CHAPTER 51: Kiting
The first Testudinate formed into a shell and charged at them. Lucas held on to Brittney from behind as the two pushed her new shield forward, not to block the charge but to see if they could redirect it. Everyone else was to the side where they wouldn’t get hit if the redirect failed.
The charge was meant to create an opening so the slow moving Testudinates could move in closer before they had to charge or roll. This helped the Sentinels though. When the shield survived the first charge, helped by Brittney’s [Harden Shield] skill, the Testudinate was left unable to move away when Nick and Carlos darted in, wedging a knife into the arm seam, though not nearly as far as Adam was able to. Once it was in, Randall used Lucas’s sledgehammer to pound the knife in to widen the opening. Rick darted forward as fast as he could and then fired his handgun with the muzzle pressed against the barely wide enough opening.
Testudinate Roller [8] slain. 346 shared XP gained.
Lucas couldn’t even feel good about that. It took 5 to 6 people to get that one kill, with hundreds more closing in on them. Fighting wasn’t going to work. On his command, everyone grabbed their assigned items or people and jumped the trench. It was Lucas’s turn to carry the unconscious Andrea, but he was waiting until last to cover everyone, sledgehammer back in his hands.
By the time everyone but he and Brittney had jumped the trench, seven of the creatures were in charging range. He grabbed Brittney’s shield, which she was holding on to, and tossed her across the trench. Then as he went to grab Andrea, someone shouted out and so he dove to the side to avoid the first charge. A second charge barely missed him, colliding with the rock wall. The wall and ground shook from the collision. Lucas scrambled back to his feet, not sure if he’d be able to get back to Andrea.
The other five Testudinates saw that he was off balance and continued walking towards him.
“Tom, get Andrea. I’m pinned here. Brittney, lead everyone away and I’ll try to get to safety,” he called. No one wanted to see a sacrifice here, and people were debating jumping back to help. “Do NOT come back. We can’t fight them.”
Tom followed his command, while Brittney blocked anyone else from coming back. As Tom arrived back on Lucas’s side of the trench, in a rush he grabbed Andrea a little too roughly. He almost dropped her as her eyes popped open and she continued the scream from when she had fallen unconscious.
“NOOOOOOO!” she yelled, once her scream ended. Scrambling against Tom’s unsecure grip, she looked at the Testudinates with murder in her eyes. “YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM FROM ME! I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”
***
Andrea saw those hateful creatures. They were tougher than their levels indicated, but she would find a way to kill them. They had taken Adam from her. Being ripped from Adam’s connection was the most painful thing she could imagine. It had caused her body and mind unbearable pain. Her emotions had been thrown into a maelstrom as the gentle reassurance he provided was gone. Even her soul had been scarred from the connection being terminated.
When Adam removed the connection, it felt so gentle but sad, like knowing he would be traveling away from her yet could still call at any time. Having the connection destroyed was more like grenades and machine gun fire coming from an erupted volcano. There was no mercy or survivors.
Now Andrea wanted to hurt them. No, she needed to hurt them. To see them all die. To teach them the pain that they had caused her. She would hear their mooing death knell.
While struggling to get Tom to put her down, she opened her [System] menu. The [Skills] tab flipped open and she selected the [Jolt] spell that she had gotten from evolving to a [Volt Mage]. She put one of her skill points into the spell.
Choose your spell’s path: [ Strength / Distance / Control ]
Andrea chose strength.
Spell: [Jolt] + 1
The spell now does 30% more damage.
Another point was added to the spell.
Choose your spell’s path: [ Strength / Distance / Control ]
Andrea chose strength.
Spell: [Jolt] + 2
The spell now does 60% more damage.
Spell: [Jolt] + 3
The spell now does 90% more damage.
Spell: [Jolt] + 4
The spell now does 120% more damage.
For the fifth and final point Andrea selected Distance.
Spell: [Jolt] + 5
The spell now has a 5-yard range.
Spell [Jolt] cannot be improved further.
Andrea’s elbow caught the back of Tom’s head, and he let go to keep himself from falling to the ground. No time was needed for her to run at the closest Testudinate, still closed in its shell. The flat of her hand was slapped down on it and she screamed, “[JOLT]!”
Electricity crackled around her hand and then surrounded the shell. The creases weren’t tight enough to prevent the shock from passing through it. There was a soft sizzle and then a loud pop. The time was too fast for the Testudinate to make its mooing sound.
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Testudinate Roller [8] slain. 680 XP gained.
The notification hadn’t even appeared before Andrea was dashing towards the next metal egg.
“[Jolt]!” Sizzle. Pop.
The next five Testudinates folded into their egg forms and Lucas could tell they were getting ready to charge Andrea. As a mage, she wasn't fast or strong compared to the other fighters, and those charges would definitely be able to hit her. He launched himself at her, sweeping her onto his shoulder. All his strength was put into his legs as he leapt into the air, aiming for the other side of the trench.
“[Jolt]!” she yelled as the electricity cut through the air at the only Testudinate still in her range. The electrical discharge from her spell caused Lucas’s muscles to clench, throwing off his control. They made it to the other side of the trench, but he wasn’t able to land as he crashed on the hard rock.
Andrea, looking ragged and frantic, rushed to Brittney and grabbed her. Tears flowed from her eyes as she sobbed.
“They took him. He’s gone. It hurts so much.”
“I know it does,” whispered Brittney. “I feel the hurt too, and so will Abbey and Alissa when they wake up.”
“What are we supposed to do? We need to get him back!” Andrea buried her face in the smaller Brittney’s shoulder. Brittney, still looking pale and pained, just petted her hair and tried to soothe her.
“The best thing we can do now is try to stay alive. We’ll get back to him as soon as we can, but we can’t leave it all to him this time. How many times can you fire that spell?”
Andrea was sniffling as she answered, “Only five. Making it more powerful also makes it cost more. I did level from those kills though.”
A bruised and limping Lucas came up behind them. “I’m sorry to rush you, Andrea, but we need to move. Too many are arriving and you need to get your mana back. You're the best weapon we have against them.”
With tears still in her bloodshot eyes, and a smudged runny face, Andrea nodded to him while getting some determination back.
***
Lucas and Joseph were holding on tightly to an egg, pointing it straight up so it couldn’t charge. Nick wedged his knife in the arm crease where Tom pounded it in with the sledgehammer. Randall hurried forward and jammed his spear into the narrow opening. Before he thrust it for a killing blow, Andrea ran up and cast a low-powered [Jolt] on the end of the spear. As she pulled back her hand, and before the electric charge had dissipated, Randall thrust forward killing the Testudinate.
“It worked!” he shouted in triumph.
“Good,” shouted Lucas as they rolled the shell of the dead Testudinate down towards the approaching ones. “Evolve quickly and throw some points in it. We’re moving again. Andrea, please clear the way.”
“[Jolt], [Jolt], [Jolt], [Jolt], [Jolt], [Jolt], [Jolt]!” Andrea was now capable of casting eight of her spells, due to a combination of leveling, putting skill points into [Increased Mana], and figuring out the lowest power she could use to kill them. She cleared a path through them while Elias, Alissa, and a rotation of cops fired spells and bullets to force the Testudinates to fold into egg form, slowing them a bit more as the group retreated.
More problems had surfaced over the last three hours. Fatigue had been expected, but two main issues were really concerning Lucas. In the past they would share the XP on kills, providing everyone with the chance to level. Each person getting shared XP was lower than a single person would get per kill, but the total amount was higher the more people shared in it. That way the whole group would level slowly but gain more levels in total than a solo individual would have.
Unfortunately, the Testudinates were very difficult to share levels on. The shell didn’t count as part of them, so only the person shoving the weapon inside for the kill was getting credit. This was forcing them to choose who would get levels. Andrea was an obvious choice due to her spell killing them through the metal shell. The next choice had been more difficult. The mages didn’t have a way to generate electricity, like with the taser, so they wouldn’t be able to get a lightning class. Most of the melee fighters had invested heavier in [Body] than their [Class] for the extra stats, so weren’t close to an evolution. Randall was the only exception, though he had wasted a few skill points on crap skills.
They had come up with a plan to feed Randall XP to get his [Class] to 15. Then they had him get a kill with Andrea’s [Jolt] electricity on his weapon. They were hoping that getting a kill with electricity would allow Randall access to a lightning melee class. Heck, even a lightning mage skill would have been worth it.
Surprisingly it worked. Randall got a class called [Lightning Spear]. The first skill he took was [Lightning Tip]. It sounded underwhelming, but Randall threw some points in it to make it stronger and last longer. They would need to see how it performed during the next engagement. Having two fighters who could kill would really improve their chances.
Currently they had managed to kill between 6 and 10 each time the Testudinates caught up to them, though that was mostly thanks to Andrea. Usually only two got killed from the rest of the group. Unfortunately, even Andrea’s kills had required help. She had such a short range on the spell that she either needed to be carried by Nick or Carlos. That or she had to wait for the enemy to get dangerously close.
Many injuries had been suffered due to the Testudinate charging. Broken bones, smashed limbs, and blood loss was just the start of it. Ed hadn’t been able to keep up with it, and even when Abbey woke they ran out of mana just to keep everyone healthy enough to move.
Alissa waking had been even worse than Andrea’s. She had wept, then went still, not responding to anything around her. They carried her for around 45 minutes before she finally staggered to her feet, hugged Andrea, then asked what was happening. She still had a distant, glassy look in her eye.
Abbeys awakening hadn’t seemed as bad at the beginning, but Lucas was more concerned for her. She didn’t cry or sob or complain. When Abbey woke, she stood up, looked around, and then began healing people. She was pale and every movement made her wince, but she was doing what they needed. However, she hadn’t said a word since. It was like she was on autopilot and not really there.
Regardless, a lot of time had passed, and everyone was worn down. They had seven skirmishes in three hours, followed by long bouts of running. No matter how fast they went it was never enough to outrun the horde approaching them. Lucas had planned to kite and kill, maybe getting someone high enough levels to do damage to more than one, but then they noticed the second issue.
The Testudinates were reinforcing the areas they had already moved through. The group wouldn’t be able to backtrack at all, and Lucas knew there was limited space in the rift. Limited space and a boss Testudinate that they hadn’t seen yet. There was nothing more that Lucas could think to do. He shortened the distance between each encounter, allowing more of them but cutting back on the rest or mana regen time for the healers and casters. It also prevented them from picking favorable terrain for the encounters, leaving them open to more damage taken.
Lucas just groaned and pushed on, watching everyone below level 19 staggering from exhaustion. There was nothing else they could do. Lucas would see his team safe. Death wasn’t an option.