The Major had taken them along the Fraser highway before swinging south. As soon as they were three blocks away, Tom, Ignis, Alex, and Starkiller sped ahead, flying over Kwantlen ahead of the army to buy them a little time to set up.
Down below, the goblins swarmed over the university like an ant colony. Tom focused on the enrollment building. Even without the skills to directly see or sense mana, he could practically see the blood mana coming from the building. Tom had sent paper airplanes floating down into the university for the last two minutes. They hadn't exploded; they landed inconsistently around anything that looked important.
"So how am I supposed to find this Seraphiel anyway?" Starkiller asked.
"Follow the ice arrows back to their source," Tom said. "If he doesn't start shooting at us, he'll be shooting at Abaddon."
"And if he doesn't show up?" Starkiller asked.
"I don't know. Kill the blood mage, then?" Tom muttered, unsure. "Are they in position yet?"
Starkiller looked back to the supermarket, where Adams and everyone else were erecting earthen walls, wooden barricades, and vehicles as defences.
"They're about to be spotted. Never mind, they have been spotted. They're about to take a pounding." Starkiller said.
"Well, then, it's my turn then," Tom said with a snap of his fingers. Every inscribed paper airplane Tom had been planting around the university exploded, and more importantly, so did the paper scrolls that Skippy had left in the area.
BOOOOM!!!!
DING!!!
Regional Quest Update
Destroy or Capture the Bloodstone: 0/1
Destroy the Gate: 1/1
Tom smiled. Without the gate, they wouldn't be getting any more reinforcements. Of course, they could rebuild the gate, so it was a temporary fix.
Goblin screams rose in the air as the flames spread throughout the university. Alex went next. As she unleashed as many fireballs as she could, the spells rained down on the university like flaming rain. They weren't technically trying to kill anyone. They were trying to set the place on fire.
That was when a blue arrow whizzed up to them from somewhere in the university, directly passing through Alex's heart as she shifted into an ephemeral form and back again. The first arrow passed through her body without hurting her, but the second arrow smashed into Alex's Mana shell, shattering it and punching into her stomach, nearly knocking her off her broomstick.
"ALEX!!" Tom screamed as he caught her with a healing spell already in his hands.
"Starkiller," he growled as the arrow in Alex's stomach melted into water before he could even touch it.
"Got him." Starkiller dived towards the KPU library.
Ignis was moving close behind the mercenary. The pyromancer was already manipulating the flames, pushing them to burn hotter and brighter as he added his own flames to the mix. All of Kwantlen University was quickly going up in flames.
Alex spat out blood as the injuries in her stomach closed.
"Holy shit!!" she swore immediately, recasting her personal force field. "Wasn't expecting two arrows. Next time, you can be the bait."
"Yeah, okay, let's get back to Abaddon. The main show is about to start," Tom said as the blood magic started to twist and writhe. It looks like we woke up sleeping beauty."
Then, a massive pulse of blood mana washed out from the enrollment building.
"Gottcha," Tom muttered as he activated the three thousand scrolls he placed on every member of his army.
DING!!!
You have granted 3549 people Magic Resistance.
DING!!!
You have been afflicted with: [Vasoconstriction].
You have resisted: [Vasoconstriction]
2989 people have restricted: [Vasoconstriction]
Not perfect. But he was above 50%, so he considered it a win.
He had already given everyone a [Scroll of Cleansing] produced by his scribe guild and a [Scroll of Healing].
Tom and Alex retreated to the supermarket as the army opened fire. Bullets, spells and arrows rocketed into the mass anthill of green. It wasn't enough to do more than a dent. But it was enough to get the attention of the northern mass of goblins.
As they descended, Tom saw Luke's Calverley charge coming up from the south.
----------------------------------------
Tom and Alex flew over to the roof where the major was waiting.
"Think I kicked the hive hard enough?" Tom asked.
"You think?!" The Major asked. "Mages, get ready. Aim for the trolls and clusters of goblins, riflemen, aim for the mages."
The goblins erupted from Kwantlen in a wave of angry screaming. They were packed together like sardines but moved like a single entity.
"1st mage core Fire!!" the Major ordered, flinging a fireball into the goblin's midst.
Fireballs, Volt bombs, Wind Bombs, Light bombs, and other high-energy spells soared into the ranks of the goblins. Explosions ripped through the ranks of the goblins, killing hundreds in the first moments. Small pockets of goblins survived behind mana or elemental shields. Quickly enough, the goblins were racing over the corpses of their fallen without a thought as the shamans pushed them forwards.
But then the rifleman opened fire. Tom had wondered how bullets would interact with the magical shields, so he, Alex, and the Major ran some quick tests. It turned out bullets worked exceptionally well against magical shields.
Multiple bullets ripped right through the magic defences; many of the shields were little better than glass, and few of them were actually worse. Better still, as the goblin shamans died, their shields and spells dispersed, leaving their forces vulnerable to the next volley of spells.
Unfortunately, they didn't get all the goblins. Alex had discovered two types of highly effective shields against gunfire: physical earthen walls and water shields. Most of the shamans who utilized those two shield types survived the initial barrage of gunfire, and their shields remained intact.
"2nd Mage Core Fire," the Major called out. This time, he flung a Water Bomb into the army of goblins.
Water bombs, Frost Bombs, Rock Bombs, Dark bombs, and other low-energy spells soared into the ranks of the goblins. Tom and Major Adams had discussed this. Another change from Noralon was that some magic spells would interfere with each other.
In the game, if you got hit by a fire bomb and a frost bomb, you took the damage from both. Now, the blast from two opposing elements cancels each other out. So, the Major had divided the mages into two cores based on their magic types to ensure their attacks didn't interfere with each other. More importantly, it gave the mages time to recharge their mana.
Once again, the explosion devastated the goblin ranks. Not even the trolls got off lightly when they were hit with multiple explosions. The remaining Shamans switched to using only earthen and water-based shields as they started returning fire from cover. Magic shields sprouted up on the roofs, but some people were hit and sent screaming to the ground, only for Tom or someone else to walk over and give them a heal.
"How long can you guys keep this up?" Tom asked the Major as he monitored their defences.
The entrances to the supermarket area were covered with dirt, metal, and wood. But if the goblins got behind their lines, they were dead.
"Ask me later. We're still in the early stages," Major Adams warned him as he launched another fireball into the ranks of goblins.
Tom nodded, moving over to what he saw as the weakest part of their defences. The barricade they had set up to prevent the goblins from cutting them off was being slammed, and the goblins' bodies slammed into the shields of the defenders.
"Hold the line!!" Chester ordered as he stabbed a goblin through the head with a bayonet.
Duncan's crew was already firing off ballista bolts, and Lt. Chester was having the mages launch spell bombs into the ranks of goblins just like the Major. However, unlike the Majors, Chester was struggling to hold his line as the goblins crashed into them. People were stumbling back from the goblin's ruthless attack. Some of them went down under a pile of goblins, and the line threatened to break.
Tom was about to intervene when Abaddon leapt over Chester's shield wall, crashing into the goblin horde. The goblins immediately turned from Chester and focused on Abaddon, giving Chester time to pull back his wounded and reinforce the line with people better able to handle it.
As for Abaddon.
"Ha ha ha ha. I missed this," Abaddon cheered as he punched a goblin into jelly.
His every punch splattered a goblin, and despite the little bugger's best attempts, they had no chance to actually hold Abaddon down. The guy was strong enough to toss even the trolls around. What few attacks managed to get through Abaddon's thick scales, bleeding all over the goblin, giving them a lethal dose of poison before the injury regenerated without leaving a scratch.
"Abaddon," Tom called out as he launched a few paper airplanes into the goblin's ranks.
"What?!" Abaddon called out, not even turning to look at him as he ripped a troll apart with his bare hands.
"We need to draw out the [Bloodmage]!! It's time to go big!!!" Tom ordered.
Abaddon didn't say anything, but he started to grow. He grew from eight feet tall to a staggering thirty-five feet tall. Now, he wasn't punching goblins; he just stepped on them. Doubling down on showing off even further, Abaddon activated his taunting skill.
"[Fe-fi-fo-fum]" Abaddon roared.
It wasn't the best taunting skill. But it made up for it in its ability to break stealth and sneak and marking the location of every enemy on their map.
Regardless, the effect was immediate. Every goblin turned their attention towards Abaddon, and any that missed the thirty-five-foot-tall lizards was forced to pay attention when he activated the taunt skill. One and all started attacking him. This immediately relieved the pressure on every other member of their army, allowing them to attack the goblins with almost no regard for their defences.
Tom cast greater mend on Abaddon as the injuries rapidly piled up. Not even Abaddon's heavy focus on defence and regeneration would keep him going for long against hundreds of enemies.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Chester was too busy fixing his line to attack, but Major Adams and Alex did their best to reduce the number of goblins as quickly as they could.
Abaddon picked up a deserted car and tossed it at the KPU recreation centre, where the blood magic emanated.
In his opening throw, the vehicle smashed into the building, taking most of the roof off. Abaddon didn't stop there; he grabbed two more vehicles and pelted the building with them.
That seemed to have gotten the [Bloodmage]s' attention, as all of the blood in their surroundings rose up into the air and gathered into the recruitment centre. At the same time, Abaddon called out, and a massive familiar red glow of a [Strike of Desolation] erupted from the building.
[Strike of Desolation] - Epic
[Strike of Desolation]: You sacrifice part of your life force to unleash a powerful blast of life energy at your foe; the more HP you sacrifice, the stronger the blast. This skill can be used to augment any other attack skill. Alternatively, you can force an ally or summon to pay the price on a successful Ego check.
"[Moment of Immortality]," Abaddon roared as he took a horse stance.
The red blast of blood magic slammed into Abaddon's torso like a giant laser beam as it tried and failed to get past the [Moment of Immortality]'s ten seconds of invincibility. Abaddon didn't waste any time as he launched himself at the rehabilitation centre. His massive hands dug into the building as he tried to smash the building open and kill the [Bloodmage].
The beam cut off as Abaddon ripped apart the building's roof and dug through the rubble with no regard for the structure's integrity.
Tom checked the quest. No such luck the [Bloodmage] was alive.
A bloody arm ripped through the building and knocked Abaddon backwards as soon as Abaddon's invincibility ended. Abaddon was knocked into someone's house. His oversized form crushed the building.
Tom and Alex took flight as a fifty-foot-tall bat emerged from the ruins of the rehabilitation centre. Its entire body was made out of liquid blood, and its form was undulating and shifting as it moved. It was less a bat and more of a blood slime in the shape of a bat.
DING!!!
Region Quest Update: The Blood Goblin Horde
Defeat Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch
"Well, I'm glad warfare in Noralon didn't change," Tom said. "Everyone's playing their parts to perfection. Alex, how many times can you use [Mana Supersession]?"
Alex shrugged. "Only two. But I don't need it anymore. I evolved to the [Arcanist] class and grabbed the [Mana Overload] skill."
Tom grinned. [Mana Overload] was the cornerstone of Alex's playstyle. It would keep increasing Alex's mana regeneration every second until it killed her. Still, until that happened, she could dump a truly stupid amount of spells on a target, enough to even compete with a bloodstone.
"That's great. If [Mana Supersession] doesn't work, that's a good plan … We just need skippy to ---"
As Tom's words trailed off, Skippy's voice cut through the noise.
"[Tyrants Die] and [Tyranny Falls]!!!"
DING!!!
Skippy has used [Tyrants Die] on Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch
Skippy has used [Tyranny Falls] on Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch
Raid boss: Shana-gu,l the Sanguine Monarch Armour has been reduced to 0
Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch defensive items have been disabled
Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch skill [Reborn from Blood], has been disabled
Raid boss: Shana-gu,l the Sanguine Monarch skill [FLEE!!!] has been disabled
Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch party, has been disbanded. All Leadership and Champion archetype skills have been disabled.
Raid boss: Shana-gul, the Sanguine Monarch, has lost all buffs that were not applied by his own person.
The effect was immediate. The goblins' almost unnatural coordination disappeared instantly. Small pockets of goblins clearly still had [party leaders], as those groups maintained order like stones in a sea of chaos.
Shana-gul's giant blood bat shuddered as it turned around, looking for skippy. It didn't get far before Abaddon activated [Charge]. He slammed into the blood bat before activating [Close Combat]. Every single one of Abaddon's punches left spider web-like cracks across the blood bat's body. The soul damage from [Siegebreaker] left stress points damaged to the magical matrix that maintained the blood bat.
Shana-gul wouldn't be able to repair the damage unless he dismissed it and recreated the blood bat, which would be extremely expensive. Even better, it meant that maintaining the blood bat would become more expensive, making it even more susceptible to more damage.
Shana-gul was clearly aware of all of that as it picked up the much smaller Abaddon and slammed it into the building. The blood bat leapt upon Abaddon, its claws piercing into his body as it unfurled its wings. With an almost disturbing ease, it lifted Abaddon into the air.
"Greater Heal," Tom cast on Abaddon as he was slammed into the roof of one of the remaining buildings.
The bat rose into the air and slammed Abaddon down to the ground. Abaddon grabbed onto the blood bat, rolling off of the building and sending them both tumbling onto the ground. Abaddon's body slammed the bat into the ground.
Alex flew down as Abaddon was getting thrown off and fired off a half dozen buffs on Abaddon.
"Draconic Power, Bull's Strength, Enduring Mountain, Lions Courage, Spell Guard," she chanted.
Abaddon slugged the blood bat with a [Giga impact] as Tom and Alex flew in. Tom pulled out a complete set of six paper airplanes, sending them flying forwards while Alex activated [Mana Supersession] again.
Alex fired off Fire Lance after Fire Lance. Each spell penetrated Shana-gul before exploding in a burst of flames. Tom noted that every time they damaged the blood bat, it got a little bit smaller as more of its body became unusable.
Tom's own spells were less spectacular, but Shana-gul was clearly having more trouble anticipating and dodging his attacks.
Seemingly done with their shit Shana-gul lunged at Abaddon, tackling him to the ground before leaning down on top of Abaddon, its bloody bat fangs punching into Abaddon's arm as he began to drink him.
"Yeah, good job. Choke on my blood!!!" Abaddon roared as the blood bat shredded his arm down to the bone, and it chugged his blood.
Abaddon didn't let the blood bat drink him for free. He was pounding away at the blood bat before it started to reel backwards as it started to shrink even more. Abaddon's toxic blood wreaked havoc on the blood bat's structure.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is Hydra's blood not to your liking?" Abaddon shouted as he shoved the shrinking blood bat off of his body with a [Giga-Impact]. The blood bat was knocked off. Abaddon slowly rose to his feet, his savaged arm already healing itself thanks to his bloodline.
"Alright then, let's finish this, you oversiz -- SHIT," Abaddon's monologue was cut off as Frost spread out over his body at a rapid pass, quickly consuming his body.
Another arrow slammed into his broken arm and exploded into shards of ice, taking off the arm and sending shrapnel through Tom's Wing.
"Fucking Starkiller, you had one job!!!!" Tom swore as he fell out of the sky. The wind whistling past him went from the freezing winter air to the blistering heat of an inferno as he crashed into the ground with a crunch.
Tom felt both his legs break on impact as the flames singed his body.
"FUuuuuuCK!" Tom screamed out in agony as blood pooled around him.
His HP was down to just 12% just from a fifty-foot fall. Tom looked down at his legs, almost afraid to look. He was immediately justified in his fears. His legs were mangled meat with chunks of bone sticking out of them. His lower body was radiating agony, and if the wetness in the front of his pants was anything to go by, he was pretty sure he had lost control of his bladder.
Tom threw up at the sight of his mangled body before he finally gathered himself enough to cast greater mend.
"FUCK!!" Tom swore as the spell forced the bone shards back into his body before it started to knit them back together, restoring his bones. It turns out that having your shattered bones shoved back into your body and fusing back into a proper femur was excruciatingly painful. Tom threw up as he lost control of his bowels.
Even as his body repaired itself, he was covered in blood, shit, piss and vomit. His clothing was in tatters. He was gulping for every breath as his lungs burned.
Even when the Greater Mend spell ended, he was a bloody mess, and his status suggested his bones were in a fragile state, so he cast Greater Mend again.
This time, the wounds closed up, and his legs were restored to something close to peak condition. They still fucking hurt. That was when Tom noticed his paper armour was on fire. He immediately stashed the armour and the remnants of his wings into his inventory before casting a water shield to protect himself from the fire and a lesser heal to restore his HP.
Tom rose on shaky legs that threatened to give out if he moved too fast. He tried to survey the situation doing his best to ignore the burns, the fires all around him, his legs screaming in agony and all the blood and piss stains on his pants.
Abaddon wasn't in a good position. His entire body was peppered with ice arrows, he was shivering uncontrollably, and his regeneration had been all but halted. At this point, he was barely moving. Shana-gul spread his wings, and a pulse of blood magic echoed through the area. All of the blood that had been spilled since the fight began rose up into the air and rushed into the blood bat's body.
Shana-gul's blood bat grew and grew. It passed its original height of fifty feet and pushed all the way up to a hundred feet tall. Shana-gul kicked Abaddon's body into the enrollment centre. The blow had enough force that Abaddon was thrown into the building, which promptly collapsed on top of him. Worse, Abaddon didn't die, so [Second Stage] Didn't trigger.
"Well … shit," Tom muttered as the blood bat turned to him. "Starkiller, I'm getting a refund."
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Tom Bruner
Race: Half-Elf ()
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 20
SubRace: High Elf / Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 1000
Stamina: 1400
Mana: 4000
Health Regen: 14.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 18.0 per min
Mana Regen: 24.0 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths, Guild Master
Immune
None
Resistances
Mental 70% Soul 43%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Augur 10, Tactiction 3, Exorcist 7
Total
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Base
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Personal: +4 PER +4 WILL +3 INT +3 CHA
Racial: +3 WILL +2 CON +2 CHA +1 SPIRIT
Bloodline: +5 PER +5 INT
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Keeper of Akashic Records]—Forgotten: Through your vein runs the blood of the forgotten Keepers of the Akashic Records. These monks, scribes, and scholars helped create the system, and within their blood are the keys to its secrets.
* [The Pen is Mightier than the Sword] - Level 32
* [Words Will Always Retain their Power] - Level 26
* [Library of Akashic Records] - Level 22
* [Universal] - Level 26
* [Wordsmith] - Level 30 >> Level 31
* [My Mind is My Temple, My Soul the Altar] - Level 43
* [Thirst for Knowledge] - Level 19
* [Visions of Akashic Records] - Level 11
* [Soul Forge] - Level 30 >> Level 31
* +5 PER per level
* +5 INT per level
Skill Slots: 25/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
* [Analyze Person] - Level 28
* [Best of Both Worlds] - Level 14
* [Art of Water] - Level 16
* [Art of Earth] - Level 16
* [Teacher] - Level 15
* [Misalliance Crafting] - Level 6
* [Mana-Infused Weapon] - Level 6
* [Basic Swords] - Level 15
* [Flyte] - Level 6
Augur 07/16
* [Augurs Eye] - Level 7
* [Bright Arts] - Level 32
* [Art of Life] - Level 27
* [Prophetic Meditation] - Level 44 >> Level 49
* [Far Seeing] - Level 17 >> Level 20
* Capstone: [Hand of Mercy] - Level 48 >> Level 50
* [Quest Giver] - Level 12
Tactician 05/6
* [Nascent Guild Leader] - Level 25
* [Leadership Ⅱ] - Level 27
* [Raider Ⅰ] - Level 26
* [Coordinate Ⅱ] - Level 24
* [Logistics Ⅲ] - Level 21
Exorcist 05/11
* [Spell Trap] - Level 4
* [Karmic Contract] - Level 10 >> Level 18
* [Shape Paper] - Level 13
* [Paper Armour] - Level 9
* [Paper Wings] - Level 7