Void stopped channeling his spell to deflect the arrow intent on killing him. Sasha followed through with a Tackle but was swatted aside by Void’s staff. She tumbled into the dirt, heaving for agonizing breaths as a couple of ribs cracked under the impact.
Calvin had seen Liam’s arrival and worked quickly to capitalize on that. First, the arrows Liam fired were able to injure Knox, that was a very fortuitous turn of events. Second, if Liam was back, that must mean Amy is not far behind… and if Amy is back, that means the other part of this plan was in full swing.
See… Amy was not part of this fight. That was because she’d gone with Liam back to camp. After the war party left, her goal was to sneak in under the cover of Static Cloak. Judging that at least a majority of the major players were gone, she would move in, disable the guards, and try to recruit the remaining survivors. Liam had left her with a note and a signet that Lexie would recognize. If everything went as planned, she should be returning any moment now.
Calvin charged Knox who had been sending repeated earthen shock waves up the hill. His rage was threatening to destroy the entire jungle. Seeing Calvin, his stance changed entirely. He braced his feet and readied his club. He would pummel this little creature into paste.
Calvin had a javelin in his right hand and his spear in his left. He arced his arm backward and hurled the javelin right over Knox’s head. In that same moment, a bright flash exploded in Knox’s face. There she is Calvin thought with a wicked grin.
He activated Riftwalk as the javelin passed over Knox’s head, appearing in the air just behind him. Calvin twisted in the air and thrust downward with his spear, skewering Knox through the shoulder and releasing his charge. The wound was devastating, but not critical. Knox stomped his foot into the ground kicking up an obscuring barrier of dust and knocking down anyone nearby, including Calvin.
Three exploding daggers whistled through the barrier and Knox let out an enraged cry.
His voice carried an incredible force, blowing away the dust around him and revealing something entirely new. Knox had transformed. His wounds were knitting closed, his skin appeared to be stretched taut as his muscles grew rapidly and bulged out unnaturally. Knox swung his club in a sidelong sweep, emitting a powerful shock wave of air that raced off into the forest, cutting down all manner of flora including small trees. He swung his club again in Calvin’s direction and another shock wave blasted out, threatening to bisect Calvin, who slid underneath it. Knox’s mage general was not so lucky, as his body burst into a bloody mist. Knox had lost it, he would kill everyone here, including his own men who had seemingly failed him.
He smashed down at Calvin, missing by a hair’s breadth, blowing a crater in the ground and sending Calvin tumbling to the side, another smash had Calvin scrambling for purchase as he looked to put distance from the madman.
Two more arrows pierced the man, who simply ignored the damage they dealt and swung his arm down to break them off. He hurled his club in Liam’s direction. The club smashed into a tree, exploding it into splinters as the man barreled forward toward Liam.
Knox snatched up his club and smashed again, sending another rift of destroyed earth toward the battlefield. He was beginning to weaken slightly. They could see it in his slowed movements and heaving breaths. The wounds on his body were bleeding more now.
“Void!” Knox called
In a flash, Void stepped into nothingness and reappeared next to Knox. A barrier sprang up in front of them, destroying all projectiles and spells attempting to assault them. Knox drank a potion and readied his club. Void leaned over, whispering something in Knox’s ear. Knox paused briefly and looked out into the mountains, far away from their current position and in the opposite direction of his camp.
Knox and Void were surrounded.
“You think you have what it takes to finish this? You’re nothing!” Knox shouted at Calvin.
Calvin said nothing. He readied his spear and waited for the battle to continue.
Knox nodded at Void and charged in. Calvin sidestepped a swing and stabbed toward Knox’s thigh, cutting a small slash in the muscle. Knox swung out with a backhand, knocking Calvin backward. Calvin charged back toward Knox, swinging his spear in a sidelong strike while Freya came at him from behind. Knox parried the spear with his club and spun around, grabbing Freya by the scruff of her neck and hurling her into the forest.
Seth’s drones were out again, having been replaced by the backups he carried with them. They were currently assaulting Void, keeping him from channeling any spells to empower Knox.
Amy appeared behind Knox and sliced at his back, infusing a large gash with toxin. He threw his shoulders back, knocking Amy to the ground. Before he could slam Amy into a pulp, Freya had appeared, releasing a furious magic bark. Knox and Void immediately turned their attention to Freya. The were unable to resist the taunt.
Seth’s drones riddled Void with shot after shot, slowly breaking Void from the taunt. The mage was covered in smoking wounds now as he renewed his defense against the drones.
Knox swung at Freya, then swung again. Each time, he missed as she dashed out of the way. Calvin moved in to Knox’s side and pierced him with his spear. Knox spun with fury, slamming Calvin’s hand with his club. Calvin’s hand exploded, leaving a gory stump in its wake. He screamed in agony as his team dumped everything they had into Knox. Round after round struck him, fire erupted on his body, he was taking serious wounds in his goal to finish Calvin off.
Another Flash Bomb erupted in Knox’s face as Freya moved in to drag Calvin away.
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Calvin’s group took up a defensive position, and a wall of fire sprang up between them, Knox and Void. Marshall slapped a bandage on Calvin’s missing hand and dosed him with Nanomist at least getting Calvin back up to his feet. Both groups were ragged. While Calvin’s group had destroyed the generals systematically, Knox and Void still clearly had some fight left in them. Knox and Void were both wounded badly. Knox was bleeding from multiple punctures and lacerations, he was badly burned all over his body, he was covered in nasty bruises, and likely sported several broken bones.
The brush behind Knox stirred as the citizens of his encampment appeared one by one, each bearing weapons. They had spears, swords, shields, bows, and staves. Each of them readied what few skills they had. They were prepared to fight.
“Oh Calvin. Do you think you won here today? Do you think getting this rabble to turn on me is a victory? You are sorely mistaken, my friend. I will make sure you die in agony.” he said in an unsettlingly calm voice. Void said something again to him and he just nodded.
“You can have this worthless group of wretches. You can wipe their asses and clean up their boo-boos. I don’t give a shit. It’s time for me to take my leave. You better sleep with one eye open, because soon, I’m going to rain an unholy hell down upon your head. You really fucked up.”
With that, Knox and Void together stepped into nothing and vanished.
The group spent the next half an hour stripping the bodies of their equipment, some of which was very powerful, before heading back to the camp.
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“Lexie!” Sasha cried out as they all strode back into the camp.
She ran over and picked up her little sister in an enormous hug. Lexie was dirty and covered in bruises, but she seemed in good spirits.
“Sasha! I knew you weren’t dead! You’re too strong to be dead!” Lexie said. It was sound logic for a 10-year-old.
The rest of the group filtered into the encampment. The citizens were all fairly unmarred from the battle, having huddled together and generally tried to stay out of the way. Calvin’s group was wounded and exhausted.
As they walked into the camp, hearty cheers greeted them. Cries of thanks rang out from the various people gathered around the main path. Several people ran up to help Calvin, who was clearly the most wounded of them all. He waved them away but showed his appreciation all the same.
Liam and Sasha escorted Calvin and his team to the center of the camp, they gathered around the base rune and tested something Andy had discussed with them before leaving. Calvin stepped into the rune.
WILL YOU CHALLENGE OWNERSHIP OF THIS MINOR ENCAMPMENT?
Calvin didn’t immediately act. Instead, he turned back to the gathering crowd. Losing his hand weighed heavily on him. The pain had stopped, thanks to the healing from Marshall, but the loss cut at him all the same. He wasn’t sure if it would grow back. It seemed possible right? For now, he had to put his worries aside. The tutorial would not cut him any slack, so he would have to toughen up and adapt.
“Uh… hey everyone.” he started. He hadn’t really prepared anything and speaking to a bunch of people about taking ownership of their home wasn’t something he had a whole lot of practice with.
He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.
“Liam and Sasha here have told us about what’s been going on. It sounds like you all have had a real rough go of it under Knox and I’m truly sorry you’ve had to experience that on top of this tutorial.”
Murmurs of agreement moved through the crowd.
“I also know you’ve heard from Knox that we’re some crazy assholes and that we murdered your friends. I hope you’ll believe me when I say we didn’t.”
A small chuckle came from the crowd, who could clearly see Sasha and Liam standing there.
“When these two came to our base, they were our enemies. They were forced into actions they had no option but to accept, and we did fight. We almost did kill them. I’m glad we didn’t. When they told us about what was going on out here, we promised we would help.”
Calvin looked around at them all.
“The tutorial is not a forgiving place. I’m sure you’ve seen that. I can see that you haven’t had the opportunity to gain the strength you need to survive out here. I also know you haven’t had the chance to taste freedom since you’ve been here. It’s been either fighting for your lives or being enslaved by Knox. We are not here to subjugate you under another rule.”
Sighs of relief slipped out from some of the onlookers. That had been a minor concern for many.
“We will make you an offer. You can join us and come back to our camp. It is upgraded, has infrastructure and we can keep growing it. You’ll be protected behind our walls. But know this, while we aren’t planning to rule over you, you would need to contribute.”
Some voices of concern rang out and Sasha stepped in to calm them.
“Calvin made the same offer to us. He didn’t abuse that offer. His team gave us food and housing, they helped us hone our skills, and they gave us comfort and companionship after we tried to kill them. Hell, they even made me equipment better suited to my class.” Sasha said as she held up the shield, “They’re good people and they’re just trying to survive this tutorial. The reality of it is, that in order to survive, we all have to put in the work.”
Calvin saw that the concern was fading away from the group as they nodded in agreement.
Calvin stepped in again. “For those of you who have combat classes, we will help you grow them. We won’t steal your achievements and limit your growth, we want you to get strong so that you can better protect yourselves here and after the tutorial. We would ask you to be ready to come to the defense of our base and the residents within. For those of you with artisan classes, we will help provide you with materials and facilities to enhance your skills in your craft. We would ask for you to produce goods for the camp. It will be fair, and we will not ask you to take a loss on what you produce. For those of you who don’t have classes, we will allow you the freedom to choose your path.” Calvin paused for a moment before continuing, “All of you are welcome to accept that offer. You will be treated respectfully and fairly. You will be one of us. If you don’t wish to accept the offer, you’re free to remain here and we will remain long enough for one of you to challenge ownership of this rune. It will alert Knox when the process starts. We will defend you until the transfer is complete and then we will be on our way.”
He didn’t see anyone immediately jump on that idea.
“If all of you decide to join us, and none wish to challenge ownership of this rune, then I will take it myself and remove the base. My understanding is that we will receive a token that allows us to further upgrade our own base.”
“We don’t want it. I speak for my family when we say, we’ll be joining you.” came a voice from the crowd.
“Yeah, fuck this place!” came another voice from the crowd followed by an increasing chorus of agreement.
“Alright, then I’m going to start the process. We’ll wait here until it’s done. Everyone, please pack up everything. We have storage pouches that can hold large amounts of materials, so we’ll leave nothing behind. When we’re back in the safety of our own camp, we’ll set up distribution of the equipment.”
Calvin stepped into the rune and confirmed the prompt.
OWNERSHIP CHALLENGED. 11:59 REMAINING
The 12 hours went by without issue. Knox did not return, leaving Calvin to wonder what he’d been so keen on out in the mountains. That would have to wait. It was very early in the morning on the 30th day. There were roughly 3 hours until sunrise when they all set out, leaving the ruins of Knox’s camp behind.