CHAPTER 80: Captives
This was the sixth invader base they had assaulted since the invasions began, and the assaults had gotten more orderly as their fighters understood how different it was from Earth wars. It had also been surprising to find that the invader bases were centralized in larger cities. Smaller towns and the countryside were safe from bases, though not from invader squads that roamed to capture and kill the humans.
It was a surprise to Adam that the low population Jackson even had four bases within it. He wondered if the Testudinate and Terrenidon bases had been set up later as traps for Adam and his group. The Goblins and Elves could have cleared out the city by themselves without Adam's interference.
Except for the initial slaughter of humans when the bases appeared on invasion day, the invaders seemed more interested in fighting each other. Everyone wanted the XP, and humans had the least of it. Killing level 0s gave barely any XP.
Adam turned toward Lucas. “Can I get a boost?”
Lucas nodded and pulled back his war hammer like he was doing a golf swing. Halfway through Lucas’s swing using 125 points of Strength, Adam stepped on the head. He then leapt off when it reached the swing’s height. Adam and Lucas’s combined power flung Adam high and forward, soaring over hundreds of people.
A few people pointed to the air and shouted. Then a roaring cheer filled the air. Adam answered it by using [Gladiator’s Approach] to teleport to the middle of the enemy front lines. There was no red flash of skills activating since Adam wasn’t technically using a skill. That was simply what his teleport step had been called in the foreign memory he had, where it had been a skill instead of his memory of one. The head of his heavy war hammer glowed with [Kinetic Impact], the pseudo-skill he had learned to break into the Testudinate dimension, as he swung it sideways at one of the larger enemies.
The invader’s armor shattered, and the creature was flung backwards. Thanks to the power of [Kinetic Impact], anything hit by it would transfer half the force of the previous impact upon what it collided with, chaining up to four times before the power dissipated. That turned the invader Adam struck into a pinball, knocking around those he hit with half of Adam’s power, who were then also thrown back to hit others with half of that power. Even if the strikes only lasted for four chains, dozens were hit and thrown off their feet, tripping up dozens more trying to attack the humans.
Before the first invader had even collided with others, Adam roared with [Incapacitating Shout], freezing all the invaders that could hear it, which was hundreds. His own forces, immune to his [Incapacitating Shout] after hearing it so much, rushed forward with their own roar.
Their blades stabbed into the stunned invaders through the openings in their helmets. Protectors knocked back the ones that recovered early, throwing them and the ones behind off balance. Even the support classes ran forward with clubs to make sure they got their share of XP.
Labesatis “Blocker [14]” slain. 352 shared XP gained.
Through it all Adam swung his hammer, using [Kinetic Impact] to knock them all around instead of outright killing them all. Better to save their XP for people who could use it. The humans became a divot, with Adam as the point, pushing into the enemy forces and slaughtering them.
Adam wasn’t doing all the work himself, but his efforts destabilized the enemies enough for others to keep it moving. By the time he had forced his way through the mass of invaders and came to an open area, about one third of them had been killed, with the horde split in half and shaken.
Seeing Adam come out of the throngs of Labesatis, one of them shouted in an indecipherable language. With its level at 9, it was one of the stronger Tier 2. The invader didn’t even reach Adam as a squiggly knife slid into the back of its neck, between its rock armor and helmet.
“I know this sounds like complaining, Adam,” said Nick as he stepped around the corpse, “but you make this too easy.”
Adam looked at Nick’s tag “Unseen Striker [30]”. His whole group had been leveling and getting stronger over the last two months as they sought out more invaders to fight.
“Soon you guys will be doing that too,” said Adam.
“I sure hope so,” nodded Nick. He looked back to check the rest of the fighting.
It seemed like the humans had it in hand now as they were pressing from the inside of the Labesatis mass to the outside. The healers were spread out among the groups fighting, able to deliver heals as soon as injuries were taken.
Brittney, class of “Shield Maiden [30],” was practically controlling an entire side by using her skills [Steady Ally] and [By Your Side] to boost morale and vitality of those fighting near her. They attacked with an enhanced zeal while becoming more difficult to hurt.
Lucas and the Demo Men were on the other side pushing forward with Lucas taking the point while his dad and “uncles” would hit fast then back up, keeping the enemies off guard. Tom, Randall, and Joseph had their own units that they led. Tom’s unit was deceptive, shifting formations and swapping enemies so they wouldn’t get pinned down. Through the battle, Tom, with the “Persuasive Sword [30]” class, would constantly talk, his words carrying the skills [Baffle] and [Turn Away] to confuse his enemies while [Illusion Strike] made them see his attacks from the wrong place.
Randall, “Volt Spear [32],” and his unit relied on the length of their spears to keep from taking damage. Being an electric spearman with an Agility of 93, Randall moved around quicker than the rest using his [Flash Foot] skill, then incapacitated foes with [Shock Lance] to spread around the XP and stay in control of the fight.
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Joseph’s “Reaper [30]” class was entirely built on strength. He was the slowest moving of Adam’s group, swinging a modified spear, with a handle two thirds shorter than a normal spear and a head twice as wide and long making up for the length missing from the handle.
He used such force that it cut and smashed everything. His power was difficult to block and his skills [Deadly Penetration] and [Under the Seam] allowed the blade to cut through shields and armor without dulling. He did almost twice as much damage when he aimed for a head due to his passive skill [Headhunt].
Joseph had the quirkiest unit out of Adam’s friends. The people following him had all kinds of weapons and there was no formation or strategies. They just attacked from behind Joseph, while his high Vitality and quality armor kept him relatively uninjured.
Elias, “Earth Mage [30],” oversaw most of the mages, though he rarely spoke. He would point and insult when people were out of position or using the wrong spells. Sometimes he would surprise his own people by using [Raise Earth] to give them better angles to prevent friendly fire, or he’d cast [Landslide] to move friends or enemies to where he thought they should be positioned.
Brandon, “Enhancer [28],” moved around with Abbey, “Medic [30],” buffing her physical stats so she could move around the battlefield with less chances of injury. It also allowed him to cast strength and agility buffs on the front lines.
Andrea, “Volt Mage [32],” and Alissa, “Crushing Cherub [29],” weren’t content to only oversee mages. They had taken on girls and women, as well as men who had trouble being in the traditional units and formed them into parties with all sorts. They worked with warriors, protectors, mages, and supports, roaming the battlefields with them. Alissa’s class came from her Avenging Angel title. So far, it focused on using magic to take and give life while buffing her own Strength and Vitality with magic power. She was a bruiser, healer, and mage all in one.
The giant bodybuilder soldier named Karen worshipped them as idols and was the protector and mother hen of the whole group. Karen didn’t let anyone harass or pressure the girls or guys. What idiot would be sexist or homophobic when the woman had the Strength stat to easily punch through a rock wall, even if she dressed in a less fancy version of Brittney’s cutesy skirt armor. Adam knew he could take her hit but still wouldn’t criticize her choice of clothing to her face.
“This way, Adam,” said Nick. He flashed red as skills activated and then became less noticeable as he used [Dim Presence] and [Mask Signs]. Adam was still able to follow him, but it was difficult, even when looking right at him.
They followed one of the red lava-like lines into the ash covered mount, walking on a pathway next to it. The tunnels were smoothly shaped and rectangular, making it obvious they were artificial. It was only a short distance before they came out in a chamber.
The chamber was four times the size of a basketball court. In the center was a hole in the ground that had troughs cut into it like spokes on a wheel, leading to the edges of the room. The bottom of the troughs had the red lines that produces the sweltering heat.
Every inch of the trough walls had naked people attached to them, hanging above the heat. They were gasping and burned all over. The people were all ages, indiscriminate as young and old struggled to breath, though he did notice some hadn’t survived the treatment. It was also obvious that most were delirious and dehydrated.
Adam’s blood boiled. The river that represented his power, fueled by anger and hatred, rushed through him threatening to take his consciousness with it. A red flash happened when Adam used his only real skill [Soul and Body Shaping] to draw on the strength without losing control over his mind. Nick jumped at the flash, since Adam had kept the skill a secret.
The flash was enough to catch the attention of two Labesatis on the far side of the cavern. The first one was twice the size of the ones outside and had “Lava Spewer [25]” as his class. The second one was a little smaller and had a class of “Rock Smelter [23].”
Before Nick could head there, Adam jumped over the trenches of people. [Gladiator’s Approach] put him right in front of the Lava Spewer. [Kinetic Impact] allowed Adam’s hammer to knock him into the Rock Smelter before he could open his mouth or use a skill. The Rock Smelter flew towards Nick, not even knowing the stealther was there.
A knife and a short sword penetrated the invader’s neck as Nick used all his attack skills, [Unseen Blow+5], [Target Weakness+5], and [Deadly Blow+5]. Hot and thick blood scarred Nick’s weapons, but as he ripped them out of the enemy the death message came up.
Labesatis “Rock Smelter [23]” slain. 5,239 shared XP has been gained.
The Lava Spewer didn’t last any longer as Adam had already dropped his hammer and was driving the invader’s face through his head and into the rock wall he had slammed into. In Adam’s rage he kept punching long after he had gotten the kill message.
Labesatis “Lava Spewer [25]” slain. 13,152 XP has been gained.
Nick waited as Adam snarled while he kept punching what used to be the corpse’s head. When Adam seemed to be slowing down, Nick placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder. The depth of the sadness carried in Adam’s eyes as he blankly looked at Nick made Nick want to comfort his friend. It almost broke his heart. But Nick knew his best friend, and he knew what Adam wanted.
“I’ll go get the others so we can get these people down and healed,” Nick said. Adam nodded to him and then let the corpse drop.
While Nick left, Adam went to the nearby chair and picked up a small brown crystal. He then put his hand on a three feet tall crystal pillar that was between the chairs.
Owner of Dimensional Convergence Rift has died…
Inheritor of Dimensional Convergence Rift has died…
…no new Inheritor found. Ownership presented to possessor of Control Node.
Would you like to take Ownership of this Dimensional Convergence Rift?
[ Yes / No ]
Adam quickly selected Yes.
Ownership of Dimensional Convergence Rift has been taken by a native. Invasion ended.
…All natives included in Dimensional Convergence Rift will receive the title “Invasion Conqueror”.
Invasion Conqueror
For defeating an enemy of your planet and preventing their rampage from continuing you will receive +2 to all stats. Claiming more Dimensional Convergence Rifts will increase this title.
This dimensional layer has been merged with the planetary reality. For an energy penalty within the next planetary day, you may uncouple this dimensional layer from the planetary reality returning it to a Dimensional Convergence Rift.
Would you like to decouple dimensional layer?
[ Yes / No ]
Adam skipped that part and used the Rift Menu to reshape the room. He got rid of the red heat lines and lowered the temperature. Then he reshaped the troughs, making them slant outwards on the top so people wouldn’t hit each other as he raised the ground in between, placing them on flat land. He wasn’t sure what they were tied with but there were enough of his forces rushing in that he left it to them.
Lamar had been right. There were over 700 captives in the room. This would take a while for the healing and transports. Adam shook his head. Some days just didn’t end well.