"Is-is that it?" Garin asked, his spear at the ready. He sounded disappointed. "I didn't even get to try out my new Skill levels."
Sentinel's Regard is level 42!
PER +2!
Mervin's rare Perception SkillSentinel's Regardflared with a low tune that quickly turned fluting and rapid. He spun toward the trees. "There are more," he hissed before shouting. "More! More are coming!"
This time the trees literally ripped apart, their trunks shattered as a fleet of charging avians sweept through. They were all twice as big as an avumfully half again as tall as Mervin himselfand were covered in coarse brown feathers and had thick, muscular necks surmounted by sword-like bills. Razorstorks. Dozens of them. Their feet pounded at the earth, too heavy to fly, but were followed by hundredsthousandsof smaller bird type monsters. The flew ahead of the charging horde like a living cloud, screeching in clear challenge.
"They're all Tier I!" Piotr gasped. His hands shook on his spear. Tier I was the equivalent or Iron Ranktheir Rank. "All of them!"
Too many! Mervin quailed, and his sword dipped in his grasp. We can't stop this!
SKREEEAAAW!
From above, a veritable forest of purple-white spears dropped from the clear blue sky. Avian monstrosities were run through, split apart, and otherwise horribly maimed as a dark shape swooped down from above.
"Thunderbird!"
Chimera! Mervin goggled. "That's Felix's Companion!"
The beast flew above them, spinning in a tight roll as distorted waves shot outward from its body. The avians flew after the chimera in a shifting flock of wild colors and enraged screams. Those waves, however, cut through them like they were nothing more than Tier 0 beasts.
Yet the Razorstorks continued their charge.
"Rally! Rally!"
A haze of Mana and Stamina wafted down the line, and Mervin saw a regeneration boost Status Condition appear in his vision. Fenwick, the First of Blade, lifted his greatsword and pointed at the enemy.
"Charge!"
A charge? That's idiotic! Mervin thought with panic. They'll die!
Yet the Legion didn't even question the order. They swarmed forward, gauntlets, swords, hammers, and maces gleaming in the morning sun. The largest of the aviansbrown colored Razorstorksdropped their heads and put on a burst of murderous speed. Mervin hung back, his own crew taking potshots at the creatures from afar.
"Get back!" someone shouted, a voice that boomed across the field like thunder.
Lightning followed.
The front line of the Razorstorks was launched upward as bolts of jagged, blue-white lightning danced across their huge forms. The entirety of the Legion flinched back, some of the closer ones thrown from their feet by the impact. Razorstorks struggled to their feet, flailing with wing and talon, as the back lines continued to approach without stopping.
Until a figure rode a bolt of lightning down from the sky itself, crushing another Razorstork with feet shaped as talons and a body covered in dark scales. The Fiend. Felix.
Beneficial Condition Applied!
Status Condition: Rallying Cry
Rallying Cry
For the next minute, all Health, Stamina, and Mana regenerations are doubled. Chance of Frightened Condition reduced by 50%!
Mervin gasped as the effect washed over him, along with everyone else in sight. It was like a beam of golden-blue light had shone from above.
"No!" the figure shouted, and more blue-white lightning crackled around the man's shoulders and head. "No more deaths! Not today!"
A force of swirling blue-white light pressed down on the horde of monsters, and every single one of them stumbled onto their bellies and faces. The Fiend, meanwhile, was hurled into the sky where he sparked with brilliant arcs of lightning that all but outshined the sun.
At the same time, the earth rumbled. Across the breadth of the battlefield a rippling tide of devastating stone thorns erupted, each the size of a man. Monsters were skewered by them, the earth beneath their feet transformed against them. As they went, the spikes gathered into larger shapes, jagged hooks and spears thicker than the tree trunks in the distance. Mervin could see the dusty brown Mana pouring from the Fiend's now floating body, a tempest of power that beggared belief.
How much Mana is he using? It was more power than Mervin had seen anyone wield, apart from the Elders themselves. Just how strong is he? How could one man do all of this?
In the space it took Mervin to think those words, the battlefield had been cleared. Entirely. It was littered with massive spikes of blue-grey stone and the remnant corpses of hundreds of monsters. Some had even skewered those avians flying above.
The Fiend landed once again, his dark form hitting the ground like a cannonball.
"What the hell is he?" Piotr said, a quiet awe in his reedy voice.
"Strong," Garin said. "He's like a monster."
That wasn't strong enough, Felix thought with annoyance.
He had landed amid the monster charge, intending to stop it and kill them in one fell swoop. But his Adamant Discord wouldn't do what he wanted it to; he'd tried to crush them all to the ground, but he'd instead pulled them up. Along with a significant chunk of the earth. In his panic, he'd lost focus and his grasp slackened. He was lucky the Skill still had its lightning aspect, otherwise a significant portion of them would have survived his landing.
Tch. He had to cast Adamant Discord again to get the grounded enemies immobilized, and that had sent him up into the air. Must be something like counter force or balance. I push down, I get pushed up. He tapped his lip with a dark talon, careful not to split his own skin. The Stone Shaping took care of most of them at least. They were weak. A lot weaker than I anticipated, really.
You Have Killed
Felix waved off the notification, letting it pass through him but otherwise ignoring it and the many others like it. He looked around him at the corpses of monsters that were slowly fading into a greasy black smoke as they decayed. In the sky above, Pit wheeled after the last clusters of bird monsters, trilling a happy song through their bond.
Need any help? he asked.
No, came the immediate reply. Having fun.
Wingblades and Frost Spears shot out, but not nearly as many as he'd expected. Instead his Companion lit himself on fire and chased after his prey with remarkable grace. He managed to keep them all outside of the city. Felix was seriously impressed; his little tenku had come a long way.
The portion of his interface that was Pit's notifications flickered into view.
Pit's Wingblade is level 61!
Pit's Frost Spear is level 64!
Pit's Poisonfire is level 45!
Wow, yeah. Keep at it, bud. As long as the tenku kept making gains and wasn't hurt, Felix was happy to let him hunt.
Manifestation of the Coronach is level 46!
Adamant Discord is level 57!