“Long ago, a young one asked if an arcanist could combine skills like cards. Why not? I said. What a woeful thing for me to say.”
~Scholar Jun
Two more left. Walters counted as he dropped his emptied magazine and replaced it with another, barely pausing his gunfire in the process.
Not that it mattered. The horde of skeletons kept walking no matter how many bullets he unloaded into them.
“I need help over here!” Jenkins yelled over the cacophony of battle.
“I do too!” Walters yelled back, unable to look back as he pushed back the horde of bone with more bullets.
The two soldiers were back to back, perched behind a brown, conjured shield that served as a barricade, unloading clip after clip into the approaching mob of skeletons, but it was of no use.
They literally had zero presence on the battlefield, unlike everyone else.
Two wolves twice the size of Walter plowed through the horde, kicking and shoving armored skeletons into the air while chomping through the vulnerable monsters. A third pup howled, sending waves of brown arcanium to conjure shields around everyone nearby, including them.
Ben orchestrated it all while in the thick of it, riding his larger wolf like a horse. Walters didn’t know what he was doing, but even his [Gut Feeling] told him that the kid was the center of it all.
Don't question it. If it weren’t for them, we would be dead by now. Walters knew to give credit where it was due.
His brother was even more impressive. He didn’t need to touch the monsters, a simple ray of light arcanium turned every skeleton warrior into ash.
And as much as the teens were beyond Walters, the image of Devin zipping through the rank of undead was even greater. The few times he was able to lay eyes on him left Walters shocked with awe.
The man rammed through ranks of skeletons like it was nothing, turning spines and skulls into dust with each strike. Despite his immense strength, Devin moved with the grace of an acrobat, jumping vast distances to surround himself with skeletons and repeat his carnage.
Although Devin had to be exhausted after fighting the snake monster, the annoying bastard didn’t stop, stealing all the glory by pushing back a majority of the horde.
Fucking show-off. Walters would’ve given him a piece of his mind if he wasn’t too busy fighting for his life. Hate that guy.
He didn’t even care that the douche was risking his life to protect theirs. When Walters really thought about it, this was all his fault in the first place. It only made sense he right his wrong, even if it cost him his life.
Which seemed more plausible as the fight dragged on. It felt like forever to even Walters, and if he had to be honest, his contributions only amounted to picking off a few dozen.
Fucking only? Back on base, that would be a big deal. Maybe even enough for a promotion.
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The bastard was slowing down by the second. He was nowhere near as fast as he was when he fought the snake. He even got bogged down by an uncountable dogpile of skeletons before he blew them away with a roar, continuing his rampage.
If he goes down, the least he could do is make sure they stop coming after us. Then, Jenkins would be in the perfect position to be consoled. A man can only pray, right?
The two wolves circled back, kicking and biting all the skeletons that got close, uncaring of the couple of stray bullets that bounced off their hides.
Walters involuntarily gulped, glad such monsters were on their side.
“Are y’all alright?” Ben asked as his monsters tore through the front lines. What took them hundreds of bullets was accomplished in seconds. “You might want to save your bullets, you’re just wasting them at this point.”
Walters gritted his teeth. “We don’t need you to look down on us.”
Jenkins caressed his shoulder, showing she did care for him. “Relax, he’s just being nice.”
Only because you asked me to. Walters covered his frown with a tense smile. “Does your boss have a plan?”
“He hasn’t told me anything, haven’t exactly been able to talk.” He said, nodding to his wolves that crashed into the approaching monsters. “These skeletons seem like they’re following orders. I’m sure Devin’s already tracking down the leader. Don’t move so we can protect you.”
Great, we’re weaker than teenagers. Walters sighed, unsure who he was more pissed off at.
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Warning!
Life and Stamina below 50%
Arcanium below 25%
Arcanium Shock Inflected
Status Delayed (Wrath)
Devin huffed and puffed, but no matter how much he heaved, he couldn’t get enough air—not when literal droves of dust, dirt, and bone shards filled the air.
More than a breath of fresh air, Devin needed a moment to rest, but the waves of skeletal soldiers were endless. They marched out of the forest like ants defending their anthill, constantly swarming around no matter how many of their numbers went down.
And then there was the eerie presence he sensed at the edge of awareness.
Devin kept moving, unwilling to give the entity lurking just beyond his meta-awareness a chance to strike. His instincts screamed the moment he stopped to rest would be the same moment the monster tried to end his life.
He used Dewey’s magic circle to continuously reactivate Rage, giving him enough power to throw the hordes of armored skeletons off him and continue his rampage. Even with only a single ring at his disposal, nothing on the battlefield posed a threat to him.
With two, Devin would be unstoppable.
Cooldown ends in 29 seconds
He paced himself as his circle’s cooldown was almost over, slowing down just enough to catch a breath—
—Except, the earth ruptured as something wrapped around his ankles. His surroundings blurred as Devin was once again sent flying.
Wha—
The thought was cut short as his back wrapped around a solid tree trunk.
His momentum kept him moving, bouncing through the foliage for several seconds until he skidded to a stop. He cried as pain shot through his body. It cracked and popped while his regenerative life force healed him.
His life plummeted below 10%.
Life Shock Inflicted
Status Delayed (Wrath)
Devin wanted nothing more than to lay there and let his supernatural healing work its wonders, but when an animalistic panting came into earshot, he mercilessly ignored the pain to get to his feet.
He gasped as he gazed towards the source of the noise.
In front of him stood the most malformed monster he had ever seen before. It had an uncanny resemblance to a human with its long feet and opposable thumbs, yet the similarities ended there.
Bone covered its entire body, forming armor more effective than any of the leather its minions wore, converging all around the head where it formed a visorless helmet. At least that’s what Devin thought until the helmet split apart as it snarled, displaying a mouth full of needle-like teeth.
Even without any eyes, the monster faced Devin directly as if it could see him, but neither moved. Both refused to make any large movements and give away an opening, which was fine by Devin as he only had a few more seconds till the end of his cooldown.
10…9…Devin counted, but it was for naught. The ground rumbled underneath Devin’s feet once more. He jumped into the trees just as something broke through the ground.
The bone-covered monster lunged into the air as Devin did, pointing its sharp claws at his chest. Devin responded by using the blue circle to activate his Red Cap that manifested on his head.
The monster’s claws grazed his body as he bent space to teleport even higher, slipping through the gaps between branches. It snarled at him from the ground, knowing exactly where he went despite the bone helmet.
It circled underneath Devin like a predator, waiting for the moment he made a mistake.
The deep scratches it left burned across his chest, but he ignored it, focusing his awareness on his twirling magic circle. 2…1…
Nature’s Elite cooldown is over