Level 70

  Body: C- Mind: C- Souls: SS

  That was a lot of Souls. I suppressed the urge to giggle like Scrooge McDuck. I didn’t have a physical way to swim in the damn things anyway.

  Glimpse was keeping an eye on my troops as they galloped far ahead of me. They were showing no signs of slowing, let alone stopping, anytime soon. Being a tail end Charlie was never a happy place to be but I could also see behind me and the remains of the horde were ambling about without serious intention. They were spreading out like gangrene around a rotten wound so I was confident when I finally managed to catch up to my terrified troops we’d be able to stop and rest.

  Whatever was I going to do with my new found bounty of Souls? No one likes an obvious exploit in a system so with a mental wince I dumped forty thousand Souls into buying mana potions while I ran and two hundred of the things stacked up in my storage space. Just in case, you know?

  I figured they’d work for Kril and Fay as well so it was a wise investment despite how I winced as the Souls vanished from my balance. Next up was a decent weapon. I’d been running around with a dagger that could cut through granite but that wasn’t going to cut it in a real fight against a near-peer. That bloke in D grade had escaped successfully after dropping a Fire Spirit in my face. I scanned through the shop as my loping strides ate up the ground between me and my friends.

  An unbreakable mace perhaps? But why? Blunt weapons were great against armour but most of my enemies troops were barely armoured. Getha had talked about men in grey metal suits, iron or steel armour probably but what was that to my dagger? So I ruled out poleaxes, blunt weapons and all the traditional tools a man might use to put down a bloke larping as a low tech Iron Man.

  Spears? They were good and if the blade could slice through metal like my dagger they might be a good choice. I’d already had some training in spear fighting from the Fangs and other old warriors in the tribe so it wasn’t an unknown style for me. The only downsides I could see was that they were big, not suitable in close quarters, and the shaft was likely to be a weakness if I was up against someone with a weapon made entirely from one of the mythical metals available in the shop.

  Swords… I had a basic understanding of sword fighting but it was amateurish at best and god knows I hated being an amateur at anything. On the plus side the entire weapon would be made of the magic shit in the Shop but the price was concomitantly higher as well.

  I was barely paying attention to the thigh high grass I was flashing through as I scanned through the options in the Shop. With a faint sense of resignation and a forlorn hope I’d be able to find a suitable instructor I purchased a bastard sword made of adjuntium. There were pricier ones available but I knew what that metal was capable of so four thousand and five hundred Souls vanished. I caught a surprisingly light sword in my left hand. It came with a silvery scabbard and a fancy leather belt that I wrapped around my waist without slowing down. The four foot long blade settled comfortably at my side.

  I still had fifty six thousand Souls left so I levelled all my magic up to my main level of seventy and was pleasantly surprised at the results. Just over nineteen thousand Souls vanished and I checked my Affinity screen. As the clouds mixed with the smoke rising from the destruction I’d left behind me I skidded to a stop and grinned to myself.

  Affinity: Fire

  Summon fire: Range- 104 metres, Intensity- +156%, lasts 15 seconds

  Fire Resistance- +100%

  Projectile: Speed- +60%, Detonation- 11.5 metres cubed.

  Fire Wall: Area- 20 metres squared. lasts 15 seconds

  Barrier: 220 HP, Area: 5 metres squared

  Fire Spirit: duration 110 seconds

  Burning Skies: Area- 50x50m, duration 15 seconds

  Affinity: Life

  Heal (self): 20HP and 156% increased recovery rate for one hour. Seals moderate wounds.

  Enhancement (self): 78%,

  Resistance (all): 60%

  Projectile: Speed- +156%, (heal other)

  Rapid Growth: Area- 20 metre squared.

  Projectile: Speed- +156% (Enhance Other).

  Shapeshift (Minor): Duration- 110 seconds

  Affinity: Space

  Size: range- 54 metres, Intensity- 58%

  Mass: range- 54 metres, Intensity- 58%

  Area: 10.5m cubed (optional) lasts 15 seconds

  Resistance: 100%

  Pocket Dimension: 5.5m cubed

  Spatial Tear: Range- 11 metres

  Affinity: Earth

  Shape Earth: Range - Touch, Duration 15 seconds

  Imbue

  Enchant

  Soul Transfer

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  Aresk’s Boon: Carrion Feeders Gaze.

  I spent ten mana and rolled a ball of actinic white fire across my hand. I could feel the heat but there wasn’t any pain and I suffered no damage whatsoever. I was bloody fireproof now!

  This changed how I could fight significantly: I could walk through a crowd throwing down firewalls hot enough to melt iron and come out completely unscathed at the other side. Admittedly I’d be naked and everything bar my fancy new sword and dagger would be ash in my wake… maybe not the best idea. Did the shop have some asbestos underwear at least? Nope. Still, the pros outweighed the cons in my humble opinion.

  I resumed my run. I could see my troops had finally clattered to a halt a few miles ahead of me and I sent Glimpse down low to check on them. Kril, the Fangs and Fayala were taking charge and forcing the dejected fighters into some semblance of organisation. Sentries were being moved out while the others rested, some just collapsing next to where they tied their horse off. They looked like a defeated force, not a detachment that had come through a hell they shouldn’t have survived. I needed to remedy that situation quickly.

  As I stretched my legs again I decided to dump some more Souls into pure levels. More stat points would be very nice indeed and I wasn’t about to let this haul go by without spending a little on myself.

  One thousand, six hundred and forty Souls were fed into my levels and I jumped to level ninety. It seemed a pittance to spend on boosting myself up in comparison to what I’d already spent but I didn’t feel any urgency to climb higher up the levels just yet and I would still have a huge reserve in place if I decided I needed to. I already had plans for some of the reserves as well but that would have to wait until I was back with my troops. Going wide rather than tall seemed the most viable approach to the threat of massed undead at the moment.

  I gained thirty eight stat points and ruminated on how to spend them as my feet ate up the distance back to my tribe.

  Level 90

  Primary Stats: Body: B- Mind: C+ Soul: A

  Available Souls: 30812

  Secondary Stats

  Physical strength: 40 Reflexes: 40 Health: 350

  Magic strength: 30 Focus: 30 Mana: 460

  I raised all the stats I’d let lag behind over the last couple of months to round out my character. There was no point being strong if I wasn’t coordinated enough or had fast enough reflexes to take advantage of it.

  I could feel some of the changes at least, my muscles answered my mind quicker than they had before and plans whirled in my head at an ever greater velocity, to the point it became disorientating and I had to lock down my focus on what mattered immediately. It was easier than I would have thought, I had a thousand thoughts swirling in my head but they disappeared like sparks in the air as I narrowed my attention.

  I slowed down as I approached the ramshackle camp, gone was the professional neatness and order from yesterday which grated on my nerves. No palisade had been erected and the ponies were tied into long lines attached to a handful of stakes driven into the earth. There was a thwang and my right hand flicked up to catch an arrow an inch from my face.

  As soon as I caught the damn thing a webwork of fire shot up around me. Six foot tall orange flames trapped me at their heart and I sucked in a ragged breath that I held for a moment before walking forwards to escape the conflagration. My once red, now badly blood stained and much darker, tunic had caught in the fire and burned away in the time it took me to clear the area. I tossed the arrow back at the startled sentry and nodded.

  “Good reflexes, warrior. What’s your name?” I said.

  “Lord! Uh.. I’m Jetalurik. I’m sorry!” he stuttered. A defector from the Jet tribes, or a spy? I shoved the thought aside, if he’d made it this far he was one of mine.

  “Push out further south. The horde isn’t heading our way yet but they might,” I ordered as I strode past him towards the camp proper..

  “Um, Lord? Take this?” He offered me a pale yellow tunic he’d pulled out of a storage space. How many of those damn rings had I made? I took the clothing with a nod of gratitude and slipped it over my head. I had to remove the belt for my sword and tie it over the felt to keep the thing in place. I was pleased to see the peripherals that had come with the blade had survived the fire as well.

  “Stop moping around!” I yelled as I passed into the camp. “That was a victory, not a defeat so quit lying around like whipped dogs. No one else could have come through that crucible!” A ragged cheer went up as they realised I’d caught up with them and they hadn’t lost their King in the ambush. The mood improved as I passed deeper into the small camp and slapped soldiers on the shoulder as I went.

  Fay flew into my arms and began checking me over, running her hands over me to look for wounds.

  “I’m fine, love,” I chuckled. “I had to stay back to help the other chiefs escape.” A hand slammed into my cheek but she pulled it back and hissed in pain.

  “Next time, send Glimpse to me so I’ll know you aren’t being eaten alive by a swarm of walking dead men.” Another hug, this time one that lingered and made the world seem alright.

  “The other chiefs will flock to your banner now,” muttered Kril as he scampered over and looked me up and down. “Yellow suits you, boy!”

  I spent a thousand Souls to give Fay another five hundred then reached out to offer Kril my arm. As he took it I did the same for him.

  “Find the Fangs. I need to give them more Souls as well. How many did we lose?” I asked more quietly.

  “Of the two hundred and fifty warriors, not counting charioteers, we’re down to one hundred and eighty four. Thanks by the way!” Kril’s eyes unfocused as he pulled up his screens and began spending the Souls.

  “Shit. Still if you factor in what we were faced with that’s amazing. Any survivors who haven’t received Souls can get enough for a couple of levels as soon as I’ve had some time to rest. Where’s Jagapan?” I asked.

  “With his lady wife, of course-” Kril began.

  “I’m here, Warlord.” The wiry man emerged from the shadows tossing a steel ball in one hand, his left eye once again gleaming bronze. “Any chance of some Souls for your lowly sub-chief?” he cracked a wry smile at me.

  I offered my hand and sent five hundred across, grimacing at losing double that from my own reserves.

  “Any chief who joins us will get the same. NOW WARRIORS OF MONDYN! IT’S TIME TO MOURN OUR DEAD AND REJOICE AT OUR VICTORY! Drinks are on me,” I finished slightly more quietly as I spent a hundred Souls on a barrel of rum.

  “They can’t get drunk now! We need to get back to the Pass first!” muttered Kril as he shamelessly turned the tap at the base of the barrel and poured some out into a cup he just so happened to have handy.

  “They won’t get drunk. Just enough to take the edge off. Come on lads! You deserve it!” As they filled up cups, Kril kept control of the barrel. I passed out Souls to the handful who’d survived as baseline humans.

  “Glimpse is keeping an eye on the horde. We should be able to rest easily. The sentries get a slug of booze when they come off shift, the rest of us should rest. It’s going to be a rough few days back to Mondit unless someone packed a lot of extra tents,” I said in between greeting warriors as they passed me.

  “The stars will be all the cover we’ll need,” said Fay. She glanced at the sky and grimaced. “Once your clouds have dispersed, Barefoot King.” I smiled warmly in reply.

  “They aren’t my clouds. Mine glow red and rain down fire!”

  “It will be a long couple of weeks to get us all home. What happens then?” asked Kril as he sipped from a refilled cup and smacked his lips. “This is good stuff!”

  “Secure the northern border, clear out the horde from our plains and then we ride south.” The plan flowed together in my mind like it was something I’d spent weeks thinking about. In reality this was entirely off the cuff but I felt in my bones it was the best course of action. “While we deal with the Ur-Viles the rest of the tribes will come to us and live or they’ll go their own way and get swallowed up. It’s not something I can control.” A touch of bitterness entered my voice and I quietly hoped more would ride north to join us than try to survive alone.

  “Get some fire’s lit!” yelled Jagapan as he moved off to find Heldene and get his status screens explained to him. Literacy for the warriors, or at least the captains, went up a few places on my list. Fay was explaining the system interfaces to the newly imbued soulbound servants from among the core of the warriors.

  “You look like shit, Mond. You need a tunic that fits you and you need to sleep for about a week I reckon,” Kril snapped. “Go!” He pointed towards one of the fires being lit and I staggered off.

  I’d been running on fumes, I realised. However strong I became there would always be limits. The Fangs filtered in and grabbed a drink as I staggered off but I paused to give them each another five hundred Souls to spend. I waved off their congratulations and just smiled at their banter. I stretched out next to the fire and closed my eyes.

  I could hear the mood of the camp had improved. It was still sombre, not so much from the losses but from the perceived defeat. Running away didn’t come naturally to the fiercely territorial nomads and despite the battle being a win objectively their pride was stung. A problem for tomorrow. I felt Fay snuggle in against my side and pull some furs over our bodies. I breathed in her scent and began to drift off to sleep, finally letting the exhaustion catch up to me.

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