Appearing out of nowhere Dren slid his dagger between two stone plates into the azure line glowing on the armored ape’s thigh. It seemed a strange place for him to stab. Such a wound wouldn’t cause critical damage. It would leave a bleeding wound thanks to his dagger’s enchantment. But with the massive health pool of the armored ape, it would take ages to bleed out. Yet, the results were terrifying. The same ape that could take a dagger to the eye with little more than a grunt of annoyance howled in agony. Then collapsed as its body seized and it frothed at the mouth. Dren couldn’t help but shiver. Mana crashing hurt, but he had long realized the pain was less the larger his pool. It appeared these gorillas had almost no mana, making their mana crash intense.

Doing a backflip he sailed right over one of the serpent tailed monkies as it rushed past him. Having tried to ambush him from behind. Landing back down he sank both daggers into crimson lines before twisting hard. Unlike the hulking gorillas, these had a rather weak vitality. Making it easier to just kill them outright. Wrenching his daggers out he stepped on the face of the gorilla still suffering a seizure on the ground and jumped forward towards another armored ape. It raised its giant arms to block but Dren wasn’t attacking. Instead, he used those arms like a springboard to flip over it. Landing on its bowed back he slide his daggers into more azure lines before turning to kick off the beast’s back as it toppled.

Sailing forward over the moat he vanished with a faint pop. Only to appear in front of and between the last flaming orangutans, none of his momentum lost. Both hands moved independently as they lashed out. Finding purchase in the glowing golden lines etched on the ape's bodies. Even as they collapsed to gasp on the ground, their flames flickering weakly. Dren vanished again only to appear beside a serpent tailed monkey trying to hide amongst the corpses. It barely let out a shrill howl of shock before two daggers crossed in front of its neck before sliding back.

Glancing around he found no enemies still up and moving. Just the many ones crippled with their stamina or mana drained. Almost leisurely he moved across the battlefield ending one life after another.

From the walls more than two dozen people watched, weapons hanging limply in their hands. Unlike the western gate, this side's gate was battered and damaged. Twice it had been breached leaving a pitched battle to secure it. There had been three fatalities and countless injuries on this side during the almost two day long monster surge. Yet, after wiping out the last wave on the western front. The mysterious Beast Tamer had shown up all of a sudden. Appearing in the air above the battlefield before descending like a god of death on the monsters. Almost two full waves worth of monsters were still alive as they hadn’t been able to fully clear them each wave. Yet, in a handful of minutes, he had slaughtered them all. It was a sobering sight for the bedraggled defenders.

Dren sucked in a deep breath and let it out as the last armored ape died. His resources were low, but not critically so as they had been at the end of the first two stretches of the Monster Surge. During the final stretch, he hit level five in his Profane Blade class and gained the skill, Profane Drain. It drained ten times his class level of health, mana, and stamina when he made direct contact with a target. Stabbing them seemed to count as direct contact, although he could do it with as little as a touch. There was a ten second cooldown, but it still greatly helped him make it through. Even if each stretch included more monsters.

To make it through the second stretch he had been forced to use his Goblin Totem for a wave. It bought him just enough breathing room to regain his momentum after a particularly stubborn armored ape tackled him into the moat. Bodies already in it kept him from being impaled but the massive heavy ape landing on him hadn’t helped. Worse, while he was pinned down monsters made it to the gate. A second wave spawned before he fully disentangled himself from the madness in the pit as more apes piled in on him. His mana pool had already been too low for him to do a forced teleport out. Even if his control over his boot's ability had improved greatly. It wasn’t clear if he had just hit some threshold of intelligence or if his class evolution had been the trigger. But his control over his skills had improved greatly.

Turning back to the gate he vanished and appeared on the top. Causing several people to jump and one person to actually let out a loud yelp. His armor was badly damaged. Torn, cut, and burned until it was almost useless. All except his mask, which still looked pristine. His boots were actually mostly unharmed as well. But still looked rather worn. Dren sighed. He would need to work on making another set soon.

“Uh, Mr. Uh. Beast Tamer. Would you like some water?” A nervous man held out a canteen to Dren.

Turning to the man he took the canteen with a smile, trying to ease his nervousness. Yet, his smile looked more like a beast baring its fangs as his mask melded with his face causing the exact opposite effect. Dren just shrugged as the man flinched before shuffling away while giving awkward tiny bobbing bows. Then chugged all the water in loud deep gulps. Rehydrated he pulled out a stored skewer of meat Ren had cooked and devoured it like a starving beast. His food buff had faded during the last stretch. Plus he was just famished. Fighting constantly felt like it burned a mountain of calories even if Ren’s food was packed with impossible amounts of nutrition.

Licking his skewer he stored it away before glancing around. Only then noticing everyone was silently watching him. “What?” He asked annoyed. Were they going to start acting weird like Kitty the Archer? No one else had better just plop down in his lap while he focused on recovery. Once was more than enough for today, even if it had been kinda exciting.

“Nothing. Uh, Thank you!” To Dren’s surprise, it was the defender that had accompanied the mage Gerald with him to see the Purifier.

“Oh. Yeah. Just doing what I had to for my deal with the Purifier.” Dren answered awkwardly. He was slightly embarrassed about how he had acted before. To be fair he had been worried about Ren at the time and still processing the events with the strange native named Scourge.

“Yeah.” The man turned to look over the wall even as carts were pushed out to collect the bodies. “I guess.”

Dren looked over the wall and then glanced at his body. “I want some of the corpses to skin.”

“Of course. Whatever you want.” The man answered almost instantly. Dren smiled happily at him and the man flinched.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I’m going to check on Ren now.” He told the man, as he seemed to be more or less in charge. At least he was the only one talking directly to Dren now. Before they could respond, Dren vanished with a faint pop.

*****

“Drink.” A hand slapped him on the chest just as he walked into the infirmary. Glancing to his side he frowned at Kitty who was leaning against the wall right next to the door. “Don’t forget. You owe me.” She grinned at him. It only grew bigger when his frown deepened. “But not until after I have a nap.” She yawned, then lunged forward and planted a kiss on his mask. Dren’s head snapped back as if he had been struck and she let out a wild giggle before slipping past him. “I bet you are so red under that mask.” She choked out then howled in more laughter while walking away, her hips swaying.

Dren shouted at her. “I am not!” Then turned in case his crimson face was visible above his mask. “Stupid weird girl.” He muttered before moving deeper into the infirmary. There were nearly a dozen people in there now. But most looked to be resting rather than in any danger. Thanks to the power of healers. Any wound that wasn’t fatal right away was merely a setback.

Further into the infirmary he was met by a woman, the main healer of the town. She had gone up several levels like almost everyone else had during the surge. From what he had seen though, Kitty had gained the most levels. Apparently being the sole one helping him defend the gate had allowed her to get a greater portion of experience. Not having to share it with so many defenders. Of course, Dren had gotten a total of five levels in Profane Blade. So he felt he had gained the most experience out of everyone.

“Welcome back uh is it Walter or Dren?” The woman asked sounding unsure.

Dren pressed his lips together in annoyance beneath his mask before answering with a barely audible sigh and a flat tone. “Dren.”

The woman that slightly reminded him of his mother smiled. “Welcome back Dren. Thank you for helping our town. You were a great help.” Dren just nodded awkwardly at that. Being thanked by natives was odd. Very odd.

“Is Ren ok? Is the Purifier done?” Dren asked as much to change the topic as out of real impatience.

At his question the woman’s expression changed, losing the smile and becoming serious. “Your companion is now cleansed. She is resting but should be fine. As for the Purifier. Well, she is still purging that curse from herself now. We have actually done more healing for her than any wounded from the Monster Surge. That curse is terrifying.” As if to emphasize the fact, her whole body shivered slightly.

“Can I see Ren?” Dren wasn’t heartless and understood what the woman was getting at. He would thank the Purifier later. But right now, he wanted to see Ren. To confirm with his own eyes that she was alright. After all, he already knew that the debuff had been purged from Ren. He had checked her status right after each wave was cleared. And finally, the debuff was gone from her. Her pools were still low and recovering slowly. But the debuff was gone.

“She needs plenty of rest.” The woman seemed to look Dren over. “And you look like you could use some too.” She paused. “And a bath.” Her nose scrunched up as she said that. “But it should be fine for you to check in on her. I can see you won’t be satisfied until you verify it with your own eyes.” Motioning for him to follow she led him to a room. It wasn’t the one he had visited earlier but when she opened he could see Ren curled up in the fetal position covered by a sheet. Her pale face was finally peaceful. Dren’s lips curled into a smile of pure happiness and relief. Just seeing her was enough to put his heart at ease and he intended to leave rather than disturb her rest. But as if sensing him, or maybe smelling him. Ren’s eyes, all eight of them, blinked open and then focused on him. She sat up wearing not armor but some sort of gown.

She seemed to look him over then her head drooped some as she made a defeated mewling sound. Despite not speaking, he understood what she felt. She was upset. But not for any reason she should be. He felt her regret at being wounded and not being able to help in the fighting he had obviously done. Dren felt a rush of annoyance. She had no cause to feel that way. Taking a step forward he appeared beside her bed and ignoring his own filthy state he wrapped her in a hug. Her slender frame went stiff in his arms for a moment before her arms wrapped around him. Her face was buried in his chest and let out odd sniffling sounds of relief. “Don’t be stupid.” That was all he could say. Probably not the best thing for the moment. But just as he could understand her feelings. She understood his.

A few moments later he pulled away. “Get some rest.” Her clean robes, face, and hair were now covered in horrible smelling soot and Dren winced.

Behind him, there was a long sigh. “I’ll get her cleaned up. Normally I’d scold you, terrifying monster of murder or not, for getting one of my patients all dirty. But that was just too… well you go get cleaned up. I’ll have one of the aides take you to a room we have set up for you. You can bathe and rest there.”

Dren followed a teen boy who only had a dozen healer levels. Despite being only a few years younger than him they acted like a child as far as Dren was concerned. Babbling on about the monster surge and Dren fighting as if killing some shit flinging monsters was some grand story. Maybe it was just that Dren was tired, but he found them rather annoying. Finally, they led to a room set up for him to bathe and rest in.

“Anything else I can do for you?” The boy asked, his eyes almost gleaming.

“No.” Dren started to shut the door in his face then paused. With a long sigh, he fully opened the door again to find the boy still standing there. “Uh, Actually. Where. Where can I buy a drink?”

*****

Character Status.

Name: Dren Race: Human (I) Class: Profane Blade (5) Profession: Enchanter (20) Health: 3075/3075 Stamina: 3075/3075 Mana: 2475/2475 Credits: 6,970 Agility 98 Dexterity 98 Endurance 123 Intelligence 99 Spirit 74 Strength 98 Toughness 98 Vitality 123 Dungeon Competency 60% Solo Dungeon Competency 50%