“Get the hell out of my way!”
A roar escaped her lips as Mikella launched the several Bastion soldiers to the air. Sparks flew as electricity coiled around their bodies, their weight lifted from the force enabled by the energy-based coil.
Their bodies burned and charred as each one was launched straight at the nearby mountainous walls. They hit and made craters to form several spots of bloody meshes as kill notifications filled her vision, their lives snuffed out.
“Die, you damn monster!”
Another soldier roared, mostly out of panic and fear than courage to her ears as he tried to drive a polehammer’s spike straight at her.
She dodged effortlessly, his attacks a mockery compared to the heavy hitters in her team. He faltered before she managed to whip up some more of her mana into her sword and unleashing her Sword Art to extend her blade’s length into lightning energy and pierce the soldier from the back.
She felt like she just used an energy saber, chuckling at the thought of Clara looking at this in awe before realizing a grunted cry from behind her. She turned to find none other than a soldier pierced with a flaming spear through the chest behind her, and soon falling to the ground revealing Myra behind him.
Her flames were different compared to normal. They had a hotter aura, and there were hints of blue within those orange flames coiling around her body and spear before dispersing them, revealing a frown from Myra’s face.
“Mikky, how about focusing on the battle instead of chuckling to yourself like a creepo?”
“Hey, it’s not creepy!” Mikella pouted, but she grinned when Myra just shook her head in disbelief.
“You got pretty nasty now,” Mikella said with no hint of remorse for her words. “How’s the rank up treating you?”
“Like I’m a whole new woman now,” Myra admitted, glee still apparent in her tone. “It’s like my flames got a will of their own now or something. I can make them burn hotter than before. Though if I’m not careful, I could actually burn myself in the process.”
“Ain’t that how it normally works?” Mikella tilted her head.
“No, dumbass,” Myra rolled her eyes hard at that. “Attunements don’t normally hurt you. You’re just an example of letting her attunement get the better of her every single time.”
“Hey, it worked out in the end.”
“Barely,” Myra scoffed.
Mikella ignored her slight at her awesomeness as she spotted Piker at the side, easily handling the three Journeymen they left to him. While three Journeymen seemed scary enough, Piker was defending against them fairly well.
Despite him fighting against three opponents, the women were in no hurry to help. After all, these ‘journeymen’ aren’t exactly the toughest opponents they faced.
“Is it me, or are they more pathetic than we expected from their levels?” Myra asked. Mikella nodded in agreement.
“I think they feel… hollow, don’t they?”
“I had that feeling too,” Myra nodded. “I hate to admit this, but I think Bastion forced their soldiers to become Journeymen against the system’s wishes.”
Mikella grimaced. It was actually good news for them–this meant that with their increased prowess thanks to the tower diving, they were able to handle these Journeymen hacks, but that didn’t sit well with her.
Zeke explained to her what he learned about other alternatives. She didn't have the time to read, or rather can’t really read or else she would just fall asleep, so Zeke helped her out on how to attain Journeymen stage. There was a way to avoid having to meet the extra requirements and instead just reach the necessary level to 60.
But there would be horrible side-effects. In this case, by jumping ahead without a solid foundation, your body won’t be able to last. Not only would you turn out to be a half-baked Journeymen, with a natural body and power weaker than normal Journeymen, their souls won’t be able to last the advanced state of the body.
Their souls, or cores for other people, are generally their entire state of being in comparison to the system. It was their virtual avatars according to Zeke’s game logic, that allows the system to tamper and grant them powers like level ups and skills. They are intrinsic to their power, responsible for all the energies they create as well as the power they produce from the energies.
But if you do anything to affect the soul outside of the system’s purview, it could damage them severely due to not understanding the complexity of a person’s soul.
For these people who took alternatives to advance to a higher stage, their souls would crumble and force the body to wither. In other words, it would be a cruel and long death afterwards.
There were ways to extend their life, or at least measure up in foundations, and that’s just by maxing out as many skills as possible, not just the initial amount one needed to advance to Journeyman. It’s a debt that will continue to rise unless you pay up as soon as possible. But even then, the result would always be disastrous.
Piker moved onwards. His bastard sword struck the leading soldier first. That instant where the soldier blocked his attack with his own sword was his downfall as frost instantly covered the entirety of the soldier’s sword, causing him to panic. Piker took the shot and delivered a gut-wrenching punch.
The soldier bent before Piker raised his sword and decapitated the soldier, his corpse falling limply. It happened so fast that the other soldiers couldn’t help, but they instead flanked around Piker, their spear and halberd raised to strike him down.
Piker went to block against the spear user, and halberd user took the chance to strike from behind. However, his legs were instantly frozen, ice covering his feet as the soldier groaned in pain from the intensity behind the frost of the attack.
Piker had already taken down the clearly inferior spear user, slashing his body in half with his giant ice-energy based sword. Then he spun with a powerful whirlwind-like swing, bisecting the frozen soldier who had no chance of escaping.
It was over in a flash. Mikella stared at the bodies surrounding her, making her flash back to the time she first killed human beings.
She still had nightmares, often seeking Zeke for some aid. She still remembered bothering him at night, entering his room wanting to talk things out. He helped her so much, getting over the killings she had done by saying it was all for Clara.
That’s when he hit her with the words.
“As long as you understand what you’re doing, you should forgive yourself. Otherwise, we’ll just end up as killers.”
Zeke took lives of his own, but he already summarized it all in his head that it was a necessary thing. Otherwise, their people would die instead.
Taking that, Mikella looked at the corpses not with fear and disgust, but as a necessary step for a brighter future for her and her family.
Piker returned back to the girls, barely affected due to his incredibly high Endurance. That was all without having a body-type skill like Athletics too, so this was still in his weakest state in Mikella’s eyes. However, no matter how much she wanted to enjoy the prospects of fighting, she wanted to reunite with Zeke and Clara as fast as possible.
“We’re getting closer to the fortress,” Myra said, swinging her spear to get rid of the charcoal ashes on her blade.
“I suggest trying to find any one of our allies first, whoever they may be,” Piker called out. “Zeke and Clara are already heading towards the fortress. We should at least reunite with our allies in case they need help with the enemy.”
“You think everyone is at the fortress?” Mikella asked. Piker only frowned in thought.
“That should be where we should be gathered. But we never expected to be separated. It’s dangerous to go into enemy territory, including both the monsters and the soldiers.”
Mikella bit her lip in frustration. It wasn’t just the soldiers that found them–monsters that came from the fortress went after them as well. They were definitely tougher than the average monsters in the biodome, each one being crystal golems capable of taking a beating and dealing a beating back.
But thanks to their experience at the tower, they managed to take the golems down with ease.
Mikella let out an exasperated breath. “We don’t really have much of a choice. Either we walk around aimlessly or we get to the fortress where we can see at least one of our allies.”
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“Agreed,” Myra said. “We don’t have that much time either. Who knows whether the soldiers might have beat the boss already?”
“Considering that we still have the quest, that’s not possible, but… you’re right,” Piker let out a weary breath. He was definitely the sort that didn’t handle well when a plan goes awry. “Let’s keep going.”
Mikella and Myra nodded, and the trio closed in towards the fortress at their sight. It’s been about an hour since they separated, but the area around them still felt silent without the enemies appearing to kill them.
Mikella went ahead to scout with her vast Dexterity, using her Cloak of Darkness she still had on her.
All the while, she feared for Clara. Zeke was a capable man, but Clara was still possessed by Zoan. No amount of rewards is worth leaving her sister nearly by herself, especially with that psychopath of an angel possessing her.
She bit her lip, just close enough to draw blood, as she returned with those thoughts in mind to her comrades.
“I got nothing,” Mikella said, taking off her cloak while surrounded by the broken stones of the fortress. It looked more like a ruin than a full on fortress, the stones clearly belonging to the building and having actual mold encroaching over the surface. The stench of the forest and mildew filled her nose when she paid further attention.
“That’s good news, at least,” Myra said. “I had enough of killing soldiers. They’re just so pathetic to fight against.”
“I’m surprised you’re more worried about finding a good fight than to find our allies who might be killed by now,” Piker shot back.
“Not sure about your unit, but everyone else should be fine,” Myra said, a frown on her face.
“Did you forget that Jackie is there with my unit?” Piker asked, causing Myra to pause.
“Guys, chill,” Mikella stepped in, raising her hands. It was sort of ironic that she was the first one to panic, and now these two are going off the rails. “Let’s just–”
Suddenly, her senses went haywire. Her eyes widened as she felt her instincts flare in ways she never thought possible. The others followed her, their eyes peering and narrowing at the incoming threat.
Something landed near the top part of a large stone, almost a story high, showing himself to the others. It was a big, bulky man, his chest bare with only leather pants on his person. His feet were also bare, yet she could see his nails as sharp as claws, his open mouth showing actual fangs.
His wildlike red hair swayed from the landing, and his eyes glared down at the three of them. He smiled, a wicked, cruel thing.
“Ooh, you guys are new,” The man spoke candidly, sounding like a man beneath his thirties with a hint of recklessness. “You part of the townies?”
Mikella summoned her sword as an answer. The other two did the same, brandishing their weapons, staying silent all the while.
“Ooh, good reaction. Definitely townies,” The man nodded. “And I got a feeling you guys are responsible for whatever the fuck happened out there. Tell me, did you do something to the tower that literally blew the fuck up? It messed with my senses so bad that I had to leave my prey behind.”
Mikella’s ears perked up hearing the word ‘prey’. She only hoped he was talking about the monsters, but in the end, she managed to ask.
“That prey,” Mikella answered. “Were they our people?”
“Oh, yeah,” The man laughed, sounding like he was recalling a funny memory. “Yeah those folks were pretty tough. Each one was weaker than a speck but damn were they annoying fighting together like that.”
“What do you want?” Piker asked. His scowl was deeper than usual, especially hearing about his unit. “Surely you’re not here to talk our ears off?”
The man barked out a laugh, and Mikella honestly heard a true and honest bark, like a beginning howl.
“You’re right,” The man agreed as he jumped from the top of the pillar and straight down to the ground.
He easily cratered the ground, his weight dominating the surface with barely a change to his stance. He slowly rose up, approaching nearly seven feet high. His bare muscles tensed, his fingers loosening and cracking his knuckles at the same time.
“You see, I got a little pissed off. A tiny whelp actually got to me, all because of my shitty luck with a stat block. The little shitstain looked so damn proud of it too, and I really wanted to rip him a new one. Not sure if you know him, but here's hoping that bastard gets ripped a new one when my father finds him.”
Mikella raised her brow at that. The dude really didn’t care whether he was explaining his army’s plans or not. She got a feeling that he’s the sort to have a parent within the high seats of the faction, considering that out of all the soldiers, he was alone and clearly without much armor. But none of this made any sense.
Why was he here, and why was he alone? If he was so important to have a father leading or something along those lines, shouldn’t he be protected?
She Identified him to be sure, and she gasped.
> Warrior, Level 76
A true blue Journeyman–just like Cloud, Val, and Zacharia. And this time he wasn’t like those hacks from earlier–he was strong, that much she could tell.
“So you’re gonna play with me… whether you like it or not,” The man grinned at them. “The name’s Zyler–And I’m gonna enjoy every fucking second of it.”
…..
Out of all the times when they could be separated, it had to be outside the tower in the largest biodome he has ever been in his life. Cloud’s life has truly gone topsy-turvy ever since the visitors came into their town.
Then again, he can’t really complain. The amount of wealth and fortune, including those incredible enhanced attribute fruits, were enough to make it all worth it, but only when the army wasn’t on their asses ready to take over everything they ever worked for.
Cloud shook off the stress, looking over to his current party members. His wife was scouting the scene, trying to spot the children, especially Clara, to rescue. On the other hand, Zacharia kept a steady eye out for any enemies that might approach them.
They had been approached by these so-called journeymen bastion soldiers. Val nearly wept for their pitiful existence but she easily killed them all thanks to her newfound power. It took her such a long time to increase her attunement’s tier, and now she was basically a head and shoulders above both Cloud and Zacharia both. If she wanted to, she could clean house with them and dust her hands clean with ease afterwards.
He wanted to be happy, but the current situation didn’t sit well with him. The soldier that they managed to pick up told them that their army was currently fighting against the monsters, approaching closer to the center of the fortress where they suspected the boss to be. At the same time, it had already been revealed where Zacharia’s retinue was, and they sent their strongest powerhouse after them.
He could only pray that they were still alive. He didn’t want to accept more young deaths, even if they were under Zacharia’s authority. He would be willing to give up everything to save his wife, true–but in the end, he didn’t want other people to die if possible.
They were already approaching the fortress, figuring that it was where the other members would go. He already knew that the Experts would be just fine. Even if Zeke, the support mage, was alone, he would handle himself.
However, Clara being here was an issue, and so was this powerhouse that seemingly was the son of Bastion’s Lord. The soldier kindly explained how much of a dick he was, but Cloud didn't care about that particular tidbit.
“Cloud,” Zacharia said, reaching towards his two-handed sword. “Something’s approaching.”
“Yeah,” Cloud said. “Val!”
Val immediately landed near them, her sword in hand and brandishing it at the incoming presence. It was a group of soldiers, each one approaching the area of the fortress where Cloud expected to be the barracks, but the inside was clearly wrought with old age and mold. It would’ve been an interesting study were it not for the current time.
The group approached them, the sounds of armor and weapons clinking together as they approached the barracks. From the entrance to the barracks, which was open to the outside of the fortress thanks to broken walls and stone came a small group of highly armored soldiers, their weapons held by their hands as a single man walked in the center.
The man in front looked extremely important, at least it seemed that way from the expensive looking tabard he had on, the tunic finely made to fit his muscular body. The man looked rather intelligent, glasses adorning his well-sculpted face. Bright red hair on his head that seemed to thin near the top and the sides, showing his age.
He was tall as well, almost as tall as Zacharia, with tanned weathered skin from being out in the sun for so long. Compared to the rest of the soldiers in the group, this man was clearly on another level, and if his eyes weren’t lying, that man was at Master stage, a higher stage than Journeyman.
However, something was off. He couldn’t quite place it.
“Well, looks like we’re not alone,” The man said, sounding more surprised than shocked. He had a casual tone to his voice, but Cloud could tell he had his guard up from the way his arms tensed. “Tell me, what might fine people such as yourselves be here for? Since you’re not part of my army, I suppose you must be the Lords of Eve Glade?”
The three stood guard, their weapons at the ready. Cloud had his ringed staff in hand, but he didn’t make a move. Surrounding this Master user were several Journeymen, and Cloud can tell that they were at least better suited for combat than the hacks they dealt with.
Cloud smiled, his mind in motion for a plan. “That we are. I’m glad to hear that you know of us. Might I know your name, so that we won’t be so out of place?”
“You were already out of place the moment you stepped into the biodome,” The Master said with a smirk of his own. “But I digress. My name is Roderick–I am the leader of Bastion and the one in charge of our expedition into this unclaimed land.”
There was a strong emphasis on the ‘unclaimed’ part, putting a lot of weight on it from the tense atmosphere.
“It’s always better to ask, just to be polite,” Cloud shrugged. “And from your words, I believe there was a misunderstanding… you see, we don’t remember inviting you here into our territory, Roderick.”
Cloud’s voice became tinged with vitriol, scowling at the man. Val followed, speaking up.
“You speak as if you have authority, but you all slinked in like maggots in a corpse. Who here has more right to have this biodome than us?”
The man laughed. The other soldiers looked ready to fight, but he kept himself back as he spoke again.
“I suppose you have a point. But you can see why, don’t you? This biodome… is plentiful. There are so many resources that would be far too valuable for the likes of your own town. Surely you can understand that much, can’t you? In fact, you were lucky enough to even find this at all. We have planned this for months on end to find, and you folks only managed to find this out barely weeks ago.”
“Finders keepers, unfortunately,” Cloud replied. “And because we found this place first, actually being here physically first, it’s our right.”
“Heh, you truly are commendable,” Roderick lifted his glasses off of his face. He wiped the glass off with a finger, his golden eyes peering up at them. “Only having three Journeymen on your side and all. Can you truly be so confident to keep talking like that in this situation?”
The soldiers walked up to Roderick’s side, brandishing their weapons at the three now. Val scowled further, and Zacharia remained a stoic statue, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. All they needed was a signal to start the hellzone of a fight to come.
“If it means taking what’s rightfully ours, then yes,” Cloud said, his eyes peering straight into Roderick’s. “Now… kindly get the fuck out of our property.”