Nobody needed to be told twice, they all broke out into a sprint as soon as they heard my words.

But by the time they started running I had already sprinted to the front. Those 2 months of working out had really come in handy right when I needed it most.

"Can you cast another buff?" I asked

"I only have enough mana too cast a buff on myself'

Without asking I put my hand on her heart and poured in mana.

"Put as many speed buffs on as possible." I was gonna save the whole team and it only cost me about 200 mana.

The bone needle girl attached her needle as a tripwire. I didn't know it could be used like that I thought too myself.

I did everything I could now it was time to sprint like hell and not look back.

"Oh my god" Someone screamed.

I guess they looked back what a bunch of smucks.

I didn't look back at all, they didn't even have the gates opened for us.

Like that was gonna stop me while listening to the screams of my comrades I used my knives to scale the wooden wall.

When I was about halfway up I heard chanting and a massive fireball flew over the fortress wall just above my head.

I looked back, once I was already most of the way up.

It looked like two dear cyclops with really thick legs and dagger-like teeth were trying to put out a forest fire.

At first glance at least, they weren't deer they both had dagger-like teeth that were covered in blood apparently those huge monstrosities had killed two of my teammates. And eaten them by the looks of it. Because I couldn't see them anywhere.

There were seven people in total who had made it to the fortress gates in total. The heartbests that were trying to follow us couldn't get past the wall of flames.

As soon as they left, I quickly clamored over the walls to safety.

There standing on the wall was a short man with his hand on a cannon of some sort and it looked to be the only cannon on the wall.

"Its been a while since anyone has directly scaled over the walls instead of waiting for the gate to open." He said while I stared at his incredibly clear eyes.

"I could have climbed over earlier but I didn't want to risk catching a fireball to the face."

He laughed "Its not a fireball its a mana cannon projectile and it only works against heartbeasts, that's why its able to be so strong."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"If you put requirements on things they grow stronger?"

He laughed "The more general a ability or item is the more mana it has to use and thus naturally the weaker it becomes."

That should have been obvious.

"Are you gonna open the gates now?" I asked

"Yes" and with a creak, I felt the gates slowly swing open.

"Hmm looks like more people survived than normal this time and there are a few good eggs." He said

I followed him down to meet up with the main group after the gates had been closed.

He didn't walk down the final step. Instead, he stood there and spoke

"Hello newbies it seems like your in luck for surviving today, don't blame me for not opening the gate. If those heartbeasts had been able to go through that fire that would mean they were 10000 year existences and we would all be dead anyway."

"Excuse me sir, but why are you the only defender." Some asked him in a nasally voice.

"I can answer that" I spoke up hoping to get some benefits "its because there is only one mana cannon on the wall."

He just cast me a sidelong glance and then said " I can see that some of you have abilities that will be very useful to this outpost. You will be designated the warrior class. And the ones with less potential will be able to become crafters."

Both warrior and crafters had high positions back on the sandbar they were equal or better then deep-sea fisherman.

It could be considered miraculous luck if someone was able to make it to the outpost.

The coolest part about the structure of the outpost was both warriors and crafters held equal value.

A holographic ability ring spun around the cannon user's eye.

"You all meet the requirements to become ability users and members of this outpost. I'm the main guardian here and my name is clet. Now go get yourselves cleaned up and familiarise yourself with the layout of the outpost. Come tomorrow all of you will be given an ability ring, lodging, and a duty to perform. All of your rewards will be large as long as you can stay alive long enough to collect them."

"Now get going"

I walked towards the hive of buildings in the middle of the outpost. That must be where the living quarters are I thought to myself.

I needed an ability ring that made it easier to understand the crafting process I thought to myself.