The desperate cry of the scout caught everyone’s attention. However, his expectations of a rowdy and panicked get-together were dashed when every soldier immediately went on autopilot in his eyes. They rushed toward their destinations and planned formations. The two newbies looked at this and actually panicked themselves.
Mikella ran over to Myra, giving one last look at Zeke before he himself went over to the mages’ side. He figured that out of everyone, the least he could do is be with the mages, especially since he was to be a support mage.
This was the first time he was facing a horde with so many soldiers at once. His stomach churned as he ran up the stairs with dozens of other mages to get to the top of the structured ramparts, often bumping and apologizing to the few mages on the way.
His heart was beating fast as instead of shouts and screams, he heard the captain, Val, shout each order with clarity, forcing him to work overtime.
“Get to your positions! Archers, get your arrows prepped and backup quivers in hand! Mages, prepare your spells in advance. Do not shoot unless ordered!”
Zeke had a feeling that the last sentence was when the mages shot at them when they first arrived, considering her persistence in only shooting on demand. Otherwise, her orders made it so that if anybody doesn’t follow them, they might as well be considered traitors.
Because going against her orders would only result in meaningless deaths. That’s why Zeke rushed over to the top, finally stopping the rush as the mages prepared as per Val’s orders.
He did his best to not get in anyone’s way. As a low-level mage, his first rule given to him by the other mages is to just let them do the heavy work.
This was discussed over the weeks he spent with them in the ramparts. They consider his skills useful despite being a Runist, but considering his level and age, it was possible he could disrupt their casting at a bad time.
Zeke didn’t feel bitter about it as he knew that he could only help when he had a good grasp of the scene in front of him.
His eyes were spinning at the constant movement. He could just barely notice Mikella standing near Myra as having different weapon-holders in melee squads was beneficial.
The scene was filled with soldiers far and wide, way more than his peripherals can even achieve. However, the formerly peaceful looking clearing in front of him was now covered with soldiers ready for combat. Then their enemy slowly appeared beyond the dense forest.
He figured it would be the same as just a normal horde, such as when he and Mikella were surrounded by a number of beasts when he put up his barrier after nightfall. Mikella had to take them one by one before running back into the barrier before a number of them could maul her to death. He figured that was the case.
But he was proven very wrong. Now he understood the meaning of a true monster horde.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of monsters were running towards them. Even with his low visibility, the sheer tremors caused by the massive horde was enough to cause some of the loose buildings in the town itself to crumble. They were already doing damage before even arriving.
Looking over to the otherside, he saw all of the non-combatants already forming a rushed evacuation towards the center of the town. It was most likely that the opposite side was facing their fair share of monsters.
Looking back, groups of beasts ran towards the town with fervent speed. He could see one of them looking ferocious, almost as though anger and pure bloodlust was driving the creature mad, its mouth foaming and its eyes blank with rage.
“Keep steady! It’s the same as usual! Remember your training! Check your pools, and retreat after relaying your status before you recover your resources!”
Val’s orders were precise and clear. Their only option is to survive and protect the town. Soon, the horde encroached into their territory, ready to annihilate the town. That’s when Val shouted her first order.
“Archers! Launch!”
Sharp twangs sound out, a whole array of arrows shadowing the clearing. Each arrow pelted everything underneath them. It was a true terror of the skies as each arrow painted the surroundings red with the beasts’ blood. Some of them missed, but that was expected as the attack was supposed to reach an entire plain to scare off the creatures, and it worked as each one stopped in their tracks, which proved to be their next mistake.
“Mages! Fire!”
Val’s next order brought the mages around Zeke to stir, casting their quick spells and triggering their delayed ones to create magic from thin air.
A slew of fireballs, ice and earth spikes, blades made entirely of air, and cones of lightning blasts flashed the scenery, almost blinding Zeke as this was the first time he saw many colorful magic being used. Mana was just… devouring his senses at this point, his Mana Perception forced to work overdrive as he tried to focus. This was just how mages worked. It was obvious that bits of mana are released after a spell is cast, so it made sense that a ton of left-over Mana would be left in the atmosphere after so many spells were launched.
They burned, crashed, and ripped the monsters apart that stopped after the archers’ launch. By his estimate, Zeke could see that more than a hundred or so monsters died from that alone. He could even tell that small bits of energy were entering through his body, surprising him further.
Apparently, just being a part of the battle was earning him experience points. Then again, he was the lowest level along with Mikella compared to the rest of them, so it was possible he was gaining experience points solely because he was too weak not to absorb anything.
He didn't care about that. He already agreed that while the free XP was nice, he’d prefer to actually earn it, so when the archers and mages were done attacking and ran out of juice, it was time for the melee to join in. He checked his status, making sure that no free point was left over and checking his available pools.
> Name: Zeke Parlow (Death Swindler)
> Race: Human
> Runist: Level 10
> STR: 6
> DEX: 16
> INT: 23
> SPI: 32
> VIT: 16
> END: 17
> Free Points: 0
>
> General Skills:
> Mana Perception (U) Level 5
> Runecraft (U) Level 1
> Internal Senses (U) Level 1
> Pain Resistance (U) Level 4
> Meditation (C) Level 3
>
> Acquired Skills:
> Barrier Craft (R) Level 5
> Recovery (R) Level 2
>
> Class Skills:
> Runic Library Level 1
>
> Title Skill:
> Not Today (T), Level 1 (Maxed)
He put all the remaining four free points into Spirit for obvious reasons. As a supporter, he’s gonna need lots of mana for this coming fight.
He nodded to himself, feeling that his mana was topped off. He watched the war in front of him, knowing that he would make his own contribution soon.
…..
Her throat ran dry as Mikella watched the monsters get killed one after another. She didn’t care she was receiving XP from the deaths as she focused on the true task at hand.
Myra only looked on with resolution in her eyes, grasping her unsheathed sword, veins stretching across in her hands. Mikella already had her sword in hand, but she felt that was not enough.
Even after checking her status over and over again, she didn't feel that sense of being ready.
> Name: Mikella Ashton (Opportunist)
> Race: Human
> Dragon Warrior: Level 10
> STR: 25
> DEX: 29
> INT: 7
> SPI: 7
> VIT: 15
> END: 26
> Free Points: 0
>
> General Skills:
> Kinetic Perception (U) Level 1
> Sword Mastery (U) Level 4
> Pain Resistance (U) Level 3
> Meditation (C) Level 3
>
> Acquired Skills:
> Acrobatics (R) Level 3
>
> If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
>
> Hawk Eyes (R) Level 2
>
>
>
> Class Skills:
> Heavenly Strike Level 1
>
> Title Skill:
> Not-Lucky Shot (T), Level 1 (Maxed)
Even spending most of her days sparring with different soldiers, she still didn’t feel that ready. She decided to put points into Endurance instead, as she was sure the others could pile up on the damage compared to her. She just needs to make sure not to get hurt in the process while fighting, and running out of stamina could be a death sentence.
Eventually, monsters finally approached, beginning the melee fighters’ attack.
Noise clouded her hearing as weapons clashed and monsters roared, blood flowing freely like rain across her vision. Rather than taking in everything, she decided to do one thing at a time.
She rushed ahead, making sure to not get in the way of the other soldiers. She didn’t care how well they did or not, she knew that they could take care of themselves, as she had her own target in mind.
A large bear was standing on its bipedal legs as it roared, getting Mikella to Identify the creature.
> Dire Bear, Level 19
A large bear with steel-colored fur that could probably take a few hits. Its claws were sharp and its fangs could probably tear steel.
A high level creature, for sure, but she remembered facing one such beast during her forest survival. Sure, Zeke was there to provide defense, but she can’t tell whether Zeke would be able to help out this time as he was clearly busy with literally everyone else fighting other monsters.
She didn’t mind, though. Her training was built to withstand fighting without extra protection. Not willing to hold back, she let her stamina energy flow to her arms, thrusting her sword forward.
The bear was busy trying to swipe at whichever soldier was closest to it, so it didn’t realize that a sword managed to plunge straight into its gut, blood pouring out as a response. The bear roared, but it didn’t just take the hit as it swiped at Mikella next with its large claws.
Mikella’s Acrobatics flared as she got away, ensuring not to get hit at all. She had more control than before now thanks to training with Val and Myra, so she thankfully didn’t end up nearly crashing into another soldier as she prepared another assault.
Despite her heavy attack to the gut, it didn’t seem fazed. But she knew it did some serious damage as the bear seemed affected and slowed by the large wound. As it fumbled and roared, she rushed in and sliced across its limb with an upper diagonal swipe. The bear tried to use its maw to bite at her, but she sidestepped and stabbed straight at its hindleg.
She kept dealing strikes one after another, trying to kill the creature quickly, but also conserving her Stamina for the next fight. The first heavy strike was to ensure the monster is weakened, so she can take her time to fight it at an advantage. She learned her lesson well after her battle of attrition from the earlier days. So far, she had no clue on how long the horde would last.
The bear finally slowed to a crawl as Mikella dealt a final strike across, beheading it entirely.
She would’ve been winded by now if it weren’t for her constant focus on conserving her energy, feeling as though she could fight another battle straight after.
But when she turned around, she saw a vicious saber-toothed tiger aiming right at her, and her only reaction was to freaking Identify it.
> Iron Fanged Tiger, Level 24
Oh, so it was an Iron-fanged Tiger, not a saber toothed tiger. What a large difference.
She closed her eyes as she could feel her mistake ready to take out a limb or two, but found that the tiger was stopped instead. Not by a soldier, but by the very familiar turquoise magic wall that appeared straight out of nowhere, stopping the tiger right at the apex of its jump.
The wall disappeared after, and before Mikella could recover her senses, the tiger was stabbed right through the head by a spear, belonging to none other than Myra who looked back at Mikella with a scowl.
“Focus, Mikky!” Myra shouted. “Remember, you got an army of monsters to fight!”
Despite Myra knowing that Mikella’s level was low, she already expected that she could take down a creature 9 levels above her. It was obvious in fact, and that was why Myra wanted her to keep fighting onwards.
Mikella nodded, thanking both her and to Zeke in her head as she followed Myra, deciding that two against one was way better than one against one in this scenario.
…..
Zeke let out a breath of relief after managing to spot Mikella in this mess, and was even able to defend against a surprise attack of the tiger after taking down the Dire Bear.
For now, he only focused on keeping up with Mikella as her level was lower. Plus, this was the first time she participated in this horde battle as much as it was his, so he knew at some point this would all be beyond her and end up getting targeted.
Not to say that Zeke wasn’t also trying to take a further grasp of the situation. He made a barrier here and there, stopping the creature from moving rather than defending an attack from them. He still hadn’t had a full grasp of the monsters’ movesets unlike with the knights, so he figured that if he shouldn’t get in the way of the other soldiers, then he should just get in the way of the monsters.
And apparently, it was working out better than expected. One time, he put up a barrier around a rampaging gorilla-like monster–Smash Gorilla, Level 23– when it was trying to raise its arms up to deliver a conjoined punch, stopping it right where it would’ve swung its arms. Thanks to that, the soldier fighting it managed to stab it right at its armpits and torso when it got distracted, followed by a merciless slew of other attacks at the same time by the other soldiers in range.
He felt a little guilty, but at the same time, he reveled at how he managed to fuck up that monster’s momentum. And just as he expected in this war-like scenario, one single mistake could prove fatal.
So while keeping an eye on Mikella, which at this point became a single dot in the blob of movement in his vision, he tried his best to put up a barrier to a creature most of the time, and provide defense to a soldier who got himself hurt. He was certain his high Intelligence was helping him in droves, keeping up with his rampant thoughts while sighting down on the battlefield, helping him sort out the mess faster than his ordinary self would do.
He also did his best to provide protection for those who, after several minutes of the horde beginning, had to retreat due to sneak attacks by the smaller creatures Zeke had little chance of spotting. Apparently there were killer squirrels running around the legs of the soldiers, often biting them without them noticing and then running away like the tiny bastards they are.
He hated it, but there’s no way he can defend against those creatures. Even if he could see them, he wasn’t able to cast his spell fast enough to stop them.
Still, Zeke managed to spot the soldiers after a bigger creature tried to ambush them while they retreated with an injured soldier in their arms. A barrier stopped the creature in time, protecting them while they made their getaway. The soldiers even went ahead and thanked Zeke with a thumbs up.
That’s when Val shouted to him, catching his attention.
“Zeke! Can you make a barrier shelter at my south-east!?”
Zeke immediately caught wind of her surroundings, her aura alone making it easy to spot her. She was at the very forefront of the battle, but it was clear that no creature was approaching her. However, she remained rooted, making sure that while the fight was getting rough, she was helping those get the XP they needed to advance.
It might sound like she just wasn’t helping her fellow man. But after learning about the system, Val was doing her best to provide everyone with the means to improve themselves, a true act of generosity in this world where XP could come with potential death.
Spotting the area she wanted him to make, Zeke created a rectangular-shaped barrier around it–about the size of a trailer van–getting Val to shout at the nearby soldiers.
“To the injured soldiers, head straight towards the barrier! A healer will be here to fix you right up and get back in there!”
As though she just released a well-hyped product to the world, every soldier with visible wounds ran, or limped, towards the newly created barrier shelter. Zeke also made sure to make a door-like opening on his barrier when a healer is prompted to run there. Obviously, he can’t go in there himself as he needed to scope out the battlefield even if he had a healing skill on hand.
He was also certain everyone else would stop him if he tried, needing his barriers way more than his healing skill at the moment.
As the healer showed up, a young man in his twenties, Zeke closed the magic door behind him as each soldier ran inside.
Then, as soon as he saw no available soldiers trying to go in, he closed it immediately, just when a giant wolf creature tried to enter, only to have its face smashed in by the barrier and promptly stabbed to death by the healthy soldiers around it.
Zeke could feel his Mana almost drained out of him like an open faucet. His head was wrought with migraines from the information overload. While his Intelligence was helpful, he still wasn’t used to the massive information flow, and the constant Mana drain was making things worse. But he forced himself to keep going after seeing each soldier getting rapidly healed by the mage within his barrier. When the healer was done, they were practically brand new.
As soon as more than enough soldiers were healed, Val ordered Zeke open the barrier at the front for them to get out, another slew of injured soldiers getting back in like clockwork.
He literally made an emergency defense shelter/hospital in the middle of the battlefield, and as soon as the soldiers were ready, they immediately ran back out into the fray. It was almost like respawning–even if you take them out, they’ll charge back in.
The healer looked back at Zeke, giving him a major thumbs up with a goofy grin. Apparently this was such a time saver for everyone that they decided to keep it going like this for a while. He was also certain the healer was enjoying a slew of XP for his healing skill level. Lucky bastard.
Zeke was prepared for a long haul. He knew it was going to happen. However, he was still stunned as three hours passed during the fight.
It was clear to him that he wasn’t built for this long of a battle. His brain was bursting, his body approaching the level of exhaustion he never thought possible. Despite just standing still and doing nothing but watch and cast spells, it was bearing a heavy weight on his shoulders.
It wasn’t just the constant fighting and noises that he wasn’t used to. It was the stress of keeping people alive. His stress levels rose instead of his actual levels as his mana kept getting depleted.
His stress went even further beyond when he realized something horrific had occurred. While he was focusing on keeping the majority of the monsters away by annoying them to death–suddenly putting magic walls in front of them, he saw Mikella heading into the emergency hospital he made.
She was heavily injured. Her right hip had a gaping wound, her face marred with cuts and blood. He thought his heart stopped beating at the sight of it.
What happened? Did something occur while he was out of it, worried about his stupid mana consumption when he should’ve been looking out for Mikella’s life?
Guilt and shame crept up through his chest as he saw Mikella being safely guided into the emergency barrier by Myra. Val watched with an affirming nod, as though she was impressed by Mikella’s progress.
But Zeke was feeling the opposite. He felt ashamed that he didn’t do as well as he did, even if three hours passed. What if she was getting hurt throughout the three hours whenever he wasn’t looking at her? That only made the stress ready to overtake him.
It got to the point where he barely noticed one of the mages calling out to him.
“Incoming! Zeke, it’s coming for you!”
Zeke could barely focus as he noticed a giant log shaped like a spear flying towards the top of the ramparts.
Towards him, specifically.