Bea was starting to get worn down from the journey. I thought it was less about the physical exertion than being around us the whole time. She looked more and more antsy when someone would move near her. She did her best not to let it show, though.

She did seem to enjoy the actual adventuring part, though, she gushed and fawned over seeing pretty trees, and beautiful flowers, and cool-looking monsters that entranced Corby and me. There was a genuine adventurer buried under all the shyness

After a few days, I finally laid eyes on the Wall. Even from this far, it towered over everything. An unyielding mass of solid black stretched as far as my eyes could see. This was the towering structure that stood between the living and the hordes of the undead. It was what stood between me and Allium.

“It really is incredible,” Corby muttered.

He was right. If I wasn’t angry at it for existing, I would’ve been blown away by it.

It really is amazing. To think that this is what protects us from those monstrosities. Can you imagine the horrors waiting on the other side?

I winced; my legs nearly fell out from under me. I picked up my pace and tried to keep the tears in.

She’s alive she’s alive she’s alive. Don’t lose hope. My big sister can handle anything. I will find her, I will bring her home, and I will shove a cinnamon bun down her throat.

I didn’t talk much the rest of the day. Bea did ask me if anything was wrong, but I just told her not to worry about it. I knew she didn’t mean anything by what she had said, but that didn’t make the hurt go away. Corby kept his distance, but he still comforted me at night. My nightmares were Allie-themed that night.

I tried to put my best foot forward the next day, and started chatting with her again. Unfortunately, she was still annoyed that I could not figure out her magic training.

All you need to do is extend your mana outside of your body, connect with the natural mana by interlocking your mana with the mana matrices you find in your area, and then create a simple construct with the newly combined mana!

Corby seemed to at least be doing better on his training. He was getting a better feel for moving his mana. Soon he’d be getting wordlessly yelled at for being dumb along with me!

She also always looked super guilty after training, so I never held it against her too much. She was trying to help; she just didn’t know how.

As I was practicing, I kept up my echolocation. Suddenly, I got a ping. A lot of pings. I put my foot out to stop the other two. I used the foot signals Corby and I had come up with to tell them to wait back here while I scoped it out. Bea was confused, but Corby helped her out.

I went into sneaky mode, as much as I could in open farmland. As I got closer, the sights got grimmer. Dead animals started to pop up more and more, and eventually it stopped being just animals. I also got a rude reminder that sneakiness is not an all powerful skill, and it could not stop me from tripping while looking at a dead cow. I tried to put my hands out to catch myself.

Damn, you win this round, stupid arms.

I spit out the mud in my mouth and —wait, I know that mud taste. It was the same taste the mud had back in Laketown when…

Ohhhhhh fuck.

I managed to find a tall tree and jumped up to get a better view.

I did not like what I saw.

Crayon, we might be fucked here.

A sea of undead stood before me. Hundreds, maybe even thousands. All stuffed together in one giant mob. And it looked like the mob was getting closer.

Worse yet, I realized the sky was no longer bright and sunny.

Nope. Not again. Fuck this. We’re out.

I started sprinting towards Corby and Bea. As soon as I saw them, I yelled. “Corb, get ready to throw me Bea and book it!”

Bea looked shocked and confused. Corby also looked bewildered, but I gave him a no argument look. He grimaced, and then ran up to grab Bea and managed to throw her onto my shoulder.

Hurray for stats.

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I didn’t even break stride, even as Bea tried cursing me out with casting.

At least she’s not attacking.

“Bea, shut up and listen!” I barked. “Undead are about to be magicked in all around us. You’re too slow, and I’m not leaving you behind. So shut up and hold on. This could get bumpy.”

Bea was still trying to protest, but that stopped when the first flash of light hit.

I bit down a scream.

This isn’t like last time. I have stats and skills and training. I will not lose anyone to this thing ever again.

With Bea on my shoulder, I was only a little faster than Corby. Which meant I could still keep my eye on him.

I thought about sending out scouting pulses, but decided against it. The giant flashes of light would clue us in, and I wanted the mana to spare for healing. I couldn’t see the end of the clouds, so we were in this for the long haul.

Sure enough, flashes of light started slamming down in the distance ahead of us. I nodded at Corby. I couldn’t fight with a passenger this big. I didn’t like having to rely on Corby again, but I had a duty to protect that trumped my feelings on the matter.

I saw a few undead blocking the road ahead of us.

“Bea. One tap for yes, two for no, three for emergency. Are there any close behind us?”

Thump. Thump.

“Corb, go around. I’ll take left.”

We split off and went around the mob. They moved at the same speed as the zippy little guy back in Laketown. It was wild how slow that seemed to me now.

But it wasn’t just ghouls. The big undead like the dungeon boss were there, and there were a lot of them. There were also other kinds, and I wasn’t eager to figure out what gross shit they did right now. And there were so many more than what I remembered from Laketown.

I kept dodging and weaving through the ever increasing swarm of undead. But Corby was slowly getting bogged down by the sheer mass of them. It wasn’t a massive problem, but the tiny delays kept piling up, and they never stopped coming.

I wanted to help, but I couldn’t do it alone. But did I have the right to ask her to risk her life for us? Either way, I had to try. “Bea, if I go back, can you try to clear a path for Corb?”

Thump. The wait for the second thump felt like agony, but it never came. I grinned like a madwoman. “This right here? This is a prime example of why you are awesome. Thank you. Now hold on tighter. I’m going to be bouncing around a lot.”

I shifted around to get Bea in piggyback position and quickly changed directions, running back towards my favorite otter. The horde had Corb nearly boxed in. I vaulted over a group and got Bea close enough to work her magic. Streaks of purple shot from above me, followed by explosions in the crowd. It wasn’t enough to obliterate them, but they no longer had legs to stand on.

She goes for the legs, too? My kind of gal.

Corby took the chance and leaped out of the horde, right over the now very short undead. Bea kept providing suppressive fire, burning us a path.

Heh, ‘suppressive fire.’ Saving that one for later.

I was able to see the edge of the clouds, but we weren’t in the clear yet.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Shit.

“Low on mana?”

Thump.

“Alright. Thanks for the help. Recharge and save for an emergency. We’re almost out of the range. I hope.”

Whatever it was that was teleporting these things in apparently took exception to my optimism. A pillar of light much larger than the rest slammed into the ground behind us.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

I made the mistake of looking back to see what the commotion was.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

A giant ass zombie had emerged. Its skin was decayed, but it looked like it was made of pure muscle. It also looked smarter than the others, because it made eye contact with us and bellowed. I felt the waves of pressure it was exerting. It felt like it was trying to kill us with its mere presence. Bea stiffened around me. Corbin had stopped, too. It took all my energy to just keep moving, but I wasn’t stuck. I wasn't powerless this time.

This is why Best Stat deserves its title.

I jumped back and gave Corb a light kick in the ass, careful not to actually stab him. Still didn’t move. Undead were closing in.

Can’t risk a serious kick. Can’t disorient it. Uhhhhh, rumble?

I tried to do a magic rumble as strong as I could. It pushed back the group a few meters as my mana bottomed out.

Well that’s cool!

I bent under the still immobile Corby and powered him up on my shoulders and kept running, trying to hold onto him with my nubs so he didn’t fall over. Bea being frozen terror actually worked in my favor, keeping Corby up.

Never again.

I ran and ran until my legs couldn’t carry us any farther, never daring to look back.

Name: Nymia

Age: 18

Species: Rabbitfolk Lv. 43

Class 1: Bard Lv. 18

Class 2: Locked

Stats:

Bonk: 74+7

Zoom: 173

Sturdy: 62+6

Senses: 170

Brain: 71

Mana: 89

Willpower: 149+64

Free points remaining: 0

Class Skills

* Sound magic Lv. 18

* Soundproof Lv. 18

* Story Time Lv. 13

* Good at Word Stuff Lv. 18

* Find stuff Lv. 18

General Skills

* Blades Lv 43

* Dodge! Lv 43

* Barefoot Lv 43

* Sneaky Lv 43

* Stubbornness Lv 43

Species Skills

* Rabbit’s Foot

* Enhanced Senses

* Forage

* Burrow

* Cuddles