“The Sky Blade?” Nathen asked, “the legendary weapon? I know I chose to go after it because it seemed like a good, fun goal, but is it really that important?”
“It is,” Kalasen assured him, “it is key that someone take control of the blade.”
“Haven’t there been other wielders in the past?”
“Yes, but none have controlled it.”
“What?” Nathen asked, feeling more confused than ever.
“I can’t tell you more than that,” the god sighed, “I’d love to, but I am literally bound such that I can’t speak on it.”
“Can you at least guide me to the vault thing that stores it?”
“Yes, in fact only the blessed can locate the vault.”
“This is why you read the lore,” Nathen chastised himself.
“Indeed,” Kalasen chuckled in his ear, “when you are ready head north from here and I shall guide you.”
“Not sure I have the money to buy more supplies,” commented Nathen, “I left most of them back in that village, at least I brought my sword.”
“I expect you’ll be able to make the required coin rapidly if you go to the north-west side of the city,” suggested the god, “my strength fades, go, bring your blade.”
Before Nathen could respond the world crawled back into motion around him, allowing him to take a deep breath. Something had changed once more, immediately after his facet broke it had felt like he was seeing the world for the first time. It was as if someone had turned up the contrast, colors had been more vivid, the cold more biting. He’d been slowly growing used to that assault on his senses, but now things had dulled down, no longer was the sun glinting in the newly cleaned windows blinding, merely bright.
Pulling up his character screen the Gaming facet said it ‘reduced sensory intensity,’ perhaps to make it feel more like he was watching himself through a screen. A spiritual barrier he’d placed on himself to reinforce the delusion, now that the facet had shattered all bonuses were inverted, according to the window. That meant the intensity of his senses had been increased and would remain like that until the facet was fully cleared. How, exactly, that worked he had no idea, but he felt on an instinctual level that it would happen. Facets were both part of him and something he inflicted on himself, as his mind cleared so too would the shattered backlash of his delusion.
Taking another breath, Nathen dropped the broom and ran for his room, where he’d left his sword. Minutes later he emerged once more, wearing his battered leather armor and sword at his hip. Glancing at the mess he’d left he promised himself that he’d return and clean it up soon. He’d have told the old priestess, but she was nowhere to be seen. Not wanting to waste time, he took off at a jog, leaving the temple behind.
From within the neighboring temple of happiness the high priestess listened as the sound of his steps faded. Calmly she returned to her own temple, using her scepter to ensure she didn’t trip over any tools the young man had left behind.
“I’m still not sure if he’s the right one for the job,” she said, seemingly to herself, as she stood next to the altar where the stone compass rested.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid,” she continued, “but the road you showed him isn’t one anyone can walk.”
For a long moment she stood, the only sound in the temple the slow flickering of the candles upon the alter and the occasional drip as the windows dried.
“Don’t act all weak either,” she chastised, smacking the base of the altar with her scepter, “you may not have many adherents but most desire you, there’s no risk of you fading any time soon.”
After another moment of silence she chuckled and sighed.
“Fine, be that way you old koot.”
\*\*\*\*
“There’s at least a hundred following us,” Kyle said as he and everyone else walked alongside their tired horses. Throughout the day and night they’d fled south east towards Templeholm, whenever they had a good lead they’d dismount and walk rather than ride to extend the endurance of their mounts. With the sun rising they were hours from the towering city and the refuge it promised.
“A hundred?” one of the knight asked in shock.
“They’re grouped up and at the limit of my senses,” Kyle added, “makes it hard to get an exact count.”
“Are we certain this isn’t the main host of the Mutts?” the knight asked.
“No,” Lex shook her head, “the main host will be many times that number. Still, this is a worrying large number for what we thought was the vanguard.”
“Seems we really pissed them off,” Kyle smirked.
“No,” Lex repeated, “that’s not it.”
“Something wrong?” Gregory asked.
“I looked through the records of past incursions by the Mutts, as one of the great threats encounters with them are well documented.”
“Those little dog things are one of the great threats?”
“Yes, most incurring hordes of theirs are, relatively, weak and small, numbering in the hundreds, maybe a couple thousand. But the reason they became one of the great threats is because occasionally they amass in far greater numbers. Tens of thousands or more,” she explained, “when they gather like that they are always led by a… the records call it a Grand Mutt. One who is to the regular Mutt what Ascenders are to the average man.”
“Is that happening?” one of the knights listening in asked in a hushed, almost fearful tone.
“I don’t know,” Lex admitted, “just worried by the large vanguard.”
“Well, hope everyone enjoyed story time,” Kyle spoke up, “but it’s probably time to ride again.”
“Horses won’t handle much more,” the leader of the knights said, though he still moved to get back into the saddle, “at least it isn’t much further.”
With little more discussion they all climbed back atop the mounts and matched the pace Kyle set, trusting him to go slow enough the horses wouldn’t die while still outpacing their pursuers. Gregory had little experience with horses, before he came to this world he’d never ridden one, so he didn’t know how much endurance the animals had. But even he could tell the mounts were struggling as they approached the walls of Templeholm.
It didn’t help when the Mutts, clearly having caught sight of them, began yipping and barking. The horses they road were trained war horses, but after nearly a full 24 hours on the move even they began to panic at the sounds. It didn’t help that their riders had been without rest for just as long.
Gregory managed to keep it together until he figured he was a hundred meters from the wall, he could clearly see the city guard in their bright armor forming up outside the gates. But he was the first to go down, his mount stumbling over itself and falling forward. The horse caught itself on its knees long enough to bounce Gregory from the saddle, sending him crashing to the ground. In a panic the horse scrambled up before Gregory could recover and attempted to bolt, only to collapse once more barely ten meters later.
“Gregory!” Lex shouted, struggling to control her own mount long enough to jump off it. Kyle was the fastest out of the saddle, reaching for his bow as he landed. One by one the other knights all either dismounted or were forced to jump off their horses, all the animals seeming to decide to panic at once.
“Can you stand?” Lex asked, scrambling to pull Gregory to his feet.
“I’m fine, just dazed,” he said as he accepted her help.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“You might want to run!” Kyle shouted, firing an arrow in the direction they’d come from. As if he needed another reminder the baying of the Mutts only seemed to grow louder.
Even as he began running he knew they wouldn’t reach the gate before the Mutts did, he’d seen how fast they could move when motivated. Thankfully he could see more people emerging from the gates, a half dozen wearing the shining steel armor of the temple guard and slightly fewer in the dark leathers of Slayer Knights. He knew the Slayer Knights were staying in the Nothern part of the city for exactly this kind of situation, but he had no idea how long it would take them to get ready. Clearly some were already geared up and ready to fight, but most would be resting or preparing for another mission.
He sensed danger approaching him before he felt the Mutt through his aura, even slowed by exhaustion Gregory managed to duck and roll as a Mutt attempted to tackle him from behind. Springing back to his feet he kicked the surprised beast as it recovered, buying him time to run past it. All around him the first monsters were reaching the other knights. Kyle was their obvious focus, but even tired he was still fast enough to avoid their feral attacks.
Lex was also doing well, no doubt thanks to her own blessing warning her of danger. However one knight wasn’t as lucky, screaming as he was pinned belly down on the ground while a monster savaged his armor, eager to draw blood.
“Stop!” Gregory shouted at the Mutt, a blue mist enveloping the beast and holding it in place as he charged, stabbing his spear into its side. The impact, combined with the frozen state of the monster, caused it to tumble off the injured Knight. Not bothering to retrieve his spear that was stuck deep in the monster’s flank, he grabbed the man and dragged him to his feet. Blood ran down the man’s sides where the claws of the dog-like beast had gotten through the thick leathers he wore, but he didn’t seem seriously injured.
Unfortunately, their situation seemed to only be getting worse, with every delay more and more Mutts reached them. The only upside was the lack of coordination in the monsters, true to their wolfen nature they were more interested in gathering around any prey that one of their own managed to get to the ground than ensuring no one escaped. Not even the horses that had failed to get away were safe, screaming in pain and terror as the monsters jumped on their flanks to sink their teeth and claws into the easy prey.
It wasn’t all bad, however, as the first of the reinforcements from the city arrived, not even a dozen men surged into the battle. Still that nearly doubled their number, not to mention that these men were fresh and well-armed. The Temple guard brandished halberds that bore a variety of holy symbols, the only point of non-uniformity among them.
Even with the assistance pushing the monsters back temporarily they made very little progress towards the city and the safety it represented. There were simply too many Mutts pouring in. Kyle had quickly run out of what few arrows he had left, forcing him to switch to a pair of daggers which, despite his clear skill, were of little use due to the ongoing effects of the marks upon him. Gregory was even less help, lacking a weapon. As such he used his aura when he could to try and open a path back towards the city, but just like the fight before his aura took too long to recover after the strain of stopping an entire enemy.
With a scream and a crash a temple guard landed hard on the ground near where Gregory stood, a pair of Mutts managing to pull the man off his feet and pounce atop him. The guard, likely panicking, discarded his halberd to grab at one of the mutts piling on him, struggling to push it off. Acting on instinct Gregory grabbed the fallen weapon and, treating it like a spear, stabbed the nearest of the two Mutts with it. It was heavier than he was used to but with his great strength it didn’t throw him off that much. The monster screamed in pain as Gregory took a more secure hold on the weapon and ripped it down and back, the tip of the weapon digging into the flesh of the wolf creature and dragging it off the fallen guard. As the point of the halberd came free Gregory spun it, the Mutt now too close to reliably stab and, in accordance with his training he attempted to smack it with the haft of the weapon. Only this wasn’t a spear, and the axe head of the halberd dug into the Mutt’s neck, slamming it into the ground.
Tugging the weapon free Gregory was going to help the still fallen guard when he felt another Mutt coming his way, weaving through the melee looking for easy prey. Nathen attempted to repeat the early success, stabbing out with the tip of the halberd, but here the increased weight slowed him enough that the angry monster managed to dodge under the weapon and lunge at him. Sharp canines sunk into his forearm as he instinctively tried to block the attack. Despite its speed the Mutt was much lighter than Gregory and he managed to avoid being toppled over, sliding a foot back to stabilize himself. Before he could counter, however, the Mutt pulled hard, yanking him forward and off balance.
If it weren’t for the feral growling and sharp teeth stuck in the leather sleeves covering his arm it might have looked like he was playing tug of war with the Mutt as it used all four of its legs to pull. Gregory knew if he hit the ground it would be hard to get up as more Mutts were arriving every moment. Struggling to plant his feet he pulled back against the monster, too caught up in maintaining his balance to think about counter attacking with the halberd he still held in his other hand.
A spear landed in the side of the Mutt grappling him with a thud, causing it to lose grip and Gregory to pull his arm free. A single strike from the halberd finished the wounded creature off just in time for Lex to arrive and retrieve her spear.
“Thanks,” Gregory panted.
Lex barely had time to nod before they were accosted by another blood hungry Mutt. Between the two of them they were able to make decent progress at clearing a safe space, allowing more men to gather. But with each Mutt they cut down the next seemed faster, more agile and tougher. He knew it was their mark stacking up on everyone, and it was only a matter of time before they were overrun. Despite their frail, almost comical appearance, Gregory was beginning to realize why these creatures were one of the great threats to man in this world. Normal tactics against massed enemies simply didn’t work on them due entirely to the mark. Funneling them into a narrow space would work for a while, but unless you had the numbers to rotate the front ranks out as the marks built they would still overwhelm even the most entrenched position.
That such a small thing could be so impactful both scared and angered Gregory. His only useful ability was an aura that could, once every ten minutes or so, stop an enemy in their tracks. If limited himself to body parts or weapons he could use it more often but it still felt weak compared to the stacking marks of the Mutts. He could barely keep up with Lex who seemed to only have her training.
Everyone said he should be strong, and physically he felt stronger than he ever had, but that was like simply being fit and healthy when those around you were superhuman. It still left him feeling weak. And he hated it.
Surely there was some way to use this Vituss stuff to his advantage? It was supposed to be like magic, though apparently not actually magic, so why couldn’t he use it? Super speed, flight, he’d take shooting laser beams at this point. What was the point of these powers if he felt so weak?
His frustrations came to a head when the head of his halberd bounced off the flesh of a mutt Lex had set up for him. Whether it was because of the mark sapping his strength, or the weapon growing dull, he didn’t know and didn’t care. He simply screamed, unleashing his anger as if demanding the Mutt die of its own accord.
With a flash and a crack something shot into the Mutt’s flank from over his shoulder, bursting with enough force to send the beast tumbling over the ground, crashing into several of its companions. It took Gregory a moment to realize he’d done that, only catching on as a new window appeared in front of him.
\-\-\-\-\-
*NEW ABILITY:* Vital blast
Those who survive your assault may wish they hadn’t.
-For every attack against a target you build up energy
-Release all built up energy in a blast of energy into your last struck enemy
\-\-\-\-\-
Gregory grinned, retaking his combat stance, this was more like it. Stabbing at the next Mutt to approach him, the point of the halberd wasn’t much more effective than if it was but a dull tip, but it knocked the beast off balance and built energy Gregory unleashed in another flash of light. The results, however, were disappointing, barely pushing the Mutt back slightly, far from sending it tumbling. No doubt the accursed marks were stealing strength from the attack, but it should have been more effective.
His grin faded somewhat as he realized this new ability would require some setup, one attack wasn’t enough to build enough energy to release. He needed to experiment, fortunately he had plenty of targets to practice on.
Unfortunately, they weren’t about to cooperate.
Despite that he quickly learned that the blast required a number of attacks to build up into something as potent as his first. He also had little control of its aim, the blast always aimed directly at the last target he’d struck, even if he’d simply brushed another mutt without realizing it.
The strength of the hit also contributed to how much energy he gained, stronger blows gave more energy while weak ones gave him little. It was hardly an instant win skill, but Gregory was determined to make the best use of it he could. Sadly, he thought to himself as he looked up, he might not have much time to do so. There were so many Mutts they had surrounded him and the other survivors. Nearly a third of their number had fallen and no one was uninjured, even Gregory could feel the blood dripping from the bite wound in his arm, not to mention a dozen minor scratches covering his legs and hands.
More reinforcements had arrived from the city but they were stuck on the other side of a mass of wolf-like monsters. Many of the first Mutts to arrive had been armed only with their teeth and claws, seemingly having discarded them in favor of speed, but the later ones were armed with crude spears clubs and axes. Dozens of mutts lay dead, but the surviving mutts only grew stronger with better arms while the humans grew weaker with every kill they made.
Then Gregory caught sight of a figure he hadn’t expected. He wore simple leather armor distinct from either the city guard or slayer knights that made up the majority of the human combatants. Wielding a long sword in two hands he seemed to flow through the Mutts, almost dancing as his blade lashed out leaving a trail of maimed and wounded beasts in his wake. How could he kill so many and still be going strong, Gregory wondered, stunned by the sight, only to realize the man wasn’t killing the Mutts. He severed limbs, cut deep into muscles and left them bleeding on the ground, but not dead. In doing so he avoided accruing marks, leaving the crippled, helpless monsters to be finished off by those following in his wake.
In a matter of moments, the man made it to the ring of injured men and began cutting a swath around them, forcing the mutts back. With no marks to rob his strength and seemingly superhuman speed he cut through the monsters, coming to a stop in front of Gregory.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Nathen said with a wide grin.