“Heave! Ho!” Jerok’s voice rang out as the ram slammed against the town’s heavy gates. Troops strained to pull the massive log back as arrows, rocks, and all manner of debris rained down on them from the walls above.

Jerok himself pulled with everything he had. “Put yer backs into it!” he shouted, urging the men forward. The ram swung once more, crashing into the wooden gates with a loud crack.

“You sissies! Again–” Jerok’s words cut off as his head exploded, sending a spray of blood over the nearby soldiers.

Elron, watching from under the cover of his troops’ shields, saw the sudden gap on the ram. Without hesitation, he rushed forward. Casting Shield around himself, he grabbed hold of the ram and joined the effort. As they heaved it back, he glanced down, catching a glimpse of Jerok’s lifeless body. Their captain was gone, and now hundreds of men who had been under his command were leaderless.

Elron took a deep breath and, tightening his grip on the ram, yelled, “Heave! Ho!”

They hammered the gate repeatedly, but the progress was slow. Too slow. The cries of the wounded and dying began to weigh on Elron as he realized that brute force wouldn’t be enough. He needed something more—something drastic.

“Pull the ram back! Fall back to the ranks!” he shouted, pushing his voice to its limit.

The soldiers obeyed immediately, retreating to their positions under the cover of shields and magical barriers. Elron stood still for a moment, raising his hand, and began to chant softly, blocking out the chaos around him. His focus sharpened, and soon a small orb of swirling fire formed in his palm.

“It’s not enough...” he muttered.

He brought his other hand over the fireball, closing his eyes once more and pouring more mana into the spell. His body strained under the pressure, but he persisted. When he opened his eyes again, the battlefield’s noise returned—the shouting, the rain of projectiles, and the beastly cries from above. In his hands now blazed a massive fireball, brimming with energy.

Elron glanced up, spotting a minotaur hurling a rock in his direction. The stone crashed against the wall beside him, and Elron bolted from his position, aware of the many eyes locking onto him. But they were too slow. With a mana step, he vanished and reappeared directly in front of the gatehouse. Without hesitation, he hurled the fireball toward the gates.

Mana bolts fired from the walls tried to intercept it, and an attempt to dispel the spell fizzled against the overwhelming energy. The fireball collided with the gates, detonating in a hellish inferno. The explosion sent the beasts flying through the air, and shards of burning wood and metal rained down across the battlefield, clattering off the shields of the advancing army.

Elron drew his sword, the blade gleaming in the fiery light, and pointed it toward the enemy. “Charge!” he commanded.

A thunderous war cry erupted from the troops as they surged forward, pouring through the gap in the wall. The minotaurs, though strong, were vastly outnumbered. Those that remained on the walls were quickly picked off by archers from both sides, tumbling to their deaths.

Inside the city, chaos unfolded. Elron’s soldiers swept through the huts, looting and cutting down any resistance they found. But Elron ignored the pillaging. He strode down the main path, moving with purpose, until he reached the town square. There, as he expected, stood a massive minotaur wielding a colossal two-handed greatsword.

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The beast exuded a palpable aura of might, the air around him thick with an overwhelming presence. A level of presence Elron hadn’t felt since the beginning of the campaign. Hundreds of soldiers stood frozen, their fear keeping them at bay.

Elron pushed his way through the crowd and stopped before the towering minotaur.

The minotaur held his sword upright, sniffed the air, and growled, "There's something foul about you."

Elron grinned. "Your senses are sharp," he replied, leaning into the energies granted to him by Balmer. His sword erupted in green flames as he gripped it with both hands. Without hesitation, he lunged at the beast.

The minotaur snorted a gust of steam through his nostrils and deflected the strike, sending Elron stumbling forward. The prince barely had time to react before a powerful hoof slammed into his chest plate, hurling him through the air and crashing him into a nearby house.

Dust engulfed the crumbling building, and the minotaur waited, eyes fixed on the swirling cloud. He gripped the hilt of his sword with tempered patience, muscles tensing as he anticipated Elron's next move. His vigilance paid off when Elron mana-stepped directly in front of him, delivering a charged swing. Their blades clashed with a loud clang before they disengaged and retreated a few paces.

The minotaur smirked, "Did you not feel my kick?"

Elron glanced down at the caved-in chest plate and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Oh, I felt it," he replied, a hint of defiance in his voice.

Feigning attention to his wounds, Elron mana-stepped again, this time appearing behind the minotaur. His blade struck true, carving a gash into the beast's side. Blood spattered onto the dirt. The minotaur grimaced, clutching the wound, but then made a surprising decision. He took his still-hot blade from the previous clash and pressed it to the gash, cauterizing the flesh almost instantly.

Elron smirked. "Oh? So you're clever, too, huh?"

With his wound sealed, the minotaur roared and charged, winding up for a powerful strike. Elron cast thunderboom, causing the ground to tremble. Yet the minotaur barreled through, unfazed, forcing Elron to dodge the swing and counter with a chain lightning spell.

Blue arcs of energy surged from his fingertips, crackling as they zapped the minotaur. Elron poured nearly all his mana into the spell, using the prolonged casting as a final push to finish the fight. He closed the distance, his sword descending in a deadly arc aimed between the beast's horns. But at the last moment, time seemed to slow—the minotaur twisted, and the blade sliced through his arm instead of his skull, severing it with a sickening thud.

Drained and burning with fatigue, Elron pressed the attack while his opponent struggled with one arm. The minotaur fought back, swinging his massive sword with a fierce desperation, even as his strength waned. His blood poured onto the ground, leaving a dark trail as he staggered about. Yet he showed no sign of surrender, swinging with relentless fury.

The clang of metal rang out as Elron's sword was knocked from his grasp, spinning off into the rubble. The minotaur wobbled but managed to level his blade at the exhausted prince. "A shame," he growled, his voice rough and filled with ragged breath. "To kill such a warrior…"

As the minotaur prepared to strike, his expression suddenly froze. His eyes widened, and his sword fell to the ground with a dull thud. Elron laughed as the beast clutched at his neck, feeling the wound that had appeared there.

"It would have been a shame," the prince chuckled.

The minotaur’s head was barely attached, hanging by a strip of skin. With a final, futile grasp, his body collapsed to the earth, lifeless.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

Elron collapsed onto his back, exhaling a heavy sigh of relief. The surge of power that flooded his body brought a moment of ease, though the absence of the usual level-up selection left him uneasy. He extended his hand, and the sword slid out from the minotaur's neck, clattering into his grip almost of its own accord.

The prince gazed up at the reddening sky and rasped, "You've been taking control of my level selection... haven't you?"

"I have," Balmer's deep, hollow voice answered, echoing in his mind.

Elron's tongue darted out to wet his dry lips. "I suppose that's fair," he murmured.

"Fair?" Balmer scoffed. "No. It is far from fair. But that is your fate."

Elron's eyelids grew heavy, and the world around him began to blur. Teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, he managed to whisper, "What fate?"

"Exactly..." Balmer's voice faded into the darkness, leaving Elron to drift into uneasy slumber, the answer as elusive as the power he sought.