Hey, in my defense, it wasn’t like I planned to spawn a deadly monster wave against the poor village. It also wasn’t my fault that the woods right next door had a dungeon that could spawn it! Or at least... It mostly wasn’t my fault.
Honestly, not being told the rules about my class was perhaps the most frustrating thing of this entire ordeal. If I had known about my weaknesses ahead of time, I could have prepared counters or mitigated them. If I had known about this particular feature ahead of time, I would have made up an excuse to stay outside of town or sneak out before midnight. If I had known what wrath form actually meant.. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the part where a hidden part of my class decided to cause an assault against an unsuspecting town, shall we?
----
I began to panic a bit. “Hey [Hero], are you up?”
Jake mumbled, “It’s late. Go back to sleep Titus.”
“Did you get a message from the system?”
He shuffled a bit, then curled back up. “Nope.”
That’s good. Only I saw the notification. I was relieved. Wait, no. That’s bad! I won’t be outed, but the town will be caught completely off-guard! I took a different tactic. “I thought I heard monster noises outside. Maybe we should check?”
The barely coherent reply came back, “Go back to bed.”
Not good. I need to convince the party to help, but not give it away. I had an idea. “I’ll just go out really quick and check anyway. Just to be sure.”
“Sure. Whatever.” Jake was back to snoring in a second.
I put my boots on quickly and opened the door. At first, I didn’t see anything out of place. The town was dark and quiet. The moonless night would have made it impossible to see, but [Dark Vision] was coming in handy, and I soon spotted something. A sea of black fur and red eyes was coming from the direction of the woods. They’ll slaughter the entire village and then some! I have to do something!
I ran out to meet them while shouting. “Monsters! Monsters in the village! Party, to arms!” I was glad I didn’t wait to see if the monsters would respect the invisible boundary of the village or not because they didn’t even pause. The wolves in the front ran up to different houses and started clawing at the doors.
I remembered my experience with the bear clawing at the tree. Those doors probably won’t last long. I ran to the nearest house. “[Fire Strike]!” My flaming kick caught the wolf by surprise, and it tumbled into its comrades and breathed its last.
Their attention obtained, I turned and ran for the next group that was trying to take down a door. Another flaming kick and I now had yet another set of wolves chasing after me. I repeated the process and kept growing the chain of wolves chasing me. “I could really use some AOE out here!” I shouted to the village. “Tim! Get your butt out here!”
I had drawn all the small fry after me, but I still saw three bears and five alpha wolves that were headed into the town. They seemed content to watch and wait, so I decided to worry about them later.
Drawing the wolves away from any houses and praying that Tim would get out here soon, I started fighting the wolves. They were much more ferocious than before. The first time I fought them, I had opportunities to maneuver and dodge. This time, I was jumped from all sides immediately. I had wolves hanging on by their fangs all over my body, and I was frantically trying to hit them off me with [Fire Strikes].
I was killing them left and right, but my HP was also dropping precipitously. I was down to 100. Then 50. What a way to go. [Demon Lord] dies to his own accidentally created monster wave. I took yet another bite and growled. “Where is the party?!” I finally realized that for whatever reason, the party wasn’t coming.
Since I had no backup, there was no reason to be out in the open. I made a break towards the nearest house and put my back up against the wall. Just like the tutorial, but I don’t even have to watch my back. I got this. I pumped myself up. “Come on! Bring it!” With one side now covered, I made a much better showing. Wolves would jump at me just to be put down with a [Fire Strike].
However, I was losing the battle of attrition. Even though I was killing them as fast as they were coming, I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up for the entire wave. Then I remembered. I didn’t have to.
If I can’t get the party to come to the wave… I sprinted through the pack of wolves. They snarled, and two managed to bite and latch onto me. I ignored them because my target was in sight. I bolted towards the house, threw open the door, and quickly slammed it behind me. I shook off the wolves off me while a wide-eyed Jake watched.
I stared him in the eyes as I killed them both with [Fire Strikes]. “Told ya.”
----
Jake awoke with a start as the door slammed shut. He then saw the small shack light up as Titus punched two wolves with flaming fists. Titus stared him down and said, “Told ya.”
Jake fumbled with his inventory and pulled out a lit torch. “Titus, catch!” He tossed the lit torch to Titus and then hurried to get his clothes on. “Garrett! Wake up! We’re under attack!” He ran to Garrett’s room and had to literally shake him to get him up.
“Wha? Whas happening?” Garrett slurred as he came to his senses.
“Monsters. Gear up. Now.” Jake's command jolted Garrett fully awake, and he started getting dressed.
Jake went back to the front of the house, where Titus was slumped up against the door. “How many we got?” He heard clawing and banging coming from the other side.
“A couple hundred dark wolves. 5 alphas. 3 bears.”
Frick. “That’ll be rough. You ready to go back out there, Titus?”
Titus looked up at Jake and laughed mirthlessly, “I’m a bit tapped out [Hero].”
Jake looked at the sliver of HP remaining on Titus’ bar and his low stamina. Guess it’s just me and Garrett. “Why didn’t you get anyone else to help?”
“I called the alarm, no one came. I tried to buy time but had to retreat back here. When I got back in, you were still sleeping.”
That doesn’t make sense! I’m not that heavy of a sleeper!
Jake finally noticed the system messages.
System: You have been put into magical sleep
System: You are no longer in magical sleep
Oh, hail. Jake shouted to Garrett, “Some kind of magical sleep effect! Garrett, get your butt out here now!” As Jake was shouting, Garrett entered the room. “You need to get to the town bell and ring it as loud as you can. I will focus on holding them off. Titus, hand me the torch. I need you to open the door for us, then stay here and try to regen a bit. We may need you later on.”
“Got it.” Titus stood to his feet, handed Jake the torch, and then prepared to open the door. Jake and Garrett materialized their weapons. Then Jake nodded, and Titus yanked the door open.
3 dark wolves that had been pressed up against the door fell into the room. Before they could recover, Jake’s sword made quick work of them, and they fell to the ground motionless. He charged out the door with Garrett right behind as Titus slammed it back shut.
They were faced with a horde of wolves, but they didn’t hesitate. They fought side by side and cleaved a path through them. When they were finally clear, Jake shouted, “Get to the bell! I got this!”
“On it!” Garrett’s weapon disappeared, and he pulled out his own torch and started running. Jake cut down the wolves that went after the [Berserker] and soon had their undivided attention.
“I could really use some AOE right now. If only I had a way to wake Tim up from outside.” That gave Jake a thought, and he immediately sprinted towards the house that had been built for Tim and Andrew. He got close and then turned around. It really is a shame to use 50 stamina on level 1 wolves, though. “[Sunder]!” Jake sliced through 5 wolves with a single slice that was accompanied by the familiar thunderclap.
Jake heard a thud from inside the house and then Andrew shouting. “Jake? Is that you? What are you-”
Jake didn’t wait for him to finish and returned his own shout. “Monsters! Get Tim up, we need AOE!” He didn’t wait for a response. He kept running and then got an idea. He focused on his plan and tried to pass that information to Andrew and Tim through the party. He could then feel what they were planning to do, and he grinned. [Enhanced Party] was the best 2 perk points I could ever spend.
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Jake led the wolves on a wide loop to avoid being surrounded but then started parading them in front of Andrew’s front door. About half of the horde had passed when Jake shouted, “Now!”
The door flung open, and a young dog-eared [Wizard] was standing there. With a huge ball of fire hovering between his hands. He finished his [Overchanneled] spell. “-that stand against me. [Fire Ball]!” It sailed into the middle of the pack and erupted. The conflagration instantly took down about three-quarters of the pack.
Meanwhile, Tim sat down hard. He had poured basically every ounce of mana into that single spell, so he was basically down for the count. Andrew came out alone with his mace in one hand and a torch in the other, and Tim shut the door. “Where’s the rest of the party?” Andrew called out.
“Magical sleep! We’re trying to wake everyone up with the-” The bell rang out the alarm. “About frickin’ time Garrett!” Jake cupped his hands around his mouth. “Monsters are in the village! Party, to me! Everyone else, barricade your doors and wait for the all-clear!”
At the same time, the remaining wolves began howling. They were answered by the deeper howls of the alpha wolves, and Jake could tell they were on their way.
The party, minus Tim and Titus, made it to Jake and formed up. “Looks like you guys are just in time for round 2.”
The wolves started charging, and Emilia and Sam started lighting them up while Megan dropped back and then disappeared with [Sneak]. The rest of the party braced for the oncoming wave.
----
My HP was coming back, but it was doing so painfully slowly. Thirty-eight one thousand. Thirty-nine one thousand. My HP ticked up one more. About two-thirds of a minute per HP? I have 180, that makes... two hours to be full. I definitely don’t have time for that. I looked at my HP and saw that I was up to 31 after starting at 20. What’s two-thirds of 11? About 8? They’ve been going for about 8 minutes then. That’s a long time for these types of fights. Maybe I should go check on them? I heard a second thunderclap. Okay, so Jake just took out another one of the big enemies then, right? But that doesn’t tell me anything. Aghh.
I can go take a look, right? I’ll stay out of the fight since I am only one good hit from dead, but I need to make sure they are okay. This monster wave is my fault, so I can’t have anyone dying because of it.
I went outside and ran towards where I had heard the thunderclap. When I finally got there, I saw chaos. Jake had two alpha wolves circling him, and he was swiveling back and forth between them both. Lindsey was engaged with a bear and was blocking its massive claw strikes with her shield only to be driven back several feet at a time. Garrett was fighting a second bear, and based on the fact that he was yelling nonstop and made little to no attempt to dodge the heavy strikes that sent him tumbling, he must have been in [Rage]. Megan was also even visible for once, and she was leading an alpha on a merry chase. The final alpha was circling a stressed-out cleric who had his mace out towards it and was also trying to [Heal] Garrett. The final bear was tearing into the side of a house that Emilia and Sam were on top of. They had elected to ignore it and focus on the bear that was attacking Lindsey.
I was stunned and didn’t know where to go help. My decision was made for me when the wolf that was attacking Andrew lunged at him after his latest [Heal] and pinned him to the ground. It started biting and clawing at him as I charged it. It landed a few good attacks, but this time, it was my turn to do the pinning. A [Fire Strike] empowered kick knocked it off, and I landed on top of it and started hitting it repeatedly in the face with [Fire Strikes]. After about the 10th, it finally stopped struggling.
“What happened here?!” I shouted to the [Cleric] as he stood back up.
“The alphas and bears came in to reinforce the other monsters at the same time! Garrett also went mad for some reason! I’ve been trying to keep him alive, but he just keeps going back in!”
I thought quickly. “How much HP does he have?”
“Barely any!”
“Do you have enough MP for another [Heal]?”
“Yes?”
“Good! Save it for when he goes down and then bring him back up!” I sprinted towards the [Berserker] that was once again charging directly at the bear. I put a hand on his shoulder and turned him slightly around in the middle of his charge. I saw a look of rage mixed with confusion on his face as my other hand clocked him directly in the nose with a [Fire Strike].
He went down in a heap. “Give him the [Heal] now!” I shouted to the [Cleric]. “And don’t you dare [Rage] again, got it?” I directed the second statement at the [Berserker], who looked like his head was coming out of a fog. I charged at the bear and kept its attention as the [Heal] did its work and got Garrett back to his feet [Rage] free. IT Help desk, have you tried turning your [Berserker] off and back on again?
I spared a peek over at Jake, and he had managed to take down one of his enemies. Okay, good, Jake shouldn’t be in trouble anymore. Just have to deal with this bear and then help the girls on the roof. Garrett came up to help, and it was our turn to do the circling. Soon Garrett had an opening and hit the bear with a giant swing of his axe. The bear tried to turn around and swipe at Garrett, but it wasn’t fast enough. Then it was my turn. I popped in and punched it with two [Fire Strikes] and then jumped back out of the way. I was just barely fast enough to avoid its retaliation. However, that opened it up once again for Garrett, who hit it yet again.
I was hoping that we had found a way to cheat out a win against the bear, but it had enough of our antics. Instead of turning and swiping at Garrett, it turned and charged him. The surprised [Berserker] was pinned under literal tons of bear.
I won’t be able to get it off! I had a crazy idea. A wonderful, crazy idea. I ran up to the bear, jumped as high as I could, grabbed a fistful of fur, and climbed up its back. I continued forward and got on the bear’s neck. The last time I tried this, it wasn’t effective. Last time I didn’t have an attack skill! “[Fire Strike]!” I continuously pummeled the bear’s head with fire, pausing only to hold on and maintain my balance as it started trying to buck me off. “Garrett, try to get out from under it!”
“Got it!” The pinned [Berserker] shouted back.
“We’re coming, Titus!” I heard Jake shout. I spared a glance over and saw that Jake had defeated both alphas. With the ranged help, Lindsey also had managed to kill her bear. They both were headed towards us, but I saw the building that housed our two ranged attackers was starting to tense and sway. “That building is going to fall! Get everyone out of it!”
Garrett had still been waiting for a good opening when one of the bear’s paws landed forcefully on his stomach, and I could literally hear the breath get knocked out of him. “I can’t now, Titus! In negative HP! Need a [Heal]!”
A very stressed [Cleric] called out, “Out of MP!”
However, the bear lost interest in Garrett and focused on trying to get me off. It shook and bucked, and then finally rolled. I saw the roll coming just in time and managed to dive clear and scramble back to my feet.
That was just what the bear needed, though. My back was to it. Its paw came fast, and I didn’t have time to dodge.
----
Jake had managed to finish off his two opponents and finally spared a glance at his party’s resource bars. Everyone was running low on stamina, Garrett had very little HP left, and Andrew was out of MP. He started running towards Garrett just in time to see Titus on the back of the bear, calling out that a building was about to collapse. Titus focused on his intent to go help Garrett, and he felt Lindsey was going to go for Sam. They nodded briefly, and she broke off.
Jake kept running and then heard that Garrett was out of HP. Then he saw the unthinkable. It was as if it was going in slow motion. The bear rolled to try to force Titus off, and he dove in front and managed to get back to his feet. But he didn’t see the attack coming in time. Jake also couldn’t cry out a warning fast enough. The attack connected, and Titus went tumbling through the snow. He didn’t move. His HP bar was empty.
“TITUS!” Jake glared at the bear. He started taking a deep breath out of reflex when the anger came, but for the first time in years, he stopped. No. There is no time for deep breaths. There is no other point of view. He screamed at the bear, “You’re going to pay! You hear me, monster!?” Jake charged at the monster while Andrew stood still in a panic. “[Cleric]! If you are out of MP, shove potions down his throat till he’s back up!” Jake snapped at Andrew. Andrew immediately began fumbling with his inventory and ran towards Garrett.
Jake faced off with the bear. The bear growled at him and charged. Jake yelled back and charged too. At the last second, he spun out of the way and made a cut along the bear’s side. Every claw attack was dodged. Every charge was rendered useless and resulted in a cut down the bear’s side. After a bit, Jake could see fear in the bear’s eyes. It started to run away.
“No, you don’t!” [Sunder] was off cooldown. Jake ran after the bear. He only had about 70 SP left, but he dumped it all into the skill. And then in his rage, he put in more. And more. “This is for Titus! [Sunder]!” Jake flashed past the bear and cut.
The sound of thunder boomed and echoed through the village. The bear was completely disintegrated.
System: New Achievement. Overkill. Class Perk Points Gained 2
System: New Achievement. First Overkill. Class Perk Points Gained 2
Jake was in no mood to celebrate his achievements. His vengeance complete, Jake turned to look at the state of the party. Lindsey, Sam, and Emila had put down the bear and also the wolf that Megan had kited back around. The building looked incredibly damaged but had stayed up somehow. Andrew had managed to get Garrett back to his feet with a health potion. And TItus.. Is down. He’s dying. For real this time. Jake swallowed hard and then started hobbling towards him. He knelt down next to him and trembled. “It’s okay, Titus, we’ll find a way to save you. We didn’t before, but we will this time.”
Titus sat up, “Oh, is it safe now?”
----
1 HP. I had stared at that number hard as I was tumbling through the snow and had come up with yet another half-cocked plan. Play dead. I figured that the bear had ignored Garrett after he stopped moving, so why wouldn’t it work for me?
I sat there staring at my HP via my status with my eyes closed and waited. I heard a much louder thunderclap than normal and realized Jake must have been making sure that the bear went down. That means they are wrapping up the fight, right? I should be good to get up? I stayed still. You know, I think I will wait for someone to come and get me, just to be safe. Or to say something that sounds like “all the enemies are gone, and it would be safe for a 1 HP person to get up.”
I heard footsteps approaching me, and I almost got up, but hesitated. What if it is some third type of monster? What if I get up just to have it immediately kill me? The footsteps stopped, and I heard a thud next to me. Then I finally heard Jake’s voice.
I was never more relieved to hear his voice. I sat up, “Oh, is it safe now?”
The look on his face was.. Complicated. It finally settled on anger. “How could you do that to me?!” He shouted. He reared back and looked like he was going to punch me.
I threw my hands up in defense and cowered. “1 HP! 1 HP!”
He relented. “Making me think you died. I’m gonna kill you,” he muttered.
“You’re going to kill me because I almost died?”
“Yeah.” He grumbled. We looked at each other, and then we burst out laughing. It was a ragged, slightly unhinged laugh where the choice had been either to laugh or to cry. “Think you can stand?” He held out a hand. I noticed that he was a bit unsteady on his feet.
“How about you? You look like I could knock you over with a leaf.”
He chuckled drily. “Negative 50 SP. It turns out that I can overdraw my SP when I use [Sunder].”
I took his hand, and he helped me up. “Extra skill points. Insane one-shot skill. Can overdraw your SP. Your class is BS, [Hero].”
He just chuckled. “Good thing too, or we would’ve been in trouble.”
And so a [Demon Lord] and a [Hero] staggered back to a village together, victorious.