THIRTY-THREE: LEGIONARIUS IMMORTALIS
Connection Established
Cassius Null
Legionnaire (F)
Level 7
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 7
Endurance: 16
Perception: 6
Intelligence: 7
Mana: 10
Skills:
Thrust
Reinforce
March
Hunter’s Sight
Regenerate
Cached Experience Found
Do You Wish To Level x3
Warning Tier Upgrade Possible
Must Finish Leveling F-Tier Class
Cassius looked over the display before clicking yes to level, the rush of power similar to what he’d already experienced before. Strength poured into him, power filled his bones as he fought back to suppress the gasp of pleasure. Assigning the three spare free points took only a moment as the words changed in his mind again, forming new lines of text he’d never heard of before. He cursed Vira for not warning him, but read quickly.
CLASS POSSIBILITIES GENERATED
PRIMARY FACTOR
MANA INCREASE
SKILLS:
HUNTER’S SIGHT
REGENERATE
SUGGESTED CLASS
LEGIONARIUS IMMORTALIS
+2 STRENGTH
+ 2 ENDURANCE
+1 MANA
+3 FREE POINTS
SECONDARY CLASS
LEGIONARIUS ANTECESSOR
+1 STRENGTH
+2 DEXTERITY
+2 PERCEPTION
+3 FREE POINTS
Cassius stared at the options, translating the old tongue in his head to the best of his ability. Immortal Legionnaire and Forward Legionnaire. No, Cassius realized it was closer to scout or vanguard. Skill differential points would lean toward someone who would be better suited away from his brothers and sisters, doing as he did now. It suited him in a way, this travel and fighting in small groups.
Immortal held more appeal. Strength, endurance, and more mana to keep his skills active. Healing and fighting through the pain with the weight of the legion behind him held more appeal than sneaking through brush using only his wits to stay ahead of monster claws or whatever else lurked in the Wilds.
CLASS SELECTED
LEGIONARIUS IMMORTALIS
EXPERIENCE CACHE DRAINED
LEVEL 11
Another wave of strength hit him, the single level nearly as strong as the last three blessings he’d received. His knee buckled, weight shifted as he assigned his last three points, regaining his balance as he looked over his new prompt. A bristle of pride filled him as he stared at the numbers, the strongest legionnaire in generations.
Cassius Null
Legionarius Immortalis (E)
Level 11
Strength: 19
Dexterity: 8
Endurance: 21
Perception: 8
Intelligence: 7
Mana: 14
Skills:
Thrust
Reinforce
March
Hunter’s Sight
Regenerate
EMPTY
EMPTY
EMPTY
He’d devoted all the free points from the [Legionnaire] class into mana and the first three points of [Legionarius Immortalis] had been split with dexterity and perception to aid him. There had been a noticeable stiffening to his body, a lack of flexibility that had been made up for with pure strength, but it had been a gnawing concern on his mind. Perception simply made sense with the skill [Hunter’s Sight] but he made it a concern to bring both of those stats up past ten points with future blessings.
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“Are you finished?” Vira asked, knocking Cassius free of his own thoughts. He looked over to see the armored woman stretching before the misty gray portal. Valeria was working on the wall already, the six collected watches before her. How Vira had managed to pull them from Cassius’ pack without him noticing was concerning.
“Yes, are you ready?”
“I have been. You took twice as long as I did. I assume you had pathways to choose?” Vira asked. Cassius nodded as he activated [Hunter’s Sight] and felt the world come into crisp vision. He looked at Vira and schooled his expression as he finally had reached a position for his skill to analyze her.
LEVEL TWELVE
KNIGHT
SKILLS:
UNKNOWN X8
Cassius didn’t know what a knight was, but it was an upgrade over her former class. The skill still gave him a sense of danger around the woman, but it had lessened to something closer to equals.
“Valeria, I am taking your spear if you are resting here,” Cassius told his fellow, grabbing his shield and her spear, leaving his pack on the ground as he stood by Vira.
“If they are waiting outside of the mist, stand firm and hold them back with your spear. I will hold the flank and try to overcome the closest to us,” Vira said as she drew her sword. Mana ran down its length as she waited for Cassius to take the lead.
“Just be ready.” It was all he said as he stepped back into the mist, feeling it wrap around him again in cool embrace. One moment they were in the obsidian room and the next they were back in the fog shrouded streets, the strange lamps burning overhead, light diffused by the endless fog.
Not sprinting for his life, the trip to the street took slightly longer, but it only increased the tension in Cassius’ heart as they rounded the corner. [Hunter’s Sight] allowed him to see through the obscuring mist.
“Are all dungeons like this? Our foes seem like they are locked into a way of behaving?” Cassius whispered to Vira as he saw that all seven of the undead warriors had spread down the long lane.
“Weaker dungeons like this, yes. Rumors are that the more powerful ones have smarter beasts inside of them that will trap and trick you,” Vira said.
“All seven of our foes are stretched down the lane. If we are quiet, we may be able to kill one or two before the others realize we are upon them,” Cassius said.
“Let us do it then. You are my eyes.” Vira’s free hand grabbed his shoulder, the strength apparent even through the steel.
“Then silently,” Cassius whispered, starting to stalk forward. It helped these undead warriors were afflicted by stupidity, they walked slowly and turned like glaciers. Cassius didn’t think they could see far into the mist, not like he could anyway, but their sense of hearing was superb. When Vira stumbled, nothing more than the scuff of a boot against stone, heads swung to look toward them.
Their unseeing eyes panicked Cassius for a moment, but none of them charged forward, slowly losing their attention after a moment. He bit his tongue to keep from remarking to Vira, instead leading them closer and closer toward the nearest of them. Each of the beasts lined up roughly with one of the estates, the one Cassius had slain being the guardian to the final estate before the end of the road on one side.
Its partner was further down, closer to the gates near the center of the gates rather than by the end toward the curve of the road that led to the Dungeon Heart. Step by step Cassius led the closer, nervous sweat rolling down his neck as they crept within ten paces of it.
Eight paces.
Six paces.
The creature turned, eyes brightening as its blade burned with mana, a guttural cry coming from its throat. Cassius lunged forward, [Reinforce] and [Thrust] combing together around his spear as he aimed for the unarmored chest. His own speed took him by surprise, the recent blessings showing themselves as he struck before the undead could ready itself.
Mana blasted out of the back of the warrior as it stumbled and fell, dead before the fight had begun. The undead bowed around the spear, sword clanging loudly to the ground as its sickly light faded away. Slowly it fell to the ground with a thump.
“That is a dungeon forged blade, grab it!” Vira hissed, stepping toward the sword.
“After we kill the others, six more coming. They are broken up, not coming as a single group. Twelve paces to your left, it is coming fast!” Cassius warned Vira as he walked around her and positioned himself to catch the next two charging undead.
Steel met steel in a crashing cacophony as Cassius focused on the duo that came at him with burning blades. [Reinforce] kept his shield from splitting down the middle and [Thrust] wedged his spear into the second one’s gut. Without blending the skills together he didn’t kill it with a single blow, but the mana strain was reduced enough that he could keep fighting.
Back and forth they went, Cassius constantly working to keep the duo from reaching Vira as she struggled to finish her duel. Loud curses came from the noblewoman as she battled around it, all the while Cassius stared at the last three members who were coming from down the lane. It wouldn’t be long before he had five of the warriors before him and then it wouldn’t matter how much reach his spear gave him.
“What is taking you so long!” Cassius yelled without turning his head. He positioned his shield to take a cracking blow, the flare of light from opposing skills brightening the area as he thrust with other hand to drive the second of the creatures back.
“It regenerates!” Vira screamed back.
“Combine skills and overwhelm it!” Cassius yelled back as he slammed the heavy tower shield into closest of the undead, reveling in his greater strength as the undead went wheeling back to fall upon its back.
The world illuminated behind him a second before a thundercrack assaulted his ears. It was more powerful than when he had combined his skills by a magnitude. Vira was there a moment later though, taking pressure off of him as she drove back his attacker with a flurry of sword strikes.
Cassius took advantage of the reversal of numbers, leaping toward the slowly rising undead warrior and placing a [Thrust] empowered spear strike through the creature’s forehead. Mana helped split the tough bone with ease and the creatures slowly toppled backward dead.
Cassius looked over just in time to see Vira decapitate her foe with a powerful swing, the head flying away from her as her armored boot struck its chest. The body crashed to the ground, Vira looking around wildly for either him or more of the monsters.
The three remaining creatures were close, racing toward Vira with determined gaits. Their burning blades rose up and Cassius remembered how Titus fell, cut down by swords on all sides.
“VIRA BACK UP!” Cassius roared, his voice filling the street as he launched himself toward her. Spear and shield worked in tandem, catching two powerful sword stokes while stabbing the third through the knee. Vira jumped back, cursing wildly as Cassius and the three undead seemed to materialize around her.
Splinters of his shield scattered about as [Reinforce] failed to child against the dual strike. His arm went numb from the power of the attack, but Cassius didn’t let up, slamming the shield into them and forcing them back. The wide tower shield clipped both of them and staggered them a few feet while he drew his spear out of the knee of the final undead.
Vira was there the next moment, blade creating a twisting cage of sharpened steel as she hedged the undead in, capitalizing on its injured leg. Their fight lasted only moments as Cassius kept the other two back with stabbing probes of the long spear. Neither of the undead had the speed or skill to push by him now, forced to contend with his reach.
“Done!” Vira announced as another body hit the ground.
“I’ll take the one on the left, you the right!” Cassius ordered, already angling to peel the leftward warrior away from its partner. Whatever it had been in life, it wasn’t a legionnaire. The beast allowed itself to separate from its partner with ease, moving to the side as Cassius fought to keep it away from Vira’s duel. The noblewoman was a force of nature as he hammered down on the weaker undead.
His mana reserves felt strained, but nothing like the crippling emptiness he had the last time he had pushed himself hard. Cassius wished the fight to end now, no longer wishing to match the undead blow for blow.
[Reinforce] and [Thrust] combined together and the fight ended with another explosion of mana as the skills blew apart the monster’s chest. Vira at the same time finished her own foe off, taking its head again.
“That is all of them?” Vira said between panting breaths as Cassius looked over the street. All eight of the second tier undead were dead, the street cleared of their enemy. Before he could speak, with a great, rusting groan, all eight of the estate gates slowly peeled open. From down the lane, the two manors they hadn’t cleared, the first of the shuffling undead came out of the estates, blank gazes on their heads as they ambled about.
“Gates are open and the last of the monsters are in the lane. One more fight,” Cassius told Vira as the pitiful horde shuffled toward them.
