Nathan looked at the monsters streaming through the portal, but it was hard to see.

"Strategy View," he said.

Instantly, he was given a window showing the town in a 2D isometric perspective. At the top, there was an ominous bar that had yet to be filled with the text 'Wave 1/5'. He swiped to the right, toward the monsters.

Bears. Lots of bears. They poured out of the portal like water from a broken dam. By the time the stream ended, there were easily fifty monsters in front of him.

He scrolled around the map. Each wall section had its own lovely collection of incoming death.

"How many are there on our side again?" Nathan said.

“One hundred,” Fuge said. She gripped the wall's edge, knuckles white. "And that's counting the children."

"Oh, perfect," Nathan muttered. “Four more waves after this. Just for this raid. Totally fair."

The bears charged. Arrows from the Mushroom People whizzed through the air, dropping a few bears. Not nearly enough.

"We used to have proper defenses," Fuge said through gritted teeth. "Turrets. Master mages. All stripped away when—"

A thunderous boom cut her off. Dirt and bear parts flew through the air. Somewhere in the distance, Mara's cackling mixed with rifle fire.

The mines had cut their numbers in half, but the remaining bears didn't seem to care. They slammed into the wall. The whole structure shuddered.

Nathan glanced down at the wood and stone beneath his feet. "How sturdy is this thing?"

"It was made in 24 hours from rubble and wood scraps. How sturdy do you think it is?"

Another impact. The wall groaned.

Nathan's hand tightened around his fishing rod. He stepped onto the edge.

"What are you—" Fuge lunged for him. "Get back, you'll—"

Nathan was already falling, rod swinging ahead of him.

[Big Bear] - Lv. 7

A normal bear, but bigger and magically enhanced! Oh, and the teeth are as sharp as a razor. Have fun!

Level 7. Nathan almost laughed.

His hook carved through the first bear like it was paper. The second and third died before the first hit the ground. Each swing left a trail of destruction, bears' enhanced flesh offering about as much resistance as wet cardboard.

Fuge's voice carried from above, something about reinforcements, but Nathan wasn't listening. He was too busy turning the battlefield into a slaughterhouse. Wherever he moved, bears died. Simple as that.

The wall groaned again. Nathan glanced up to see three bears trying to climb over each other to reach the top.

Bad idea.

He planted his foot, muscles coiling with enhanced strength, and launched himself straight up. The fishing rod sang through the air. Three bears fell in pieces.

Nathan landed on the wall, barely winded. Bear corpses littered the ground below like fallen leaves. Some were still twitching. Most were in pieces.

Fuge stared at him, then at the fishing rod in his hand—the same one she'd dismissed with that blank ‘Oh. Okay.’ Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

"So," Nathan said, casually checking his rod for damage. "Is this the bearing of a warrior? Or should I try looking more fearsome? Maybe grimace more?"

"I..." Fuge's hand had fallen from her sword hilt. "That was..."

"Sorry, what was that about leaving the battle to you? I'm a bit squeamish and fearful, you know. Might need someone to hold my hand through all this."

A bear's head rolled to a stop against the wall. Someone would need to clean that up later.

Fuge's pride visibly warred with her shock. "I... may have been hasty in my judgment."

"Oh? And here I thought getting my arm bitten off wasn't impressive enough for you."

She winced. "About that—"

A horn blared in the distance. Wave 2 incoming.

"My lord," Fuge said, and this time there wasn't a hint of condescension in her voice. "I formally apologize for my previous... assumptions. Though I would appreciate a warning next time before you throw yourself into a horde of enhanced bears."

Nathan twirled his fishing rod. "What happened to my bearing saying it all?"

"Your bearing," Fuge said dryly, "apparently lies."

Nathan chuckled. “I see.”

She readied her sword, but kept glancing at him like he might suddenly sprout wings. "Though I still want to know where you learned to fight like that with a fishing rod of all things."

Hell. I learned in hell.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Trade secret," Nathan said.

More bears poured through the portal. Nathan's grin widened.

----------------------------------------

The next three waves were simple—in theory, anyway. All Nathan had to do was defeat the monsters en-masse. On the other walls, his companions dispatched monsters with ease. He could hear gunshots going off in the distance. Every now and then, a stray fireball from Emi flew into the sky. Chad screamed, “For the content!”

But with each wave, the number of monsters increased. Long humanoids with twisted limbs. Boars with tusks the size of swords. And all of them by the hundreds. The first wave was easy, and so was the second wave. Sweat had started to build up on the inside of Nathan’s shirt in the third wave. By the time of the fourth wave, Nathan breathing deep for oxygen, his muscles burning with pain.

A rope was thrown down for him—something he was grateful for since his arms didn’t feel like scaling up a wall.

One of the mushroom people passed him a drink and a towel, which he accepted gratefully. Once he was done wiping up, he turned to Fuge. “Please tell me this won’t get much worse,” he said. “Because I’m already starting to burn up.”

“It’s going to get worse. In fact, the fifth wave is probably going to be the worst of the lot.”

“Why’s that?” Nathan said.

“Because the fifth wave is when they’re allowed to send in a heavy hitter.”

As if on cue, the world lit up with a bright light and a new portal appeared. Out stepped a spider that dwarfed their walls, easily doubling its height. Hordes of smaller spiders the size of a man swarmed below it.

One of the small spiders climbed up the larger spider’s legs and Nathan paled.

“They’ll be able to climb the walls,” he said.

Fuge stiffened.

“Shit,” she said.

Nathan turned to the mushroom person who’d gotten him a rag. “Get Mara! Check to see if she has any explosives left and get it here, now!”

The mushroom person took a step back and nodded. “Right!”

Nathan inspected the monster. It was so huge that even from this distance, he could still use the skill.

[Mama Charlotte] - Lv. 45

A towering nightmare on eight legs, Mama Charlotte is anything but maternal. Her “children” are both her minions and her meals, and she’s always hungry. With fangs dripping venom and webs that bind like iron chains, she’s a terrifying hunter. Her favorite phrase? “Mommy’s home… and you look delicious.”

Okay, what the f—

He slapped his cheeks and focused on the matter at hand.

The spider stepped closer.

He felt comfortable that he could’ve beaten this thing at the top of his game—but he wasn’t at the top of his game. He was sweaty and exhausted and he’d be facing a horde of smaller spiders, not just the big one.

“We’ve got to delay them,” Nathan said. “And hope that Mara can come through.”

Fuge pulled out her sword. “I’ll be joining you. I was managing logistics, but I’d be of better use on the field..”

Nathan glanced at her. “Will you be able to keep up? I mean, are you a high level—”

She snorted.

“I don’t level up in the same way that you do. I’m linked to the town—and this town is doing pretty damn fine for itself.”

Nathan nodded and faced back toward the spiders. “Then let’s get down there!”

They jumped toward the bottom. Nathan fell into a squat, his raw Strength and Constitution enough to absorb the impact. Fuge, instead, did a combat roll and smoothly sprang into a run.

Nathan flexed his legs and chased after her.

The spiders were screaming, raising their arms at Nathan and Fuge.

Fuge’s sword lit up a bright green. She stabbed through one of the spiders and it fell to the ground, limp.

A moment after, vines and plants erupted from the body of the spider and wrapped around several other spiders. The vines squeezed. They popped them like pinatas.

Nathan stared at the scene.

Remind me not to piss off Fuge.

A few spiders sprang at Nathan, fangs soaked in venom. Nathan pulled out his harpoon and sent them all flying, bloody streaks across their bodies.

There was a loud sound like hundreds of horses pounding the ground. Nathan turned just in time to see Mama Charlotte racing toward him and Fuge.

“Shit shit shit, run!” Nathan sprinted to the side.

Fuge’s eyes widened and she jumped out of the way, barely avoiding gettting swept up by Mama Charlotte’s massive teeth.

Natha spun around and threw his harpoon as hard as he could. It burst forward, water propelling it right into the abdomenb of Mama Charlotte.

Mama Charlotte screeched, a loud shrill noise. Nathan winced and almost plugged his ears.

He took a closer look at the wound he’d made. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like someone had left a needle embbedded in its stomach.

I bet that did almost nothing.

Even if he beat this thing, the swarm would overrun the walls. He looked back at the town.

“Damn it all.”

Mama Charlotte stomped the ground and swung one of its feet at Nathan. He ducked low to the ground, causing her to hit the smaller spiders and knocking them all over the place.

Fuge ran foward and slashed at one of the legs, carving a bloody wound but failing to penetrate deeply.

Nathan stiffened and pulled out his fishing rod.

Mama Charlotte swooped her head down—

And bit into Fuge’s shoulder.

Nathan’s hook flew through the air and slammed into one of the monster’s eyes, causing it to pop like a balloon. It let go of Fuge and staggered back, screaming.

Nathan grabbed Fuge and ran for the walls. Before Nathan could get away, one of the other spiders bit his arm—bouncing off a shimmering barrier. At the same time, there was an odd glow coming from his conch necklace.

The enchantment. Thanks, sea.

The gates were swung open and he ran inside.

He dropped Fuge to the ground. She was convulsing, foaming at the mouth. Her skin had turned green and her face was swelling.

“Someone!” he shouted. “Please, do we have anyone who can heal!?”

“Why isn’t she regenerating?” the guard who let them in muttered.

“I don’t know,” someone else said. “The venom must be so strong that its counteracting her natural regeneration”

Nathan looked down at her, than at his hands.

Come on, I can heal. I can do this. I can help her.

He stared at her.

Nothing happened.

She continued to spasm on the ground.

Before Nathan could say or do anything, something happened in front of Nathan’s eyes.

Nathan watched in horror as Fuge’s skin darkened to a sickly green and her face began to swell. Her body spasmed as the venom took hold, and for a moment, Nathan felt the helplessness settle in, heavy and cold.

Then something strange began to happen. He noticed a faint shimmer of green and purple light pulsing from her wounds, like bioluminescent veins flickering to life.

Fuge let out a groan as her body began to stiffen, almost rooting her in place. Around the bite wound, her skin started to bubble, turning from green back to a deep purple hue—tiny tendrils, like mycelium, spread from her wound to knit the torn flesh back together.

The swelling on her face reduced as if being drained, her skin reverting to its normal tone. Nathan couldn’t look away as something else started sprouting out from her shoulder—a small mushroom cap, thick and pale, budding where the spider’s fangs had punctured her skin. In seconds, it grew until it was the size of Nathan’s hand, and with a shudder, Fuge reached up and snapped the mushroom off, tossing it to the ground.

The venom receded from her face, and her breathing steadied.

“Alright, I’m ready to hop back in,” she said. “Thanks for getting me out, my lord.’

Before Nathan could even form a reply, the bite wounds on her shoulder had fully closed up, leaving only faint, silvery scars in their place, while the mushroom on the ground started dissolving, a final puff of spores dispersing into the air.

At that exact moment, something clicked inside Nathan’s head. Something deep and profound about regeneration and healing settled in the back of his mind. Something he’d missed the whole time.

“R-right,” Nathan said. “Okay, we still have to figure out what we’re going to do about that giant spider.”

“DID SOMEONE SAY EXPLOSIVES?”

“What, no,” Nathan said. “I said giant spider—“

He turned around just in time to see Mara, a grin on her face and sitting on top of a barrel. Two other barrels were to the left and right.

She winked.

“Still, I think you’re glad I showed up, huh?”