“Billy Ferguson Level: 28 Class: Gunslinger
Attributes:
Strength: 10
Speed: 11
Intelligence: 9
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 7
Spells:
[Regeneration] (Passive)
[Lightning Shot IV]
[Fire Shot IV]
[Ice Shot V]
[Force Shot IV]
[Thunder Shot III]
[Metal Shot IV]
Skills:
[Finger Guns III]: Combine spells into a single attack.
[Guns Akimbo III]: Each hand draws from separate magic pools, preventing depletion sickness as long as one pool has power. Total magic pool increased by 2x.
[Target Genius II]: Sense and visually mark enemies, even behind cover.
[Big shot]: Transmuted from power shot. Build up additional magic in an attack making it stronger. (5 minute cool down)
[Flash Step II]: Instantly move up to 2xn feet (where n = current speed stat). Cannot pass through solid objects. (5-minute cooldown.)
Traits:
[Thick Skinned V]: +30% resistance to piercing, fire, and blunt damage.
[Soft Foot IV]: Noise from walking or running is reduced by 25%.
[Night Sight II]: Vision at night improved by 10%.”
"Harlan Landry. Level: 19. Class: Beast Master."
Attributes:
Strength: 7
Speed: 30 (modified by [Agility of the fox])
Intelligence: 9
Endurance: 8
Charisma: 8
Spells:
[Fire Immunity]: Passive
[Heat Vampire]: Absorbed heat to replenish health and magic power
[Breath of Fire III]: Cast a stream of fire extending (2n) feet. Where (n) = intelligence.
[Flame charge]: Temporarily increase strength and speed while surrounding yourself in flames while charging at an enemy target.
[Nova]: Channel all remaining magic into an explosion centered on the caster.
Skills:
[Senses of the fox]
[Agility of the fox]
[Magic sight]: See the flow of magic and those who manipulate it.
There was no semblance of strategy or caution as Billy, Harlan, and Ignivora charged headlong into the seemingly endless sea of fire golems. They knew full well that they had no chance of defeating the swarm, not when the Volcano Titan continued to spawn more of them with each slow, earth-shaking step. All they could do was make enough magical noise to draw the Titan’s attention away from Blackwater and toward themselves.
Harlan and Ignivora both activated [Flame Charge], their bodies instantly wreathed in roaring fire as they surged forward with a burst of immense speed. They smashed into the front lines of the fire golems with explosive force, sending flaming shards of molten stone flying in every direction. Golems were shattered outright beneath their charge, while those unlucky enough to stand near the impact were sent tumbling like dominos, knocking down entire sections of their own ranks.
Harlan barely had time to take in the destruction before the fire golems retaliated. The monsters surrounding him began hurling fireballs with relentless precision, and within moments, the clearing that he and Ignivora had carved through the horde was engulfed in a blazing inferno that could reduce even high-level magic beasts to ash.
Unfortunately for the fire golems, Harlan’s [Fire Immunity] made their efforts little more than an impressive light show. Unfortunately for Harlan, all of his offensive magic was fire-based as well, rendering it just as ineffective against the creatures.
Like two ironclad warships exchanging cannon fire with no damage to either side, neither Harlan nor the fire golems could harm each other.
Until Harlan pulled out his shotgun.
He racked the pump and fired an ice Shot. The blast roared through the burning battlefield, freezing three golems in place before shattering them into a pile of steaming rubble. Ignivora, not needing a gun, used brute strength instead, barreling through enemies, smashing them underfoot, tearing them apart with his powerful jaws, and hurling them into one another with supernatural force.
Billy, lacking the sheriff’s fireproof advantage, had no choice but to stay at range. He dropped to one knee, adopting a shooter’s stance as he clasped his hands together, interlocking his bottom fingers while pointing his index fingers forward. He activated [Big Shot], and magic began to collect at the tips of his fingers, forming an enormous shell of crackling ice.
Then, with a deep boom, the spell launched.
The projectile was massive, and its sheer size slowed its speed considerably. But given the wall of enemies before Billy, accuracy hardly mattered.
The frozen shell collided with the leading fire golems, detonating in an explosion of razor-sharp ice shards that tore through the swarm. The shockwave froze enemy numbers in a wedge shape, stretching dozens of feet deep and just as wide.
Towering shards of ice jutted from the impact zone, some standing as tall as buildings. The fire golems, either too mindless to realize their mistake or too consumed by instinct, began attacking the frozen spikes. Their combined heat quickly weakened the structures, and as the ice came crashing down, it flattened everything beneath it. A wave of shattering frost and molten rock erupted outward, killing dozens more.
Billy took advantage of the chaos, lifting both hands and casting a barrage of [Ice Shot] spells into the burning throng. With [Guns Akimbo] active, he fired continuously from both hands, rapid blasts of frost cutting into the enemy forces. The sheer density of the horde meant he didn’t even need to aim, every shot hit something.
Unfortunately, that same density also meant a relentless barrage of fireballs came hurling back at him.
Billy twisted and dodged, keeping low, moving constantly, using whatever smoldering debris he could for cover. His [Regeneration] would heal any wounds he took, but every use of it drained his magic reserves. If he burned through too much energy, he’d collapse from exhaustion, and in the middle of a horde like this, that would mean death.
Despite their initial onslaught, Billy and Harlan’s efforts barely scratched the surface of the swarm. Their combined attacks had wiped out a vast number of the golems, but it was only a drop in the ocean compared to the army surrounding them. Worse still, the Volcano Titan continued to generate more. With every step it took, new fire golems were born, rising from the molten ground like soldiers marching from hell itself.
And despite everything, the Titan still wasn’t paying attention to them.
Its burning eyes remained fixed on the distant spot beyond Blackwater, where the magical explosion had occurred. It had no interest in Billy or Harlan, only in whatever power had erupted in the distance.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Billy tried to spot the sheriff through the press of golems and the shimmering heat haze. It took him a moment, but eventually, he found Ignivora, recognizing the massive phoenix fox bounding through the enemy ranks.
“Damn, we’re farther apart than fence posts on an open range,” Billy muttered, diving behind a half-melted boulder for cover. He took a moment for his magic reserves to replenish, rolling his shoulders. “Maybe if we were closer together and all usin’ magic, it’d catch big britches’ attention.”
The problem was getting back to Harlan. With the number of enemies between them, even Billy’s enhanced sight struggled to track the sheriff’s exact position. His [Target Genius] ability was going haywire, overwhelmed by the sheer number of hostiles in the area, not mention the colossus dominating the horizon.
Still, he managed to get a rough idea by watching the movements of the fox. Then, he spotted a gap in the golems, an opening just wide enough to push through.
Billy took a deep breath and activated [Flash Step].
In an instant, he vanished from his cover, reappearing in the middle of the battlefield, closing the distance between himself and the sheriff’s position. Before the golems could react, he unleashed a series of [Ice Shots], blasting a path through the flaming throng. The frozen shards ripped through the creatures, forcing them back long enough for him to reach the clearing that Harlan and Ignivora had carved out.
Harlan stood in the center, methodically reloading his shotgun and firing [Ice Shot] rounds with precision, each blast freezing two or three enemies at a time.
Ignivora, meanwhile, patrolled the edges of the battlefield like an apex predator, slamming through golems with raw strength and tearing apart anything that got too close.
A flurry of fireballs continued to rain down on them, but they might as well have been sparks in a furnace. Harlan and Ignivora stood bathed in a halo of flames, wreathed in a blazing inferno that did nothing to harm them.
If the fire golems had the capacity for fear, they would have felt it then.
Working his way toward the center of the clearing, Billy ducked and weaved through the onslaught of fireballs, dodging as best he could. But there was only so much he could avoid in the middle of this many enemies, and without any cover, he started taking hits. Explosions seared his flesh, the heat curling the edges of his clothing. His hat burned away, his jacket blackened and split. [Regeneration] kicked in, knitting his flesh back together almost instantly, but Billy knew that if he kept taking damage, it would drain his magic reserves dry. And once that happened, he’d be cooked like a jackrabbit caught in a brushfire. He had to act fast.
“This plan’s workin’ about as well as a wagon with no wheels!” Billy shouted over the chaos.
“Yeah, I noticed!” Harlan called back, still unloading [Ice Shot] rounds into the golems. “Any thoughts?”
“Yeah, but I don’t like it,” Billy admitted. “If we both use our biggest magic, back to back, maybe that’ll be enough to get its attention. You got anything you’ve been savin’?”
“I got somethin’,” Harlan said, racking his shotgun again. “It’s fire-based, so it won’t do much to these flamin’ varmints, and you’ll be in danger.”
“As long as it uses a whole lotta magic, it’ll be fine,” Billy said. “On the count of three cast away.”
Billy dropped to one knee, clapping his hands together as he began charging [Big Shot]. This time, he held it longer, pouring everything he had into it. Magic pulsed at his fingertips, forming an enormous, swirling mass of ice energy, growing larger with every second. But holding the spell meant staying still, and that made him a sitting duck. Fireballs hammered into him, his skin blistering, burning, healing, and burning again. Between [Big Shot] and [Regeneration], he could feel his magic reserves bleeding dry.
“Three… two… one… NOW!” Billy roared.
He unleashed the colossal [Ice Shot] just as Harlan charged forward, shoving his shotgun into its holster before throwing his arms wide and shouting [Nova].
Light. Heat. A roar of magic exploded outward.
The sheer force of Harlan’s attack ignited the battlefield in a blinding white inferno. A shockwave ripped through the golems, sending them flying—smashing into one another, crashing to the ground in heaps of molten rock. Billy barely had time to register the destruction before the blast hit him, launching him through the air like a ragdoll. He crashed into the massive shards of ice left behind by his own [Big Shot], skidding to a stop against a carriage-sized slab of frozen magic.
Everything went still for a moment.
Then, pain.
Billy lay slumped against the ice, his limbs like lead, his body screaming in protest. He could feel his magic working, forcing his broken body to knit back together, but there wasn’t much left to draw from. Across the battlefield, Harlan had also collapsed, drained from expending so much power at once.
But they had done something.
For the first time, the fire golems had stopped. Their simple minds struggled to process what had just happened. And, in true mindless fashion, they made the worst possible decision. they turned their attacks on the ice shards, mistaking them for an enemy.
Billy could only watch as the sky turned to fire.
A storm of fireballs blazed overhead, arcing toward his position. His body wouldn’t move. His magic reserves were nearly empty. He didn’t want to die, not like this. Not without stopping that damn titan. Not without making sure Emma and the girls were safe. Not without settling things with the Hog.
But this was it.
This was the end.
He closed his eyes, bracing for the searing agony of the flames.
Instead, he felt warmth. Softness. A weight surrounding him.
Death… wasn’t supposed to feel like this.
Billy’s eyes cracked open, only to be met with a face full of phoenix fox fur.
Ignivora had wrapped his massive body around him, shielding him completely from the incoming firestorm. The sound of the inferno raged outside, but within the cocoon of flame-proof fur, Billy was safe.
“Thought you were dead for a second, boy,” came Harlan’s voice from somewhere outside.
“Mmhgh… thought th’ sa’ thing…” Billy mumbled into the fur, trying to shift his head into a position where he wasn’t choking on phoenix fox fuzz. He blinked groggily, still catching his breath. “Did… it… work… at least?”
Harlan was silent for a moment. Billy couldn’t see his face, but he didn’t need to. The sheriff’s lack of an answer told him everything.
“…You should get outta here as soon as you can,” Harlan said finally, his voice unusually quiet. “I don’t think there’s much more we can do.”
Billy’s stomach dropped.
They had failed.
All that destruction. All that magic. And the Titan hadn’t even flinched.
His fault.
Another town, another disaster. More people's homes turned to ash because of him.
“No,” Billy rasped, trying to move. “I ain’t leaving. This is my fault. All of this. I have a responsibility to keep tryin’. A responsibility to stop that thing before it hurts more people. And I’m gonna bear that responsibility.” He exhaled sharply. “Once I’m back on my feet, you should get outta here.”
“Well, I got a responsibility too,” Harlan shot back. “To this town. To the people here. To the lives they built. So you leave.”
“No, you leave!” Billy barked, managing to work his face free from the fuzzy cocoon he was trapped in.
“It’s my town, so I’m tellin’ you to leave!”
“It’s my responsibility, so you leave, you old coot!”
“Yeah, well I am old, old enough to know what’s good for ya, ya little shit. Now git!”
Looking around from his living swaddle Billy clicked his tongue and said “From the looks of things, we’re stuck in this saddle together whether we like it or not.”
Although their earlier attacks hadn’t been enough to draw the attention of the Volcano Titan, they had certainly attracted every fire golem in the horde. The creatures had packed in so tightly around Billy, Harlan, and Ignivora that any hope of fighting their way out seemed like a fool’s dream. Fireballs continued to rain down on the towering ice shards Billy had created, their heat melting cracks into the frozen spires. When those fell, the full force of the golem horde would descend upon them.
“Dang it,” Harlan muttered, glancing around. “You reckon you got enough power back to fight yet? Iggy and I could maybe try to punch a hole in ‘em, but you’d need to finish the job and fight the rest of the way.”
“That’s got about as much chance of workin’ as an unpaid ranch hand,” Billy replied, shaking his head. He took a deep breath, flexing his aching fingers, still feeling the burn of magic depletion. “But I guess it’s die here or die tryin’ to fight our way out… Let’s rustle up some action.”
“You heard him, Iggy! Let’s move!”
At the command, the monstrous phoenix fox unfurled himself from around Billy and sprinted toward the least dense part of the encircling golems. The moment he made contact, he activated [Flame Charge], his entire body bursting into an inferno as he plowed forward. At the same time, Harlan grabbed Billy by the arm, hauling him to his feet, and the two men took off running after the fox.
Despite Ignivora’s speed and sheer bulk, the attack barely made a dent in the enemy ranks. The golems pressed in like a wall of living flame, slowing his momentum almost immediately. The fox fought ferociously, smashing, clawing, and bowling through them, but for every golem that fell, another stepped forward to take its place.
Harlan activated his own [Flame Charge], his body igniting as he surged forward, trying to clear the path behind the fox. But if Iggy’s attack had struggled to make headway, Harlan’s barely even registered.
Undaunted, Billy charged ahead, arms raised as he unleashed a barrage of [Ice Shots]. The frost magic bullets slammed into the fire golems, freezing them solid before Ignivora and Harlan smashed through their brittle forms. Billy fired as fast as he could, his hands glowing with an almost constant stream of magic. But it wasn’t enough.
For every frozen golem they shattered, another stepped into the gap. The enemy press closed in tighter, fireballs streaking in from all directions. Harlan and Ignivora did their best to shield Billy, but the sheer number of golems was overwhelming. Billy felt the heat biting into his skin, his jacket reduced to smoldering rags, the edges of his vision blurring.
His magic reserves were running dry.
This was it.
At least he was going down fighting.
Billy gritted his teeth and cast another [Ice Shot], but as the spell left his fingers, something unexpected happened. Instead of striking only a handful of enemies, the frost exploded outward, carving a path straight through the horde, shattering golems all the way to open ground.
Billy blinked.
That wasn’t him.
The golems were breaking apart on their own, their stone bodies crumbling into steaming rubble. Even in his magic-exhausted state, Billy knew something wasn’t right. He didn’t do this.
But if not him… then who?
His question was answered when a massive figure stepped through the haze of heat and ice.
At first, Billy thought it was some kind of gorilla in a suit, broad, hulking, and moving with deliberate power. But as the figure got closer, he realized it was just a brute of a man, his face more battered than an old punching bag. Heavy metallic gloves covered both of his hands, each adorned with a sizable chunk of ice crystal embedded into the back of them.
Billy had never seen him before.
But Harlan sure had.
“Thomas Gardener,” Harlan exclaimed, half in shock, half in relief. “I never thought I’d be glad to see your ugly mug.”
The big man barely reacted, his expression as flat as a dry lake bed. Instead of answering, he simply pointed toward the corridor he had just punched through the mob of fire golems, a silent indication that they should get the hell out while they had the chance.
Then, without waiting for thanks, he swung a fist the size of a sledgehammer, obliterating another golem that had wandered too close. His movements were precise, calculated, his strikes powerful enough to shatter stone like brittle glass.
Harlan stepped forward. “Billy’s exhausted. He used up too much magic—”
Tommy rolled his eyes.
Then, with the ease of someone lifting a sack of flour, he grabbed Billy by the belt and slung him over one shoulder like a duffel bag.
Billy groaned.
Without another word, Tommy took off at a sprint, faster than any normal man should have been able to move, his heavy boots barely making a sound as he weaved effortlessly through the wreckage. Even Ignivora had to scramble to keep up.
Harlan whistled low, shaking his head. “Guess we’re gettin’ out of here, then,” he muttered to the fox before they both took off at a sprint, racing to catch up.