"They've broken into the city!" Came the haunting cry atop the wall.
Throat tightening, Hunter slung his mace down in an arc, smashing another blow against a Porolf.
"What now?" Hunter wondered.
Tren looked around, frantically screaming. "We have to retreat!"
"NO!" Came the booming scream from Garth as he skewered a Salager. "Hold your ground!"
About to retort, Garth cut Tren off, screaming. "If we move, more will die!"
Not relaxing, Tren stepped in front of Hunter, taking his frustration out on the enemies.
They were flagging, stress mixed with exhaustion.
The team on the left was fighting a man down, their team taking on more of the strain.
"How long could this go on?” Mumbling, he said. “How much longer could they hold on?”
The bombardment of skills and mana devices stopped from atop the wall.
More monsters pushed their way forward.
Garth and Ellis were fighting on their own now, each taking on monster after monster.
A moment's respite appeared, Indy turning to them. "We have to split up. You two take on monsters together, and I will fight alone."
Wanting to object, he was cut short by two more Salagers running around the lead team toward their team.
Looking to their right, the other team was already engaged.
Indy looked at them intensely, her voice steady in the chaos. “This is what I was made for.”
Without waiting anymore, she turned, activating her speed ability, almost missing a step but catching her footing and rushing the beast.
Tren raised his sword and screamed. "Come on then!"
With the beast just feet away, grime-slicked sweat coated Hunter’s palms.
He swung his mace sidelong, trying to catch the monster in its dash.
It dodged right, hitting its side into the pile of bodies.
Tren circled left, widening the gap between him and the beast.
The Salager looked between them.
It growled.
Vision blurred for a moment, the thumping of his heart echoing in his ears.
Choosing him, the monster lept at him.
With a wall of bodies to his right, Hunter swallowed his fear and dodged left.
Wind battered him as the large monster landed, quickly turning to face them again.
Staring down the monster, neither he nor it moved.
"I'll cover you!" Tren yelled from behind.
Like a gunshot, the monster pushed off, knuckling toward him.
Activating his ability, Hunter walked forward slowly.
The monster reared back for a punch using its right fist.
Hunter swung his mace high in a brutal arc aimed at its left shoulder.
He hit first.
Their shoulder gave way to bone-crunching below his blow.
Immediately, the monster's strike connected.
A flash of blue.
The beast recoiled a few feet.
Relief washed over him. "Nice one!" he yelled.
Running past him, Tren's face was scrunched in fury.
Taken by surprise, Hunter faltered before following a few steps behind.
Recovered from the shield pushback, the monster's left arm dangled uselessly.
Tren ran in an arc closer to the monster.
Backing up, the Salager hit its back legs against the pile of bodies.
Growling, it beat the ground with its fists, a small plume of dirt scattering.
Tren readied his strike.
The monster threw its strike awkwardly, unbalanced.
Effortlessly ducking below, Tren stabbed deep into the monster's chest.
A step behind, Hunter brought his mace to meet the monster's head above him.
It fell to the ground, lifeless.
Breathing for a few moments, Hunter and Tren exchanged nods.
Their battlefield was getting cluttered. Without time or energy to move the bodies too far, they pushed them against the piles, limiting the fighting space around them.
The flaming trail in the enemy flank was still there.
Whatever was out there, tearing up those creatures with flames and explosions, brought Hunter some hope.
A bright white, yellow light flickered to the side.
Snapping his head over, he saw Brit healing Ellis.
Arm disconnected, the man bit down on his leather like armor, letting out a pained cry as his flesh jumped over itself, reconstructing his arm.
Ellis flexed his hand, a dagger dropping into it. Giving her a small, pained smile, he turned back to the battle.
“Wait… where had Brit gone?” Hunter paused, “Doesn't matter," he reminded himself as two Porolfs appeared.
Trying to smile, his face wouldn't budge from the grime.
In lockstep, Tren and he walked forward toward the two beasts.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
They howled in unison, immediately rushing the stuck adventurers.
With one quick motion, Hunter brought his mace crashing against its head, now his favorite technique against these mutts.
“That-easier-stop.” He fought with his brain, trying to blink back the confusion and exhaustion.
Something touched his shoulder.
Twisting, he readied his weapon, but his head kept spinning.
He stumbled, a steady arm holding him in place.
Vision slowly returning, an unfamiliar face was watching him with concern.
"Are you alright?" the man asked, then shied away. "I'm Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. No one is alright at the moment."
The man looked around at the destruction and then again met Hunter's gaze. "Can you walk?"
His head swaying slightly, he nodded, regretting it immediately.
Recovering better this time, the man let go, and Hunter slowly turned.
Their teams were being replaced.
He almost collapsed right there, but walked behind Tren.
Keeping his head down, Hunter refused to look at the battlefield; he couldn't. That would be too much.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but once they finally made it through, they were met with a horrid sight.
Most of the city had been flattened.
Houses lay in shambles, bodies of monsters littered around and inside the remains.
Flames were being put out on a few houses.
Piles.
Piles of bodies.
Human bodies.
Torn, ripped, and mutilated.
Hunter couldn't break his eyes from it.
His face was wet.
He wiped his arm.
"Tears?"
Moving.
Sitting down.
Food
Food was set in front of him.
"Why food?"
Looking around, everything and everyone washed as if on fast-forward.
The world started shaking like an earthquake.
No, he was being shaken.
"Hunter?"
"Hunter?"
He felt like that should mean something.
"Hunter!"
Everything was echoing in his mind, a loud but quiet fog.
A tingling, buzzing sensation appeared in his chest.
The buzzing grew.
He could feel his heart now thumping in a familiar harmony.
Buzzing turned to an electric feeling that moved to his limbs.
The cold wind fluttered at his skin.
The lighting etched its way to his head.
It felt like someone pouring cold water on his fogged mind.
Thoughts started flowing again.
The world existed again, everything falling into place.
Hunter looked around as if for the first time.
He was covered in a dark, tar-like substance; it felt gross.
"What is this?" he wondered.
"Are you back?"
Hunter tried to find who asked and locked eyes with a man who seemed slightly less covered in the tar.
"Back? I'm here?" he said, his voice sounding strained to his ears.
The man's face relaxed. "That's good, I thought you had lost it," he said.
"Why ar-" he stopped, finally registering the destruction around. "Wh- How?"
The man shook his head. "Just rest; it's all we can do."
Hunter still didn't understand, but didn't get to ask as the man walked off.
The adventurers sat on the dirty stone road, their eyes staring at the ground. Groaning and sharp breathing were the only sounds.
Indy was to his right, and Tren on the left.
Pain shot through his head, and his neck burned as his skin felt like it was on fire.
It felt like trying to shove a house through a ring; pressure built behind his eyes, ready to burst.
He didn't resist; relief flooded him. Notifications engulfed his vision.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
WARNING
Systems reloaded
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
His brows creased. "System? Wait, what was reloaded?" The pop-up disappeared and was replaced by a new one.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Due to system stress, notifications were blocked
You have helped in killing
35 Porolfs
12 Salagers
1017 xp earned
Level up, now level 28
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hunter's breath froze. "Fourteen levels?!" Confused, he asked. "Why and how?"
Heat radiated from deep inside his mind, increasing until the memories of his fights returned.
Not all at once, they slowly flowed in.
As if he were watching a movie, he didn't feel any connection to the memories; he felt numb watching it.
A new notification appeared.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Achievement unlocked; Limit breaker.
It's raining monsters
From out of the sky
Monsters
No need to ask why,
Just swing your mace and run in stride
It's raining monsters.
You were exhausted but pushed farther. +1 to all stats, but luck.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
"What?"
He read it over again, "What the hell?"
Shaking his head and dismissing the notification, he leaned back, looking at the sky.
The purple tentacles that had covered the sky had receded, and most of the sky had returned to its neon pink glow.
Opening his stats, Hunter's eyebrows again shot up.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Stats:
Strength:
21+2
Durability:
19+4
Agility:
21+1
Intelligence:
10+5
Wisdom:
11+4
Allocatable points 70
Level 28
XP 1315
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Not only did he have seventy allocatable points, but the layout was completely different.
“Seventy points…” he whispered. For a moment, he felt like he should smile. But nothing came. No pride. No excitement. Just… empty calculation.
Hunter tried to brush his hand through his hair but got stuck on the muck caking it.
"I'll figure it out later, " he thought, slowly getting up and feeling his legs wobble. When he got all the way up, he stretched and then walked over to the showers.
Impromptu showers were set up using rubble from the walls of destroyed houses. The water washed down from barrels lifted above him, draining to the road's edge.
The water was cold, making him shiver, but it also felt welcoming. Every breath while he was shivering felt like relief washing over him.
He took a towel that was handed to him and dried off. Reaching for his clothes, he paused; they were covered in dark gunk, and he sighed. "This is going to be disgusting."
"What size are you?" a question came from the other side of the cloth barrier.
"Me?" Hunter asked.
The voice's pitch raised a sarcastic tone as they said, "Who else?"
"Large," He replied.
Clothes were thrown on top of the wall, beige and simple but thankfully clean.
After putting on his clothes, Hunter walked out of the shower, thanking the man, and walked to some benches near tables.
He sat down, reopening his stats and looking at the seventy points again.
Remembering what Derek told him, he spread his points between all his stats.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Are you sure you would like to apply these changes?
Yes, No
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————
He thought yes.
Euphoric and painful, Hunter first felt his mind clear, then felt his bones contract and spasm simultaneously.
Bones and muscles visibly moved like waves under his skin. He didn't feel overwhelmed with pain, but his vision quickly grew dark.
Awaking to the table moving, he looked around hazily.
Indy had a tray in her hands, and Tren was trailing behind her, both clean, just having showered themselves.
Indy sat on his left, Tren on his right. He set an extra bowl in front of Hunter.
Hollowly speaking, Tren said. "If you can eat, go ahead."
It was a soup of some kind, smelling starchy.
Picking up the spoon, he put it in the bowl, but his stomach flipped; he didn't understand why, but the smell and look made him want to vomit.
"We should eat," Indy said, looking down at her bowl. We have to restore our energy."
None of them moved for a long time.
Tren took a shaky hand, grabbed his spoon, lifted it, and put it in his mouth.
Hunter bit his tongue and forced himself to take a bite. It was tasteless. " Or can I just not taste anything?" he sighed.
After finishing the meal, Indy said, "We only have a few more hours; we need rest." She did not sound like she believed her own words.
Getting up, they took their bowls to the setup kitchen and mumbled their thanks.
The sleeping area was set up a little away in one of the only still-standing buildings.
Walking toward the building, they walked down the street.
Survivors huddled together in their homes, red cheeks with cuts all over their bodies.
"Where is it?" Came a sharp cry from their left.
"Here it h..." came the mumbling cry. "I know it."
It was a woman; her hands were streaked with cuts, and tears fell as she pulled to rearrange rubble. "It's fine," she told herself.
Bloodstained each piece of rock she moved, her hands raw. "I know you're alive, but I just need to keep looking."
Her voice tore at him, and his chest hurt.
Tren started walking over there, but Indy grabbed his shoulder.
He looked at her, eyes questioning; Indy just shook her head.
Looking down, they continued down the road, crying, questions and incoherent sentences echoed as they continued, eventually coming to the building.
A guild receptionist nodded to them at the entrance, and they led them in silently.
It was dark, and like the building Garth had taken them into, it had three halls leading off from one larger room.
It was dark inside.
The receptionist led them down a hall to the end, where they opened three doors.
Hunter walked in, lying down.
His eyes wouldn't close.
Mind felt clear.
His stomach was full.
He was comfortable.
At least he should have been.
But sleep never came.
Closing his eyes only brought back the movie-like memory, which replayed over and over. Every time the movie replayed him entering the city, he had to open his eyes; he couldn't stop seeing it on repeat.
Eyes locked to the ceiling, he waited.
In the hall, creaking wood echoed in the silence, and then a knock followed. "It's rotation time."
