Mana flowed from me and into the surrounding ground. A moment later, a spike of earth speared through one of the creatures. It must have hit something vital because the creature stopped moving. With the successful attack, I fired two more spears. Ending the lives of the two standing creatures.
Too bad the spikes wouldn’t work for the two on top of me. Well, that and the drag of mana for the spells was higher than the one for a fireball. So much so that I could feel my mana drop with every spell. It worried me enough that I found myself glancing up at the mana bar to see just how much mana I had used.
While it had dropped to just over half, the bar was visibly filling. The reason for this eluded me for a moment until I recalled what Mindi had said. Ok, so it was more like she beat it into me, but it was useful information.
These creatures and the effect they had on the environment generated a ton of mana. Mana that was forcing its way into my body and thus my mana pool. Personally, I blamed my headache for how long it took me to recall that training session. But at least I knew now that, as long as I kept my mana from falling too far too fast, I would be fine to go all out.
Mana poured into my body as I strengthened it to the point I had no issues lifting the creatures off. Too bad the extra power did nothing for my coordination. Hell, judging by how hard it was to stand, it made it harder.
Finally, even with the awkward load on my back, I did manage to stand. To my surprise, I was the only one that did. I expected at least one of the attacking creatures to have survived my spears. I mean, what was the chance that I would hit something vital every time? Yet none of the bodies so much as twitched. Still, I wasn’t willing to take any chances. Who knew if these things were smart enough to play dead until they got the chance to spring some sort of trap.
My blade cut through their necks before I packed the entire group into my inventory. A roar was all the warning I got before something crashed into my back. The force of it sent me flying a dozen feet before finally landing, and subsequently sliding, face-first in the mud.
I barely had a moment to think, let alone react, before whatever had attacked me was on me once again. A large sticky hand grabbed onto my leg. It pulled my leg and threw me back the way I came with enough force that I skipped across the muddy water.
This time, I managed to stand up and get a look at whatever had attacked me. Something I wouldn’t have been able to do if not for the pit. Another frog, one without a weapon, stood on the other side. The thing was massive and its muscles had muscles.
If I had to describe it, I say it was a football team’s linebacker. I mean, it had enough muscles to compete with any weightlifting champion, but something about the muscle placement screamed linebacker to me. Add to that the blood-red eyes that were locked on me, I was fairly sure I was looking at a Mud Gobbler Berserker. Berserker, as in over-powered muscle head that hates gets hits harder the more damage it takes. It was something I wished I could have avoided fighting. Then again, we all know what people say about wishes and horses.
The beast didn’t even look at the hole as it followed the edge. It looked like it knew where the edge was without having to do so. Hell, it probably did. Not like it mattered now. Not when it now had a straight shot over the mud to my squishy body. A squishy body that lost over a quarter of its health in the last two attacks.
It quickly gained speed as it barreled toward me. Body lowered and hands to either side. If not for the nearly visible waves of anger and hate that radiated off of it, I would have sworn the creature was trying to simply tackle me to the ground. Not like I would have let it in either case. I had had enough of such tackles in high school. I didn’t need the help of a creature to recall some of the more brutal football games I had participated in.
Instead, I flung a fireball at the wet ground. The resulting steam explosion flung bits of mud and dirt out but otherwise did no damage. Instead, the cloud of steam provided me with some cover to dodge the things charge without giving it a chance to reorient the attack. As I slid to the side, I performed a horizontal strike in line with the creature’s head.
My timing, while off, was close enough. The tip of my blade sliced across the side of its skull. Given the portion of brain matter that slopped out as it fell, the creature was dead. I breathed a sigh of relief as I collected the corpse. All the while, I kept an eye out for yet more targets.
To my surprise, my short stint as a skipping rock brought me close to an intersection between hills. An intersection with a small army of the creatures. An army that stood there with their eyes locked onto me.
The group was mostly made up of those with stone and wooden clubs. However, there were also three with metal swords and two berserkers. While these caught my attention, it wasn’t for long. One of the creatures near the back wore something that looked like a robe. Albeit one that was heavily stained and looked to have a few mushrooms growing in spots. Something about the creature told me I couldn’t let it out of my sight.
A moment later, I found out why. The creature gestured and a barrage of dirt spikes the size of needles shot toward me. As if the spell had been a starting cannon, all of the creatures, save the berserkers, charged at me.
I had no chance of taking all these things on by myself. Not with just a sword. Hell, I might not have a chance even if I used every bit of my mana, not that I wouldn’t at least try it. My mind rushed through options before I finally said fuck it. While I might have had time to explore options in various competitions and fights, this wasn’t one of them. Not while a small army closed in on me.
My will and mana went forth. It formed into rune after rune as I slapped a spell together. Though it lacked the dark element, the rest of the spell was similar to the one I had used in the tournament. The reason I didn’t use the extra element was that it wasn’t needed. Most of the spell was made of fire and water, both of which were separated by a razor-thin slice of stone.
Both my spell and the opposing mage’s completed at the same moment. Mine reached the charging creatures first. As it exploded, the thin stone shards sliced deep furrows into their flesh. Seriously wounding every creature, but unfortunately killing none of them. While my spell had an instantly noticeable effect, my opponent's spell turned into mist and coated the army's bodies before it vanished.
I didn’t have time to contemplate the ramifications as a moment later the creatures reached my position. My sword cut through two before my blade was deflected by one made of metal. The unexpected deflection caused me to lose my balance. Something that saved my life given the finger-sized spike that flew a hair's breadth from my nose. Yeah, I needed to make sure to keep at least one of the creatures between me and that mage.
What followed was a flurry of weapon strikes. Some of which managed to hit me, while others managed to hit them, but neither side seemed to gain the upper hand. Why? Because of the damned spell that mage had cast. Even as the fight drew on and my targets took damage, the wounds visibly healed.
This wasn’t as big a deal as it could have been. Not when one of my strikes could kill the creatures. If anything, the accelerated healing was more of an annoyance. And given the screaming and rapid calls coming from the mage, I wasn’t the only one getting annoyed at how this fight was going. Unlike me, however, he hit his limit as I felled another three of his minions.
My Mana Sense gave me just enough of a warning that I managed to dodge most of the spell. The creatures around me were not so lucky. Hundreds of spikes buried themselves deep enough into the creatures that the tips poked out the other side.
Between one moment and the next, the number of opponents went from just over twenty to five. Two of which were heavily wounded. His one attack had been more devastating than any of mine. Fuck, it was more damage than I managed to do with every attack combined.
I took a moment to take out the pair of heavily wounded creatures so as to prevent them from simply healing and attacking me from behind. With that done, I charged at the last three. I flung out fireball after fireball at the mage in the vain hope that I could distract him long enough for me to take out the rest of his minions.
Sure enough, he tried to deflect or dodge each of my attacks. He almost succeeded until one lucky shot caught his foot mid-way through a dodge. The ball struck the mud and created a hole that filled up with mud moments later. Too bad it was open long enough for his foot to get stuck inside. Suddenly unable to dodge my spells, the creature started to take damage. And I mean it took a ton of damage. The thing fell to the ground, dead, before the third spell hit him.
Which was a relief because, even with the boost to my regeneration, I was nearly out of mana. If he had managed to last a little longer I was pretty sure I would have died to either him or the two berserkers. Speaking of which, they looked even more pissed than the first one had. Between the start of the fight and now, red had overtaken the green of their skin. The look was a bit off-putting, to say the least.
As one, the two roared into the air loud enough to send ripples along the surface of the mud-covered ground. I didn’t hesitate. I poured what little mana I could spare, without dipping past the point where there would be consequences, into my body.
I flashed across the last dozen yards between me and my targets. The one on my right didn’t even know it was dead until I was passed and it tried to turn to look at me. The thing's body collapsed to the ground in pieces. It probably died moments later but I didn’t pay much attention.
My attention was all on its partner who, in a wreckless move, charged at my back. The mud, being nice and slick, provided little enough resistance as I pivoted around to strike at him. As I came to a stop, the top and bottom half of the creature slid to the side. With every creature near me dead, I finally relaxed as I took a moment to simply breathe.
I allowed myself to take enough time for my ragged and fast-paced breathing to slow down and deepen before I moved on to my next task – collecting the bodies. It was just as I bent over to pick up the second berserker that my senses screamed at me to dodge. Half hunched as I was, I let gravity pull me down and to the side.
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My body slid along the muddy ground for a few feet before I managed to stop and look over at where I had just been. A mottled and emaciated frog stood over the spot. Given the fact I had not sensed the creature and the wisps of black smoke that wrapped around the creature in a loose cloak, I was fairly sure this creature was an assassin.
It probably helped that it held a foot-long knife. Likely aimed at the spot where my heart was mere moments ago. The creature’s face turned enough to look at me. For some reason, I found my eyes locked with the creatures. What I found had me practically shivering in fright.
There is a saying about the eyes being the doorways to the soul. I had heard it often enough but it was something I had never once believed in. Well, now I can say I was a devout believer. The creature wasn’t here to simply kill me. It was here to end me. I didn’t know how it would do it, but I was sure that I would not want to find out.
Without a signal or sign, it charged toward me. The charge was as creepy as it was silent. Even the mud it stepped on refused to make a sound. I managed to get my sword up just in time to catch the strike.
As I held its attack off, the creature reached under its cloak with its free hand, pulling out a second dagger. One that shimmered unnaturally in the sunlight. To my shock and horror, the mana around us fled. The streams acted almost as if they were alive as they ran from whatever was on that dagger. Even my Mana Sense collapsed as my external mana was yanked out of my control.
The suddenness of the loss of control nearly cost me my life as the assassin chose that moment to strike. I only just managed to use the point of contact between our blades to shove the creature to the side. My body scrambled backward as I worked to increase the distance between us. The creature slowly turned to face me as its face twisted into a smile that would give anyone nightmares. Then it simply vanished.
It was a move that reminded me of the Shadow Teleportation skill Patric used. The fact that I recognized it was the only reason I managed to dodge its first strike. My body twisted to the side as a blade stabbed out of a shadow. I moved as randomly as I could while my mind frantically searched for where the creature would strike from next. The issue I kept stumbling into was my lack of ability to sense the creature. Even if I had access to my Mana Sense, it didn’t seem to work against Patric when we faced off.
With my mind distracted, I didn’t realize until too late that the creature had stopped attacking me from nearby shadows. In fact, by the time I noticed its new vector of attack, its metal blade was buried deep into my right shoulder. With a mixed scream of rage and agony, my left hand reached up and yanked the thing out before tossing it to the side.
Normally this would be the dumbest thing to do. The blood loss alone would lead to one’s death. But the typical rules went out the window when it came to assassins. No one but them knew what they had on their blades. The sooner you got the things out, the less risk there was. And if something did get in, the stream of blood would likely flush it out. Or at least, that was my hope.
It chose that moment to charge me. The class of our weapons sent my weapon flying as something in my shoulder snapped. It felt like an overused rubber band giving out. Only, when it snapped, my arm went limp. Pain exploded across my chest as the creature punched me, hard.
I flew a few feet back where I landed on my back. My mind blanked for a good ten seconds. While this might seem like nothing, in a fight, it was an eternity. In this fight, it was long enough for the assassin to retrieve his other knife and confidently walk towards me. As my mind started to reboot, I saw the metal blade stab into the fleshy part of my leg. Effectively pinning it to the ground.
My health instantly dropped to a quarter full. It didn’t stop there either. It kept dropping. Either that was because of the knife stuck inside me, or because my shoulder still oozed blood. Then again, did it matter? Not really. Especially when the creature lifted the other blade and started to chant.
Something about the chant sent the primate side of my brain into a frenzy. My body jerked and tugged every which way as it attempted to get me away from that blade. Unfortunately, something about the knife in my leg was causing it to act like it was anchored to the ground.
On top of all this, the mana inside of my body seemed to grow agitated. Almost as if it was reacting to my emotions. It felt like it was begging to be let free. As the frantic tug of war with the blade was getting me nowhere, I found myself debating doing just that. While I didn’t know what would happen if my mana was released without instructions or control, did I have a choice?
The moment I agreed to free it, the mana inside of me flared out. It felt as though I was on fire as the mana flowed through me. Fire traveled up and down my body. It only stopped and collected in my wounds before continuing on. Within moments, the pooled blood started to burn.
The fire was a light blue, nearly sky-blue, in color. It lept and moved as if it were a living thing. As one, the fiery blood lept onto the assassin. The creature's shrill scream pierced deep into my psyche as it burned. While this seemed to go on forever, it only lasted a fraction of a second. The creature stood there, ready to strike one second, only to turn to dust in the next.
As soon as I saw this, I relaxed. While I wouldn’t die to whatever spell the assassin had started, my wounds were another story. I just hoped that my death wouldn’t cost too much time, money, experience, or whatever this world charged for respawning. I stared up into the sky and marveled at how clear it was today. The breeze felt nice while the few clouds high above wandered by.
“Hey,” An excited teen called from somewhere nearby. “Someone left their kills!”
“Jackpot!” Another teen joined in.
“Don’t be stupid.” While both of the voices had been male, this one was a distinctly feminine voice and it was filled with disbelief as she chided the two of them. “It’s probably another trap or something.”
“What,” the second guy’s disbelief was clear as he spoke. “Do you really think that there is a second matriarch? Because I doubt it.”
“No,” Their voices grew louder as they got closer to where I was lying. Where I was slowly bleeding out. If only I had the strength to call out to them. “You’re right. I doubt that there would be a second one. But you have to admit, this is rather odd. Who would leave their kills for anyone to claim?”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught sight of flame-red hair. It was long enough to reach the person's shoulder which was probably why it took me a second to realize that it belonged to one of the guys. He must have noticed my eyes moving as he called out. “Hey, we got a survivor.”
“So kill it and move on.” His buddy called back from somewhere out of sight.
The guy whirled around. “I don’t mean a Murloc wannabee. I mean a goddamn person and she doesn't look so good.” I heard him call me a girl and found that, for the first time in my life, I didn’t care. At this point, in this situation, why would I? It wasn’t like it would change my fate. I was about to die and there was nothing I could do about it.
My mana was depleted beyond the point of being useful. I didn’t even have enough to enhance a single portion of my body, let alone heal my shoulder. And, even if I did manage to stop the flow of blood, the water around me was pulling the heat out of my body. I ignored the squishing sound of people running through mud as I closed my eyes.
A soft tingling sensation suddenly washed over me at nearly the same moment that someone's hand pressed into my chest.
A man spoke from somewhere above my head. “Damn, how did she manage to survive fighting this many creatures on her own?”
“I don’t know but she only has a minute or so left and that is with me helping to stabilize her.” One of them said from right next to me. Likely the one responsible for whatever spell was currently running through my body. He then yelled loud enough to cause me to wince. “Brenda!”
Another rapid set of squelching footsteps announced a third person joining our little group. She must have seen the wounds as she cursed. “God fucking damn it. Why does everyone have to nearly get themselves killed before calling for help? Would it kill anyone to call for healing before they were nearly dead?” The hands and tingling vanished momentarily before they were replaced by someone on the other side.
To me though, none of this mattered. At this point, nothing mattered. From my point of view, the darkness at the edge of everything was starting to encroach upon the world. Where it touched, coldness and the stillness of death replaced heat and life. With each heartbeat, the darkness grew ever closer.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, warmth filled my chest. It flared out. The heat beat the darkness back as it worked to restore the world. “Oh thank the gods above that worked!” The girl’s exclamation was the first thing I could make out as whatever she was doing stopped. Whatever she had done must have worked because I no longer felt pain. Well, that and my health bar was full.
When I opened my eyes I found that five teenagers surrounded me, not three as I had initially assumed. While the fact that they wore matching leather armor was interesting, it was the hair colors that caught my attention. They ranged from flame-red to a neon pink that nearly had me hissing in pain from the very sight.
“Welcome back,” the girl who knelt next to me spoke softly as she chastised me. “That was a bit close, don’t you think?”
I nodded but one of the guys near the back scoffed. His deep voice boomed over the group. “Damn stupid if you ask me.”
The guy on my other side helped me stand while one of his buddies passed my Chisa Katana back. “I think you dropped this.” His face subtly relaxed a fraction as I took the weapon from him. The visible reminder of what Ginny had told me about Soulbound weapons caused me to take a second to stop and thank him before turning to give the larger guy a verbal slap. I mean, come on, it wasn’t my fault that thing decided to target me.
However, just before I spoke, a loud gong-like sound filled the air. Everyone around me smiled. The other girl sighed, “About time these monsters were culled enough for the system. I have mud in places mud should never go.”
“And here I was hoping to kill a few more.” One of the guys next to me complained. “I am just about to hit level twenty.”
The larger of the group spoke, “There is always tomorrow. Let's get back to town, turn in the bodies, and get some beers.”
While the two other guys cheered, the two girls sighed. I stood there, frozen, unsure of what I should do. Could I join in on the banter? I mean, I could but should I? As if she could tell that I was having issues deciding what I could and could not do, one of the girls grabbed my hand. “You are welcome to join us. It would be nice to have another girl in the group.”
I didn’t feel my normal need to cringe, but I also didn’t feel like deceiving them. “I am actually a guy.”
Both of their eyes did a quick once over. One of them whistled while the other said, “Damn. And here I am jealous of your legs and looks.” Her friend nodded in agreement.
As I shook my head I disagreed. “Don’t be. I am sure that you will look much better than me given a few more years to grow up.”
Her laugh caught me off guard, but it stopped when her eyes met mine. “Wait, you’re serious.” When she grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eye, I realized that she was slightly taller than me. “You actually think that?”
“I don’t think that,” I said as I took a step back. She let her hands drop. I pointedly looked behind her and toward the guys. “But shouldn’t you catch up with the rest of your group?”
She glanced at their retreating forms. “Yes, but you should join us.”
I sighed and gestured at the corpses, “I need to collect everything here.” It was a copout and we both knew it.
Still, she let me get away with it. Her hand flew through the air as she spoke. “Fine, but promise me to join us for dinner or something sometime.” A window popped up in front of me.
Jasmine Zavier wishes to become your friend.
Something told me she wouldn’t leave me alone unless I agreed, so I accepted the request. Jasmine’s smile was side as she engulfed me in a hug. It lasted an eternity and mere moments before she released me to chase after her friends. I stood there, stunned as my brain short-circuited. I tried to figure out why she had just done that but no excuse made sense. Finally, with a shake of my head, I gave up.
As I collected the bodies scattered around, I took a look at my stats. Unsurprisingly enough, the creatures gave me quite a bit of experience. Enough to push me to the next level. Which, in turn, meant every stat increased by at least one. Coupled with the extra points I gained from pushing my body, this little quest outside the walls was well worth my time. Though, maybe not my near death.
With everything done and collected, I turned and walked towards the city. I had bodies to turn in and training to do.