I had barely gotten a wink of sleep when the bells rang, jolting me up in bed. Across the small room in her bed, Maggie was woken up as well. Was this a call to arms?

“You need to go Percy,” Maggie said. “Or you’d get in serious trouble again.”

Earlier, she had warned me about a law that required able-bodied men to respond when monsters had made it past the walls.

I got out of bed, but didn’t need to put on any clothing as I had slept fully dressed to keep warm. The remaining firewood had burned away and left the place cold. I took the sword with me without a scabbard for it. Sharp as it was, I feared I’d cut myself by accident. So, I dulled the edges using [Shape Iron] and then hung it on a cord over my back, hidden behind my cloak. Maggie gave me a cloth-wrapped meal for the night before I left.

Outside, the streets were wet from the rain, and the air was damp. I saw other men making their way to the city square, and I followed after.

While walking in the gloom of the night, a thought occurred to me. If there was a time to use the [Call of the Void], it was now when the demons had got inside the city. Dark as it was, they might pounce on me from out of nowhere and I might not get a chance to activate it.

I turned into a dark alleyway, and wondered if this ability was activated in the same way as my other spells. I thought of the ability [Call of the Void] and willed it with my mind. I didn’t expect what came next.

A sudden punch to the gut brought me to my knees. I couldn’t breathe. It lasted for a moment, but left me gasping for air as if winded. My scrawny body of skin and bones had bulged out in muscle making my pants and shirt feel tight. All the aches, pains and fatigue vanished.

Powerful energy coursed through my veins and I felt a vigor like never before. An instinct to hunt enveloped my mind as if a demon woke up inside of me. It scared me. I checked my status screen and smiled. All my attributes had increased from around 50 to 200.

Now we’re talking.

Like putting on a pair of glasses, my vision sharpened, the colors grew vivid. A drop of water fell from the eaves of a building and I could track its movement like never before as if the world had slowed and allowed me more time to react. It splashed to the ground with a sound so crisp I wondered if my ears were clogged before.

The smells had grown rich too – a terrible thing for a place where they dumped their chamber pots in the street. All this must have been the result of my Perception attribute jumping from 48 to 192. I could only imagine what 400 or 800 would feel like.

I rejoined others on the street. They darted their heads at the slightest sounds like harried rats. Some hurried along in groups, shoulders hunched. Whereas I felt like running. I felt like flying. I rushed past them, almost eager to face the monsters. Foolhardy? Sure, but I still had another ace up my sleeve.

[Time Dilation]

* Description: Accelerates the perception of time

* Cast Time: Instant

* Cost: 120 mana

* Duration: 60 seconds

* Cooldown: 10 minutes

* Factor: 4x

* Target: Self

It didn’t take long to reach the city center. It was abuzz with activity. Torches flickered in the darkness, casting long shadows across the cobblestones. A great pyre burned in the center.

The hundred or so of militiamen looked like a hard-working bunch of craftsmen and laborers, and their clothes reflected that. They wore practical garments from rough fabrics, dyed in muted colors of brown, gray, or green. Their clothes had patches and they didn’t appear to be afraid to get them dirty. To the side of the pyre stood a wagon. A man in a shining breastplate was handing out spears from the wagon to militiamen lined before him.

Did I need a spear? I had a sword with me, but a spear had range. Sadly, I didn’t have any experience using either of the two medieval weapons. I got in line and waited.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Who’s the man in charge?” I asked the person in front of me.

He turned and looked at me as if I was asking a dumb question. “That’d be the captain of the lower guard. Declan himself. Ya best behave.”

The line moved fast and soon I was face to face with the captain. I remembered his ugly mug. The same man with a gray beard from the night before. He had mocked me and Maggie. A few of his guardsmen stood by him in chainmail and armed with halberds.

The captain took a spear down from the wagon, held it in his hand and sneered at me. “Well looky here, if it isn’t the yellow-bellied Percy.”

I didn’t say anything, though I wanted to. Gritting my teeth, I reached out for the spear.

He moved it aside, looked at me with disgust. “Use your hook boy. Now, if your sister was here, I’d be happy to give her my special spear.”

The guardsmen around him laughed, and he laughed too. That sent me over the edge. I knew I shouldn’t taunt these assholes, but I just couldn’t help myself. What sort of a man would I be otherwise if I didn't stand up to them?

“Spear? That’s a bold name for a dried up twig.”

The smug look on his face soured in an instant. I could hear the gauntlet’s clicking of metal on metal as he clenched his hand into a fist. He narrowed his eyes, tightened his jaw. The subtle shift in his stance was a dead giveaway. He swung at my face. I leaned and watched his fist fly past over my shoulder. I smirked at his failed attempt.

He growled at the miss, dropped his spear. He came at me with his fists swinging, fast and wild. I danced around him, and all thanks to [Call of the Void.] His movements were quick but sloppy. He wouldn’t let up. With every miss he grew more tired and more angry. Breathing hard, he finally stopped, and unsheathed his sword.

Onlookers gawked and gasped. The random militiamen stared in disbelief, while his men cheered him on to fight. I took a few steps back and pulled at the cord around my neck to untie the knot. My sword slid down and I caught it, held it at my side. I didn’t like how the situation got out of hand, but it couldn’t be helped -- he only had himself to blame for it.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked him.

He eyed the sword in my hand and his upper lip curled up. “Where’d a punk like you get a steel sword? Who’d you steal it from?”

“I didn’t steal it,” I said.

He pointed at me. “I’ll find out boy, you be sure of that.”

“Go ahead and waste your time.”

“Oh, I’m going-”

A howling in the distance had everyone turning heads. More of the bestial howls followed as if to answer the first. A panic surged through the militia.

“To arms!” Declan shouted.

The guardsmen ran to unload the wagon, pulling out whole stacks of spears. The militia mobbed the wagon, shoving and yelling. Those who were armed moved to the pyre, lined up on the south side of it, shoulder to shoulder.

I watched captain Declan and his guardsmen with care and wouldn’t let them out of my sight. The sort of a man to throw a sucker punch wouldn’t hesitate to stab me in the back during a chaotic battle.

I waited to the side, scanning the area. There was one thing I couldn’t understand. Why had everyone gathered in an open area of a city square instead of on top of the city walls?

The answer to my question appeared as soon as I wondered. A movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention. At the roof, an outline of a vicious looking creature emerged, claws sticking in the shingles.

The demons could climb, and we were the bait.

I didn’t like it, but it sort of made sense. Why spread out and run around the city when you could lure the hungry demons to a group of humans? Poor, juicy and expandable humans. I didn’t see any rich folk among them.

I hid the sword on a cord behind my cloak, grabbed a spear off the wagon and joined others. Captain Declan and his dozen guardsmen took up position behind the militiamen. I steered to the left side of the pyre, but kept an eye out for him.

If there was a time and place for armor – against the claws and the teeth on the monsters skirting the roofs – this was it. Sadly, I had nothing, and neither did militiamen except for a few in leather and padded vests.

All the while, more and more of the hideous forms slipped in and out of sight. I counted over a dozen and those were just the ones I could see. The quarter moon, half hidden behind clouds, didn’t do us any favors with its dim light. No doubt the darkness hid many more monsters still. Were they waiting for more of their number to show and grow bold? How intelligent were these creatures?

The militiamen grew frightened by the minute. They pulled in closer together, whispering prayers. A few of the older militiamen had kept their calm, but the younger ones clutched their spears with a white-knuckle grip, stared out into the shadows with eyes unblinking. I’d seen this before – we weren’t prepared.

I mentally noted the escape routes.