As he rushed down towards the center of the village dodging the rubble and debris from broken houses he finally made his way down. There were what looked like 9 plant mages that were guarded by six guards with weapons ranging from sword and board to bow and arrow along with 3 other staff and wand users that were repelling the trolls and ogres. He saw a short and stout dwarf looking man giving orders to people as he used his two shields to devastating effect. He was rolling around the battlefield knocking the undead trolls off guard while being able to also deflect thrown debris.
“Hey man, I am here to help. I can fight.” The dwarf, with surprising agility, rolled across the ground, his stout form a blur of motion. Each powerful roll sent up small clouds of dust, and with a swift, practiced strike, he knocked another monster off their feet. Pausing briefly between his fluid movements, he barked out words, his voice gruff and commanding, before continuing his relentless assault.
“THEN K-, THE DAM-, THINGS!”
With that Marcus leapt into action and immediately activated his Phantom Hunting Ground. These people needed offense so he could be aggressive here and use his shield to deflect the debris and falling monsters if he needed to.
“The Glowing Area will not harm you.” As he threw his Boomerang repeatedly at the downed ogres making sure to preserve his health. With the added weight and size of the improved weapon it only took one or two strikes before they stopped moving. As he killed one.
+7 Kills - Partial
With the rolling man’s help I am getting partial kills I guess? Makes sense.
He hurled his boomerang with relentless fury, each throw a deadly arc that felled enemies with precision. Meanwhile, the dwarf spun across the battlefield like a relentless pinball, toppling foes with unstoppable momentum. He fought with savage intensity, slicing, cutting, and striking, seamlessly switching to his whip when the situation demanded. Blows from ogres and trolls rained down upon him, their fists and kicks like thunder, yet he endured, driven by an insatiable hunger for victory, his kill count soaring. Amidst the chaos, the air crackled with the sound of lightning crashing against the walls, punctuated by the tormented wails of the undead as they were obliterated in explosive bursts.
+7 Kills
+7 Kills
+7 Kills
+7 Kills
+7 Kills
+7 Kills
Before he knew it a troll was thrown and he knew that if he did not intercept it that it would hit the mages. As it came down he leaped up to meet it jumping straight up with his shield halting his momentum as he began to tussle with the troll as it headbutted him while it was around his strength he was light and much faster and continued to dig his fingers in its one remaining eye that worked as he bashed its skull with the side of his shield as he turned the beast to collapse on the ground under him as it died on impact.
+14 Kills
LEVEL UP!
Level 13
69 more kills till level 14
STR: 22
DEX: 12
CON: 25
INT: 15
WIS: 12
STA: 16
Attunement: 145/160
He felt his skin and muscles get tougher as he stood up. His health was now in the orange as he took a second to apply healing salve to the new cuts and bruises that he took before he looked over and saw the dwarf continue to roll and fight as he rushed and shield bashed another troll before he stood in front.
“Let me relieve you for a minute as he threw him a healing salve.” The dwarf looking man turned to him and smiled. “Thanks for the shitty healing salve but I just need a moment to properly heal myself. I need a minute.”
“Then you will have it.” As he switched to his whip and shield combo and dived into the face of more newer trolls as they tried to rush and kill the plant mages Using his whip he continued to harass the undead as every step they took they were bought with a lash from his whip. He continued to lash and lash and lash as the monsters continued to come in full force while none of them died as he saw the man with the shield yell out a battle cry before continuing to fight.
“Daddy’s home now, beautiful. Now he wants to cuddle!” Marcus could not help but smile and shake his head.
This guy is a freaky bastard I guess?
As the fight continued for several more hours, several plant mages died from debris being thrown or multiple undead thrown at the same time where they would be. Despite this there was a woman flying around on a cloud that was launching powerful bolts of lightning at what he presumed was the Champion. He before he heard the loud calls of guard cheering as he felt the ground shake as he assumed the Champion had died. Which had to be true as no more undead trolls were thrown over. Before he leveled up again.
LEVEL UP!
Level 14
35 more kills till level 15
STR: 25
DEX: 13
CON: 25
INT: 15
WIS: 12
STA: 18
Attunement: 145/165
“Hey lad, can you still fight?” The dwarf man called out as Marcus nodded as the man smiled as he said. “Then follow me.”
Marcus nodded as he applied more healing salve and rushed off again behind the man. No words were needed. As he continued behind the man he spoke.
“Names Gorian. Do you have any movement abilities?” Marcus called out no as they made their way to the wall.
“That's fine, I am gonna grab you and we are gonna head over the wall and bash some skulls in. There should be stragglers left and we can clean up any fleeing undead while the wall defenders take care of the mindless. You in?” Marcus grunted again as he quickly turned around as they made it to the inside of the wall before the Gorian grabbed him around the waist and said a single word.
“DESDAMONA” The Man launched himself off the ground like a bat out of hell as he easily vaulted over the wall just barely clearing it before pushing off the outside of the wall as he said his command word again. Marcus looked in shock as the number of undead were halved as the Flesh Golem was dead along with thousands of smaller undead as well. Even still with the horde routed there had to still be hundreds if not thousands still left. As he looked around he noticed that they weren’t the only wanted out here fighting.
There were several fliers and people on the ground fighting as they landed on the edge of the remaining horde as some of the ghouls were fleeing into the surrounding forest. Marus drew out his whip and began to dance, there were dozens of shamblers running around and they had to put as many as they could down. The fewer numbers they had the less they could attack and pillage other places nearby. What shocked Marcus the most was this Gorian guy. He seemed like he could interlink his shields and turn into a ball as he zipped across the group mowing shamblers down in swaths.
Things began to click in his mind as he continued to fight. He was fighting like a normal human with limitations. His strength was so high he felt he could knock down trees with a solid punch. He decided that we would give these monsters a proper dance.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Despite everything I am fighting like a slightly improved human, I need to change what I believe is possible and work out how to fight better based on what this world is rather than stories from home.
He began to spin quickly in place as the mindless shamblers around him began to get pulled into him like a vacuum before being blended by the whip. He would launch himself in the middle of large groups of monsters and continued to cleave through them with ease. He would get arrows shot at him by ghouls or rocks through and he would take damage but outside of the Undead with Large projectiles they stood no chance. With how high his Constitution and Stamina was, he could stave off fatigue much longer than most humans as the kills continued to pile in.
By the end of the battle and all of the mindless undead were routed and the ghouls and such already fleeing too far away he had leveled up again along with unlocking Skill Mastery 1 with his Whip. While he did not use his base ability because of how many mindless creatures he fought he had no doubt in his mind it would be useful against more powerful people. With the killing outside he had gone from level 14 to level 18
Level 18
85 more kills till level 19
STR: 33
DEX: 15
CON: 32
INT: 15
WIS: 15
STA: 22
Attunement: 145/185
Standard Chain of Wailing Widows[Well Built]Base Efficiency Bonus: 24% + [20% Well Built Bonus] = 28.8%
Skill Tree: Screams of the Forgotten
Base Ability: Widows Embrace
Trigger: Mentally activating the ability when the target is struck by the whip.
Energy Drain: Low
Description: As the user hits the target with the chain whip, if the target is living the target begins to hear sounds and screams of hundreds of widow’s crying at the lost of their lovers that will never return home. This lasts for a number of seconds equal to your wisdom and your Intellect. This effect is
resisted by your wisdom + this weapon's efficiency vs their Wisdom.
Master Ability 1: Pull of the Forgotten
Trigger: Command Word(Irvine)
Energy Drain: Low to Extreme(duration)
Description: The user says the command word and slashing, extending the chain by an amount equal to the amount of energy used and turning the whip into a supersonic whip of sound. While extended this way all other abilities used by this Skill Tree are considerably more effective while using considerably more energy. Duration is based off the user’s wisdom,
Attunement Slots: 40
As the night began to fall most of the Earth mages that were noncombatants opened up large pockets of land and threw the undead inside. Marcus was going to head away to return to Moro but he was stopped by Gorian as he saw him.
He walked over to him and clapped him on the back with an expressive smile. “First round is on me tonight, lad.” Marcus smiled at him and while he didn’t want to leave his bag not on his person it was also tied to a tree and none of the contents could be even touched unless they had a strength of 15. From what he gathered from Khaliun and Marissa, 15 in any stat was more uncommon than common around these peoples. He shrugged and followed Gorian back inside the village.
As he walked over and past the now open front gate he saw a funeral pyre and well over a dozen people in various states of death burning on the pyre as several dozen people stood around and offered their goodbyes. Gorian didn’t speak much as he led him down to a 3 story tavern not too far from the center of the town where he stood guard and protected the plant mages. There were dozens of people here in all shapes and sizes as he walked to a large table with various other warriors as Gorian spoke up as he introduced Marcus to the other people at the table. He saw a chestnut colored woman that was a Hume like him that looked similar to his complexion with locks of dark brown hair and flowers in her hair with a massive katana on her side. She seemed familiar to him as he looked and saw a red skinned looking Orume man with a large bow on his back making space for them as he sat beside a man the color of a dull yellow with long blonde hair dressed like he had come straight out of the movie Gladiator.
“Hello everyone, this is…..hahaha. You helped save the town and I don’t even know your name.” Marcus smiled at him and said his name before Gorian continued.
“I have never seen this man before today and I can say today I have met a true brother in war!” Mugs around the table clapped on the table as beer slushed from the top. “This man helped me slay well over 20 undead trolls and ogres that were thrown over the wall at the plant mages. Then headed with me out of the wall and I saw him personally kill over a 100 Shamblers and ghouls before he ran out of walking corpses. Without him aiding me I don’t think I could have killed the trolls fast enough. We would have lost many more people today so I just want to say thanks. Not sure what brings you to Oakbend but I consider you a friend.”
Others began to cheer as he even saw the Orume man from the wall in the tavern with what looked like his wife and child raise his glass to him. Marcus joined in the toast and took a drink with the rest of the people of the tavern.
The yellow gladiator looking man who he found out was named Lowain was a part of the wall defense and threw all manner of weapons to rain death upon the undead. He spoke up to him.
“So what brings you out to Oakbend? Only people that come this close to the Frontier are mercenaries and adventurers ... .maybe a Slayer here or there.”
“I was here to freelance with the Slayer Corps on a C rank mission to kill a Flesh Golem.” Lowain looked at him surprisingly before continuing.
“This sounds just like the Slayer Corps. If they don’t have enough information on a mission just keep sending rookies out there until enough survivors come back to properly allow you to assess the situation. Did the rest of your team die fighting the Champion before it came to town?”
“No, I took on the mission alone.” At this point he had everyone's attention. Gorian decided to humor him as he continued to drink his beer.
“Well lad. Is there any reason why?”
“Wanting more kills and sharing them would slow down my growth. While this mission was still beneficial. I still only gained 6 levels for my journey here. While that has been great, if I would have had more people I probably would have only leveled once. I am currently at level 18 and I reach level 20+ so I can gain access to more standard loot gear items.“
Another woman at the table spoke up, to Marcus’s eye she looked like she was straight from Northern India with long black hair, tan skin and deep brown eyes. She was also around 4 feet tall and even shorter than Gorian. If Marcus had to put a name on it she looked like a gnome or halfling from tales from Middle Earth.
“Interesting, so you want us to believe a level 12 dude came into town and fought with Gorian the Bearer who is Level 40+ and you could keep up with him? How? You were about ? of his level. You must have the rare +4 to your stat total every level. Or you are just blowing smoke up our asses.”
“Sure, I think I will just return back to- BANG”
The entire ground shook as he looked around and everyone around him shifted. Marcus spun around to face Gorian and the rest of his friends, urgency propelling them out of the tavern and into the tumultuous night. His ears were assaulted by the piercing screams echoing through the air, fueling his frantic inquiry about what had transpired. As he stepped outside, the scene unfurled into a nightmare of pure chaos.
The sky was infested with flying undead horrors, their grotesque forms blotting out the stars as they swooped down from dizzying heights of four to six stories. Men, women, and children were plucked from their lives, their bodies becoming mere projectiles hurled to the ground by these nightmarish creatures. The earth began to buckle under the weight of the fallen, a grisly mound of humanity. Hundreds of these monstrous abominations swarmed the heavens, a dark, writhing mass that threatened to suffocate the very night itself.
As he looked over at the gate all of the breath had left his lungs.
The gate door was destroyed.
