Adam woke with a start. He was laying in his bed, drenched in sweat. He blinked in the darkness. Kyra wasn’t in bed with him. He felt to his left, where she normally lay, and found it cool to the touch. He had either been asleep for a day or more, or it was still the same night. Then Carl’s presence registered from his memory and he bolted up, fists at the ready. It took a long moment for the rest of the meeting with the creepy little man to play out in his head, and he relaxed.
“How long have I been out?”
The question bounced around in his mind while he got dressed. He wasn’t sure how the encounter had ended, but seeing as he was still alive, with access to the settlement stone, it had ended peacefully. Stepping through the heavy curtain into the night air, he found the settlement awash in light and fraught with activity. He caught a passing man by the shoulder, shocked to find a pair of short horns jutting from his forehead.
“Hey, uh, what’s going on?”
“Haven’t you heard? The settlement is about to level up, and we’re going to get attacked when it does.”
The man hurried off. Adam looked around, seeing people moving equipment around in crates and barrels. There was a hut being erected as he watched, which then had a caduceus- a staff with twin wood snakes winding up it- put over the entrance. He nodded in approval. People were already manning the walls, often wielding spears or bows. There was even a crossbow, which surprised him. That was the most complex machine he had seen in weeks.
Finally, he spotted the calm in the storm. At the center stood three women, all talking with a half-dozen people each. Kyra was only visible because she stood on a box, presumably to get a better view of the activity. On her left stood Liz, nearly even in height despite the size of the box, and on the right was Raven. The women appeared to be working together so well, it was like watching clockwork.
Kyra spotted him standing idly and waved him over. He did a little wave of negation, figuring they had everything handled, but she pointed toward her feet insistently. He sighed, smiled, and walked over.
Raven’s voice carried to him first, a bit of a shock on its own. “I want the alchemists making potions overtime. That’s all they’re doing. I don’t care if monsters get into the compound, they are not to stop making mana or health potions at any point, not until the attack is over.”
Liz was addressing her own set of people. “Ammo isn’t infinite. We only have one crossbow user, and he’s already got three hundred bolts loaded into his quiver.”
“Woah,” said one person.
“Nice!”
“I’m jealous!”
“Yeah, I know guys,” Liz said with a wince. “Epic level gear. I hear he got it last night in the raid. I’m jealous too. Back on point, we need our crafters to focus on arrows. I know there’s only three, but they’re going to be located right next to the alchemists. The good news is, they’re going to have their own tent, so they don’t need to worry about the fumes.”
The three that had commented nodded. Adam couldn’t tell who those people were, they were new. And one of them had blue skin. That was also new.
Kyra gathered their attention, all eighteen focusing on her. “You have your orders. The timer is ticking, we have less than ten minutes. Go. Go!”
The people she addressed scattered to the winds. She finally turned to address him.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
He rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, about that: how long was I out?”
“About an hour. How do you feel?”
He finally took a moment to check himself. He felt… incredible. Like a fog had been lifted from his mind.
“Good. Really good. I feel like I’m finally clear-headed.”
Raven nodded. “You opened your Crown chakra. That is the seventh, the chakra for self-realization.”
“Ooh, cool,” Liz said. “Did you get an ability with opening your chakra?”
Adam checked.
Chakras:
Crown: Unlocked. 1 of 3 assigned: Empowered Sacrifice I.
Third Eye: Locked.
Throat: Locked.
Heart: Locked.
Solar Plexus: Locked.
Sacral: Locked.
Root: Locked.
“Yeah, I got an ability called ‘Empowered Sacrifice.’ Let me see what it does.”
Empowered Sacrifice I: Once per day, you can spend 50% of your max HP to double your damage dealt for ten minutes. Damage taken is doubled.
Defeat 100 foes with Empowered Sacrifice I to level it up.
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“Well, that’s a trade-off. I can use it once per day to double my damage, but it has a serious cost. I take double damage, and it costs half my max health to activate.”
Liz sucked air through her teeth. “But double damage, if you’re careful… you could take a bunch of monsters out really quick.”
Adam nodded. “Well, here’s hoping I don’t need to use it.” He looked back to Kira. “What’s situation? And how can I help?”
“We’re going to be attacked in…” she checked her hud. “Seven minutes. If you are willing, guard the medical tent, the alchemists, and the crafters. If anything gets into the fort, you take it down.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
“I’m going to be in the medical hut. Raven is on traps, she’ll be roving the walls. Liz, you have a bow, you take out anything flying in. That’s it, let’s get this over with.”
“Wait,” Adam said. “When does this event end?”
“It didn’t specify. I would guess it’s going to either be a specific window, or a specific kill count. I’m sure details will pop once it starts.”
“You’ve got the lead, then. I’m guessing it’s because you two were in charge when the upgrade was initiated.”
Kyra nodded and Liz grunted.
“Cool. I’ll be, uh… here? Yeah, I’ll be here.”
Kyra leaned out and grabbed his collar, then pulled him in and kissed him hard. “Don’t die. If you do, I’ll bring you back from the dead and kill you myself.”
He chuckled, then grew still. “Wait, can you do that?”
“Do you want to find out?”
“Nope.”
“Good. I’ll be in this tent. Don’t let anything but wounded settlers in.”
He nodded, then pulled armor and his trusty axe from his inventory. It was on him just in time. A flashing window appeared in the corner of his vision. It counted down from thirty.
“Ten seconds. Everyone get ready!”
As if that was the signal, they heard squealing, grunting, roaring, and all manner of animal and monster noises suddenly explode from the surrounding forest. The tension amped up. Adam could feel the adrenaline crash into his veins.
3
2
1
Event start: Settlement Obelisk Upgrade
Objective: Survive the day.
3/24 hours completed.
A veritable tidal wave of monsters slammed into the walls. The noise was incredible. The fighters on the wall attacked with spears, potions, arrows, and axes. Anything with enough reach to put creatures down. The first wave died quickly; a hundred corpses hit the walls. A shout went out.
“They’re level ten!”
The news spread quickly all through the fort. Kyra heard, and started to pray to Caitrín for power and the will to get through the night. Another wave came, and they were put down. A third. A fourth. Ten minutes passed, and every person on the wall had leveled at least once. The bodies were building at an alarming pace. The sixth wave had the first major injury for the settlers. A monkey-badger hybrid sprang off the pile of corpses and sank its teeth into the shoulder of an axe-wielding settler. The woman screamed, despite increased stats and a fresh level up. Her blood sprayed across the nearest fighters.
“Medic!”
The woman was pulled by two large men, while a third ripped the monkey-badger from her and stomped it to death. He then took her place. She was carried by the two men to the medical tent. Kyra took the woman and immediately started casting a light heal. The two men ran back to the walls, looking for more wounded. It only took another thirty seconds for the next one. Within five minutes, half a dozen more were in the medical tent.
Raven sprinted from one open spot to the next, using her trap ability constantly. Her trap skill leveled twice in the first ten minutes. Half the time it sprang before hitting the ground. She tossed another one, eyeing a terrible snake-horse hybrid, when the world disappeared from her perception.
“Well, aren’t you something interesting. Not a single combat strike thrown, and yet, you have almost seventy kills already.”
She looked around, but she wasn’t even sure she had eyes. The darkness was so complete, it was impossible to tell. Then a spotlight shone brightly in the abyss. It highlighted a man sitting in a comfortable looking arm chair. She had her legs crossed, a large cigar sticking out of one side of her mouth, bubbles drifting lazily upward. His red hair was long, curly, and shined like gold under the brilliant light.
“Who… what are you?”
“Oh, what an impertinent question. I like that.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
She smiled. “I am Eligu. I have decided to become your patron. Keep up the good work.”
Raven blinked and she was back on the wall, but her trap had changed. Even as it left her hands, it grew, then appeared to glitter. It burst, or more like it splintered, and six traps large enough to stop a bear cold fell on the crowd of animals. Each one took on a sinister light, glowing different colors. Then they went off. One exploded in a wave of cold, freezing a dozen monsters in place. Another let out a ring of fire. The third had lightning arc out. Number four pulsed with hardened razors of air, the fifth sent out spikes made from rock, and the final trap exploded in rainbow confetti. Each brilliant metallic piece that landed on an animal caused boils, lesions, pustules, and rot.
Ability: Trap III evolved to Eligu’s Surprise I
Trigger a hundred different effects to level it up.
She smiled, then ran to the next spot.
Liz stood on the far side of the fort, loosing arrow after arrow. She refined her skill, improving the speed, and leveling it up three times in the first hour.
Adam kept an ear out for what the fighters on the walls were saying. The onslaught refused to let up, and by the time the first hour was out, the animals had built ramps out of the corpses. The air stank of death. He noticed the bodies building and ran to the alchemists.
“Hey, can any of you make something to dissolve bodies?”
Six people looked up, haggard expressions showing how much pressure they were under. Ingredients were scattered haphazardly, bottles all over the work tables and floor. Kyra had been right about the fumes, too. It smelled like ten different kinds of cleaning solution had been spilled in enough quantities to make his nose burn.
“Uh, yeah,” said one pimply man. He was near six feet tall, had tusks and green skin, but otherwise looked like a gangly teen after an all-night bender. “I have a potion of corrosion that I think I can make into a throwable.”
Adam nodded and pointed at the kid. “Make as many as you can. Everyone else, back to it. How long will it take?”
The orc looked up at the tent ceiling for a moment like the answer was written on the canvas. “Uh, maybe a minute?”
“Well, get to it!”
The teen jumped at his barked order, spun around, emptied his cauldron, and started feverishly putting ingredients together. Just over a minute later, he blindly held a bottle out with a glowing black-and-green potion swirling inside.
“Just throw it. Don’t let this stuff touch anything you want to keep.”
Adam paused. “How bad?”
“Like having your face melted off. And it won’t come back with regular potions.”
Adam looked at the thin glass vial he held in his hand with sudden concern. “Got it, don’t crush the deadly acid.”
With that, he ran to where the pile of corpses was the highest.
“Make way!”
The fighters turned, saw him sprinting at them with the vile concoction in hand, and made a hole. He threw the vial as hard as he could and watched as the bottle shattered, spreading its contents for ten feet. The bodies started to emit a foul black smoke, rotting away to bones in a matter of seconds. Then the bones melted to goo. Somehow, the stench was even worse than that of the mound of corpses. It hadn’t melted enough bodies, not yet, but it was a significant start.
“We need more of that,” Liz said to Adam. She shot an arrow at a flying squirrel with oversized fangs, sending it careening into the darkness. “And a serious talk with whoever made it.”
Adam nodded, then ran back to the alchemy tent. He had work to do. They all did.