped off the ramp when I heard a strange whomp noise. I didn’t have time to contemplate where it could have come from as the entire parking lot, half the abandoned store, and the buildings across the street rose into the air like someone had inflated a balloon before it all came crashing back down and into a huge pit, with me along for the ride.

I was so surprised that I wasn’t able to react. I slammed into the rubble at the bottom of the new pit that had once been the parking lot. My defensive necklace shattered and I grunted in pain as the damage was spread across my body. Even so, I coughed up blood.

My head was dizzy as I struggled to stand in the loose debris. I heard noises and looked around, my vision swimming as I turned too quickly. Holes were opening up along the walls of the massive pit I now found myself in. Out of these holes stormed angry, armed, and armored dwarves and they were all heading straight toward me.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they wanted and I used Healing Touch and summoned my armor and weapon as spells began to rain toward me. I glanced over and saw the fortress had fallen as well but was lying on its side where it had rolled blocking the doorway. The bloodstain underneath told me of Bella’s ultimate fate.

“You Mother Fu-!”

A magical arrow slammed into my armor shield, interrupting my angry shout and causing the shield on my armor to flicker. I traced the path it had taken and watched a dwarf reloading an enormous crossbow.

I had no more time to spare for him though as three of the quicker dwarves were already upon me.

I slipped in the loose footing, almost losing my balance and my head but my high agility saved me as the blade whipped past my head. I used the stumble to roll back and cast Banshee’s Wail on the three of them. All but one collapsed into the pile of rubble. The last one leaped toward me, stabbing out with two wicked-looking daggers.

Despite his combat prowess, I batted them aside and smashed my metal hand into his face with a sickening crunch. He collapsed to the ground either dead or dying. I yelled in rage activating Victorious Shout, further reducing the damage I would take. My title For the Horde would increase my damage reduction further.

An explosion threw me off the small pile I had been standing atop and I crashed to the ground.

“Get the defiler!” I heard a voice roar from somewhere in the pit.

A hand of rock attempted to crush me but I was able to avoid most of the attack as I tumbled away and got back to my feet, my armor was smoking slightly from the first attack. I winced as I felt at least one broken rib from the stone hand attack. These dwarves weren’t fucking around and neither was I.

I had pulled out Consuming Void as my weapon of choice, probably due to my familiarity with the design. Fire and lightning began to crackle across the staff as I Imbued it. This wasn’t time to hold back or worry about consequences. I could deal with those if I survived. I activated Aura of Rage for the first time in months and the power in my body swelled. I located the closest attacker and stepped forward, my speed looking more like a blur of color as I activated Blink Step.

There was a fountain of blood from every opening of the dwarf's armor as my staff smashed down on his helmet. I paid it no heed as I slammed into the next attacker. Screaming in anger as I went.

Magic and ranged attacks were slamming into me now as the dwarves adjusted to my tactics and speed. The shield built into my armor was already depleted and I was forced to heal through the damage as I raced around killing the bastards as quickly as I could.

There was a whomp and I was tossed through the air. The pain had been excruciating but it had been blessedly short. Whatever attack hit me had blown my leg clean off. I was able to stop myself from crashing into the wall at high speed by deploying my wings.

It wasn’t enough to save me completely though as I landed with a crash. I threw out a quick Frostwave and Arcane bolt from my prone position as a dwarf tried to take advantage of my injury. The dwarf was frozen solid with a hole where its heart should be. I tried to stand but my healing was only able to cover over the wound at the moment. Regrowing the limb would take a few days. At least it wasn’t a fate-based attack like my hand had suffered.

The explosion had thrown me to the side of the pit with few dwarves and it gave me time to assess the situation.

I saw at least ten more dwarves running toward me, one was kitted in full plate that glowed with magic and carried a spear that sizzled ominously. If I had to guess, that was where the attack that had cost my leg came from. I used Identify on the dwarf.

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King Formus | Berserk Lancer/King | Level 22/2

This guy was no lightweight and looking at the others, neither were they. Everyone was level seventeen or above.

I dodged away from a silvery ball that flew from one of the mages. When it impacted the wall behind me, a section of the wall turned to dust.

I started casting Sunder Skill on all the mages and the King. The pain of having a skill ripped away only seemed to anger them more. I threw out another Arcane Bolt before slamming a mana injector into my remaining leg.

I couldn’t speed up the regrowth of my leg so I cast my wings again and leaped out of the hole, landing on a section of unbroken road and stumbling to stay upright.

I could hear a primal scream of rage but I had more pressing concerns as the pain in my body was reaching its limit.

I turned off Aura of Rage and felt myself go limp. My body held up to the increased demand, barely and I felt like I had exercised until my muscles turned to jello. Had all the dwarves been close enough to add points to my stats I don’t think my body would have lasted under the strain. I shook off the fatigue as much as possible.

I needed to find help, I looked toward the city and saw a cloud of smoke rising into the air. ‘Dammit, they hit the city at the same time,’ I cursed internally.

These had to be the remaining dwarves from the mountain. But how did they learn about me? We had left no clues behind, even going so far as taking any documents we found. It was a mystery I would have to solve later. I heard the dwarves shouting below and it was getting closer.

I used my staff as a cane as I hobble jumped down the street toward the Marshall’s building. It was two blocks away. If someone was still there, I could get some help.

I made it to the end of the block before a bolt of energy struck the building to my left, blowing out a chunk of brick that pelted against my armor. I risked a look back and saw four dwarves had already cleared the pit and were running down the street after me. Two were mages and one was the King.

I tried using Sunder Skill on them again and was rewarded with four new abilities. The System decided it was a new fight and I laughed. I also began to activate Orb of Darkness before I stumbled around the corner of the building. I had learned a neat trick with the orb, I could leave it hovering and order it to attack any time after I activated it. So I left it floating just around the corner as I rushed away as fast as I could. I used the last cast of my wings to propel myself as far down the block as possible before the dwarves rounded the corner.

The king had spotted my attack and threw himself wide but the orb slammed into one of the hapless mages. The mage was hit with Curse of Sloth and was left behind as the other three raced toward me.

I wasn’t going to get away on one leg so I started powering my mana cannon. As I did that I threw out another Arcane Bolt, managing to score on the nameless warrior that was with the king and the mages.

The bolt sent him flying back into the building. But I saw a white glow and cursed. It wasn’t a warrior but a damn healer of some sort.

I jammed two more mana injectors into my side along with a healing one as I got ready to fight. I waited until they got within thirty feet before I aimed my hand and fired. The blast spun me to the ground but I heard a scream. I didn’t wait to find out what I hit as I activated Blink Step and Charge. I pulled all of my weight into my good leg and shot down the rest of the block. The movement was jerky at best and I had to use the building to keep upright but somehow I managed not to fall.

As I reached the end of the block I could see the coffee shop in the distance. I tried to scream for help but something hard slammed into my back, propelling me forward and into the street. I tried to gulp down air as whatever hit me had punctured a lung but all I got was foamy blood leaking from my lips. The wound was closing quickly as I had constant healing going but it still left me mostly vulnerable in the street.

“No more running away you fucking coward. This is for my fellow clansmen!”

I activated Area of Denial just before a spear impacted me. Instead of piercing my body, it was deflected by the shield, pushing me slightly into the ground and cracking the shield from the impact.

I heard the King growl in annoyance as he ran over to grab the thrown spear. It put him in position for my mana cannon and I fired.

I heard a grunt as the reduced power blast sent him tumbling away.

“My King! Vortes, go heal him, I will deal with this trash.”

I watched the healer run over to the downed king while the single remaining mage slowly walked toward me. At first, I thought it was because he was trying to be ominous but I realized it was because he was still suffering the effects of the Orb.

As he got closer I heard a crackling noise and managed to turn my head enough to see him. He was holding a dark red ball of crackling energy that continued to grow.

“Don’t worry human, I’m not going to waste this spell on your shield. I’m going to wait until it ends, then I’m going to use it, not that you will know because you will die instantly.”

“Fuck you,” I managed to cough out. I realized I could speak again and I cast Disruption. The spell activated but the dwarven mage seemed to be surrounded by a spell that stilled the earth around him. He glared contemptuously at me as my spell failed to do anything to him.

He was too far away for me to reach so I did something I hadn’t done in a long time. I used Earth Fist to shove myself toward the mage. He seemed slightly startled by my action. But my shield popped just as I latched my hand around his leg and activated Corrupting Touch.

Unlike the warriors, the mage was only wearing robes. He screamed in pain and tried to launch his spell, but I activated the second cast of Area of Denial, draining away my mana and flinging the dwarf away from me. I was writhing in pain as a part of his spell had still hit me before the barrier flung it away. It felt like all my muscles were trying to extend and compress at the same time and I felt ligaments tear from the abuse. This was the damage I received with the 90% reduction of magic from my armor and the little bit I got from my title since Victorious Shout had run out.

Everything was a haze of pain as my health dipped to twenty percent. The mage was on the ground screaming as his lower half rotted away. The healer was too busy saving their king to come to his aid. I did see him down some health potions but that only topped off his health, it didn’t stop the cancerous spread of the spell. The mage eventually succumbed to his wound as it ate through his lower organs.

I could only look on in satisfaction as my body tried to fight against his spell. My jaw was clamped shut so hard I felt my teeth crack. Whatever spell he had used must have been amplified because it went on for what felt like an eternity. When the pain finally subsided my second shield only had ten seconds remaining. I mumbled out my healing spells as I weakly injected a mana potion straight into my hand. I was too weak to reach anywhere else.

Strength and mana flooded my body but I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough as I saw the King start to get to his feet. There was a clean hole through his magical armor and I couldn’t help grinning as I saw it no longer glowed.

I started feeding mana into the mana cannon, readying it for another shot. The King turned my way and roared, the spell tearing up the ground in front of him like someone had set off a directed explosion. I was tossed through the air and the wall of a building by the attack. My shield held though. I was getting pretty tired of being tossed around. I aimed for the hole I had come through, waiting for the king's next attack but the man surprised me as he smashed through another section like a cannonball and ran straight at me.

I redirected my aim and fired. The attack mostly missed the king as he used some skill to try and avoid the blast. I did clip him in the leg though as his mad charge missed me by a few feet. He crashed through the back wall of the building. I used the short time I had to try and stand again.

I kept an eye out for the healer but there was no sign of him. I did hear the sounds of a scuffle outside. It seems like our fight had not gone unnoticed. I turned back to the hole the King had gone through and pulled out my other staff. My first one was out on the street somewhere. I Imbued it with wind and earth, lending the staff more speed and weight.

I was prepared when the king charged through another section of the wall. I whipped the lion head around, connecting solidly with the side of the squat dwarven king. I wasn’t able to put all my strength into the attack due to my missing leg but the staff imparted enough force to propel the bastard back through the wall for a second time. The building groaned ominously and I hobbled out through one of the holes moments before the building collapsed, sending dust and debris everywhere.

I coughed as the dust rolled over me. The street was obscured by the haze of dust so thick it blocked out everything so I activated my tattoo and scanned the area. It was just in time as I spotted the king rushing in again, this time with his spear leading the charge.

Our weapons connected and the shockwave knocked away the dust from our immediate vicinity. I stumbled back from the impact. The king was strong, easily second-tier strength and he was boosted by at least one skill as my hands went numb from the impact. He was more skilled as well, his spear striking in with lightning-fast jabs. I was only able to keep up with my higher agility and utilizing Time Shudder to great effect.

He started to push me back and I was losing ground due to my leg, his was only wounded and mine was still regrowing. I knew if I tripped I was dead. My mind whirled for a way to win and I struck on a dangerous but possible idea. To make it work though I was going to have to take a hit.

I left the King an opening and he didn’t hesitate to strike out, stabbing me in the shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the pain and twisted, locking the spear in long enough to grab it and activate Cannibalize.

The spear fell apart and entered my storage ring as the surprised King stumbled forward. I grabbed him by the faceplate in my metal hand and squeezed down with all the strength I could bear, activating Godly Might.

The king didn’t go quietly as he slammed meaty fists into my sides and head. I was able to avoid most of the blows with Time Shudder. The rest left me gasping for air or broke ribs, I healed through his assault as he tried to toss me around and even crush me under his weight. I never let go of the helmet though and eventually, I felt all of the strength leave his body as his head finally caved in under the pressure of his helmet.

I laid there, trapped under the corpse of the King for a couple of minutes before I heard someone run over.

“He's over here!” the voice shouted. It didn’t sound like an angry shout, more one of relief. Out from the drifting dust came the Marshall and a few of his men.

“Oh god, are you ok, Paul?”

“I’ll survive,” I choked out, “can you get this fat fucker off of me?”

It took three men to lift the dwarf off of me and I was finally able to suck down a lung full of air. They helped me to my feet.

“The city?” I coughed out.

“There are many dead but Martin and Fiona were able to stem the destruction and hold until more guards arrived. What happened with you?”

“They blew up the parking lot, dropping it into a crater. Then they swarmed me.”

“You two, go make sure there aren’t any more around.”

The two men nodded and left.

The Marshall turned toward me, “Is this in retaliation for what you did to the dwarves in the mountain?”

I winced, “Martin told you about that?”

“He did, but only because I pressed him on where you got the cannons. I think he wanted to get it off his chest. I’m not one to cast blame and I understand why you did what you did but why did they attack the town?”

“I’m not sure, revenge perhaps. I’m more curious as to how he found out about me or the cannons.”

We searched the King and located a manilla envelope containing detailed information on what we had done to the dwarven facility.

“How the hell did they get all this information?” the Marshall asked, startled.

I had an idea and it didn’t mean anything good.