As they came to the final turn in the road, they could see out over the town just below them. The neat rows of buildings that stretched far into that distance were obscured by a thick fog, a result of the warm, humid air. As the sun was rising on the far side of town, they could see a warm slice of fuzzy sunshine through the haze.
There was overwhelming evidence of violence as they entered the outskirts of town. Shattered windows, broken and battered doors, and smears of blood on the sidewalks and walls were all around them. They moved forward cautiously, Frank searching the lower floor of buildings while Morgan watched the stairs up or stood outside on guard. The first two houses were empty, but Morgan could see blood dripping through the ceiling from the floor above.
Frank didn’t say what happened; he just motioned that it was clear and ushered Morgan down the steps and outside. As they neared the third house, Frank suddenly stopped and crouched down a bit.
“I can hear someone fighting inside,” he whispered from the corner of his mouth. Then, he broke into a jog. They entered together. Frank first, with Morgan covering the rear. Immediately, Frank was stabbing his javelin at a goblin who was trying to fight upstairs past an old man in flannel pajamas. The man swung a shovel and was barely keeping the goblin at bay. Morgan threw his javelin over Frank’s shoulder and then drew his sword. His javelin struck the goblin in the back as he was spinning to hiss at Frank. The creature went down with a second quick stab in a fountain of black ichor.
“Thank goodness you folks showed up when you did. I was about done in,” the man on the stairs gasped, his face pale and splotchy. They heard sobbing from multiple people upstairs. He collapsed on the stairs, completely exhausted. He had a few minor cuts on his arms, but one that was still bleeding quite steadily on his calf.
“My wife and two sons are up there,” he said weakly, “please keep them safe.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
“Not so fast, let me take a look at that cut on your leg,” Frank said, pulling the backpack off his back.
“Morgan, ensure the rest of the house is clear. Shout if you see .” Frank said over his shoulder. With a nod, Morgan quickly searched the lower level of the house. He found two other goblin corpses. Morgan, strangely numb and uncaring, unceremoniously dragged the corpses of the goblins outside into the front yard while Frank quickly bandaged the man’s leg before he bled out. The goblins also only had small weapons, which Morgan collected and gave to the man.
Pale and weak, the man had little chance to defend from another goblin, let alone a group of them. With a few quick swipes of the crowbar, Frank removed the lowest five stairs from the staircase.
“This should keep anything from getting up there if you stay quiet,” Frank told the man.
They went house to house, working their way into town. Most of the houses had broken windows or doors and had nothing but corpses inside, almost all of which were human. They found ripped and broken toys, corpses of family pets, dead, dismembered, and half-eaten men, women, and children. Each house left in complete destruction weighed on them both. The zombies, although horrific and unsettling, were actually the easiest of the creatures to kill. They moved so slowly that you could walk around them and kill them before they turned toward you.
The two men grew silent and moved methodically. This was negated just slightly when they interrupted creatures in the middle of home invasions and quickly killed them, saving a few people. So few people! The survivors were always tearful and thankful for the duo. Saving the people and seeing them so grateful made every step worth it.
Frank was getting very good at throwing the javelin and following it up with a few smacks of the crowbar. Morgans was down to using his sword; his javelin had broken. He had gained basic sword proficiency, and Morgan also received two ability points and two more skill points from rifts. He put his points into Wisdom and Intelligence.
::Your current attributes are Str - 12, Dex - 12, Con - 15, Wis - 11, Int - 11.::
He also leveled twice, bringing his skill points to four, using those he learned:
::Dodge: You can dodge easier, as long as you have stamina. (Common)::
::Iron Skin: Your skin toughens. (Uncommon).::
::Talk with Animals: They know more than you think. (Uncommon)::
::Master of the Elements: Gain control of an element. (rare)::
Morgan said excitedly.
Sophia said.
A refined feminine voice echoed from the town. “Hello, if you can hear this, you are close enough for my message skill. I am Katherine Henson, headmistress of Maple Creek Academy. We have cleared the Academy and are gathering everyone alive.” Her voice broke with emotion a little, and then she continued, “If you cannot make your way here safely, hang pieces of cloth or anything else out of your windows. We will have groups of people looking for other survivors. Good lu…” The message faded away.
The Academy was a large stone private school in the very middle of town. That was only like four or five blocks north of here.
“That’s not that far,” Morgan exclaimed. “We could make it there in like 10 minutes.”
“We could,” Frank mused, “or we could help other people make it there. I have a friend, Marcus, who lives outside town down this road about half a mile.” Frank indicated the road they had been following East straight through town. “I am hoping he is alright. But I am not gonna skip all these other people who may need help on the way.”
“Might as well see him first. Then take him with us to the Academy.”
“Well, his wife is in a wheelchair. I don't know how good that will be unless we make sure the coast is clear.”
“Well, let’s get clearing. We don't have all day,” Morgan placed his hands on Frank’s shoulders and turned him towards the next house, and gave a light shove.
“You bastard!” Frank chuckled, shaking his head and shedding some of the tension in his shoulders. Then, he walked forward.
There were shards of glass from broken windows everywhere as they got closer to the center of town. It was bad, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. Most of the creatures rampaging in the town had been goblins and kobolds.
As the noon sun beat down on them, they neared the last building on the street they were clearing before the town gave way to the forest. The road continued, bathed in cool, refreshing-looking shadows.
“This is my last one for a bit,” Morgan wheezed out. His stamina bar was at 10% and Sophia informed him that he would need to rest soon or he would get a debuff that would decrease all his stats by 50%. Even at 10% stamina, actions seemed to be taking a bit more out of him than before.
“Yeah, once we clear this one, let’s take a break. Recover a bit, then head towards Marcus,” Frank replied. His face was pale and looked even older and grizzlier than it did this morning.
The last house was a large two-story house with a broken door hanging off its hinges. Shattered fragments of the door lay all over the sidewalk up to the door. They knew when they got within 200 feet that there had been troglodytes inside, or nearby. The stench of rotten meat was thick in the air. Setting down their bags, they readied their weapons as they slowly entered the building. Morgan walked carefully to the top of the stairs to guard while Frank inspected downstairs, their usual method.
The air in the house was fetid and musty, thick with the scent of rotten flesh and the cloying scent of blood. While Frank used his sneak skill to search the downstairs noiselessly, Morgan grew more and more anxious; the trials of the long, horrific day weighed on his psyche. He could see blood splatters on a closed door at the end of the long hallway.
On either side of the hallway doors stood open into other rooms. His breathing was deep and ragged, and his pounding heart seemed to deafen him as he waited. His adrenaline and the hot, humid air made his grip on the sword slick with sweat. A soft, constant scratching noise from the end of the hall brought Morgan’s attention away from his own breathing and the staccato beating of his heart to the gap under the door at the end of the hall. He saw a terrified and wild-looking blue eye staring at him, the slightest hint of blonde hair slipping under the door. Thinking it was a young victim, his heart sank like stone. He visibly deflated on the banister in despair.
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Then the eye blinked. Morgan, realizing that there was someone alive in the room at the end of the hall, and the noises were also coming from that direction, he reacted.
He inched his way to the door as quietly as he could. As he passed the first open door, his blood chilled, and his face paled. There were half a dozen or so troglodytes covered in blood, lying curled into a huge heap, sleeping. The scratching was a head of a sleeping troglodyte scratching up and down on the door frame as it breathed heavily.
Sophia whispered
He thought of her.
Slowly shaking his head, Morgan decided it was better that Frank do the sneaking. He crept the three steps back to the top of the stairs and was just going to take the first step down when a quiet crash sounded from below.
“Two trogs! Saw me! Meet at the door,” Frank growled.
There was a soft thudding of heavy steps as Frank came into view at the bottom of the stairs. Two troglodytes clamoring to fit through the door behind him. One had a large bloody line on the side of its head.
Apparently, one of the creatures upstairs heard it as well. The scratching noise stopped, a blood-covered, clawed hand reached around the door frame, followed by the four-frilled head of a large troglodyte, fresh blood glistening on its wicked maw. Looking at Morgan, its lips twisted into a feral grin before it lunged forward. Morgan reacted; his sword proficiency made the weapon feel much more comfortable in his hands. As the brute swiped with its claws, Morgan deftly parried and deflected them away and struck out in a riposte as the creature fell past him down the stairs.
The blade struck the creature in the shoulder, and it let out a loud, painful hiss as it bounced down the stairs, landing beside Frank with a thunderous crash. At that sound, a cacophony of hisses rang out, filling the entire upper level of the house with a flurry of motion.
Morgan shouted, “There’s a kid at the end of the hall,” and then he rushed past the open doors. As he passed, he saw crouched troglodytes rousing themselves. Like five more in the other room. SHIT! Arriving at the door at the end of the hall, he was startled to find it locked. Spinning, he backed up to the door. Three more troglodytes crowded out of the rooms and into the hallway, between Morgan and the stairs.
Morgan charged, the helplessness, pain, and anger he had been feeling all day coming to a head as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed so hard he felt his throat ripping, and he ignored the itch as it repaired itself. The first troglodyte in the line hissed back at him before swiping with a claw and trying to bite at his head. Morgan blocked the bite with a cut to the bridge of its nose, but the claw ripped through his clothes, only to leave a small cut on his hardened skin that immediately closed with hardly a drop of blood.
Seeing this, the creature blinked in surprise. Morgan’s face split into a malicious grin. He struck twice in quick succession. The creature fell back, trying to get away from this now dangerous human, but its companions filled the hallway behind it, trying to push their own way to the fresh meat. A javelin from behind struck one in the temple, and it went down hard. Frank was fighting on the stairs to get to Morgan.
Two more creatures pushed their way into the already crowded hallway. All Morgan could see were black, soulless eyes, teeth, and claws. He swung over and over, reducing the creature in front of him to ribbons of stinking flesh before it fell. The next creature tried to force its way over the body. The knee-high obstruction slowed the creature down. Morgan spared nothing as he swung, watching his stamina bar turn red.
Sophia said with a note of concern in her tone.
He didn't rest; he wore himself ragged, standing between the frightened child and the wall of death. He held his ground until he couldn't swing the sword anymore. Still, he tried, his Indomitable Will ability allowing him to swing, even though each swing caused him to feel even more and more drained. His swings slowed, and they finally reached him; scratches came at him from claws everywhere. He was so exhausted he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He closed his eyes and repeated to himself.
He felt the floor give way under him as the weight of all the creatures reached the structure’s breaking point. He heard the child behind the locked door scream a high-pitched wail of pure terror. A jaw clamped onto his shoulder, trying to work its way closer and closer to his neck. He landed hard on his back on the floor below, jaws still clamped on his shoulder.
At this point, he couldn’t even swing the sword. He pulled out the little goblin sword to use as a dagger with his other hand. He took a deep breath, finally feeling all the stress and fear evaporate from his body as he accepted that this was the end. He slammed the dagger over and over into the creature above his shoulder. A hard thudding crunch of his collar bone breaking, and a white hot spike of pain as the teeth finally punctured deep, ripping the muscles and tendons, something in his back gave way. He lost control of his arms.
Even with his eyes shut, the HUD was flashing red
Then there was silence. A faraway sound of yells and growling. The jaws started working at his shoulder again, shaking back and forth. The teeth ripped his muscles as fast as the flesh knitted itself together. He could feel the blood gushing down his chest into a warm pool on his stomach as he lay on his back. His hands were numb, and he couldn't feel his legs. His eyes would only open to slivers, but he saw nothing but the scaly lizard throat of the creature on his shoulder.
Then the jaws released, and the head pulled away. Frank stood there, a mixture of relief and worry playing across his features. His mouth was moving, but Morgan couldn’t make anything of it. Slowly, as if through deep, deep water, he started to hear sounds again. Frank was over him now, face pale, white, gripped a crowbar in one hand, a small girl about eight years old, face buried in his chest in his other arm. A blood-soaked shirt was wrapped around Frank’s hand and dripped from under the child. Morgan still couldn't move a muscle.
“Morgan, get up. For the love of everything holy. Get your ass up! More are coming.” He looked over his shoulder, then back down at Morgan. With a snarl and curse, he turned and looked once more back at Morgan and hurried out the door. “I’ll be back. Hide or something if you can hear me.” The grim set of his face showed an amount of despair and hopelessness Morgan had never seen before. Frank then shoved the corpse of the troglodyte back onto Morgan’s face.
Morgan thought these things as he lay unable to do anything. “
His vision swam. Black spots gathered in the corners.
His face hardened into a mask of resolve.
he shouted in his mind.
Sophia said with obvious relief.
he thought, his mind recovering but still mulled by thick fog. He could feel the searing pain of his shoulder reforming. His legs and arms were still unresponsive.
::Skill - Unique - Mano a Mana - Mana permanently set to zero, you cannot use Mana. Greatly increases stamina and stamina regeneration.::
::Skill - Rare - Mana Shield - When activated, you negate all damage until deactivated or you are out of mana.::
Sophia quietly told him.
He struggled to think, “
::Skill Granted - Mano a Mana.::
A message appeared at the very bottom of his screen:
::Congratulations! You are the first person on your planet to have four unique skills. Ability point gained.::
A wave of fiery pain crashed into him; every pore was being seared. He felt as though his skin was being peeled off. His eyes squeezed shut, but he could feel blood pouring from them in rivulets. The HUD flashed a deep crimson, and his mana bar turned black. His stamina bar flashed twice and grew to twice the size it had been.
Then the wave of pain subsided, a feeling of warmth tickled in his chest, and then it came crashing back like a tsunami. Pain became his essence; only Indomitable Will kept him from blacking out as he lay there for what felt like hours but were split seconds. He could feel the strength returning to him as his stamina bar ticked up in tiny increments. He felt the itch and torturous movement under his shoulder blades as his broken spine pulled itself together.
The sound of scurrying made him look to the door. A kobold sniffed slowly over the wreckage that was Morgan and the pile of troglodytes. It had a small knife in its hand and a child's bucket on its head like a helmet. There was a gap under the troglodyte on Morgan, where he could see out. But the kobold could see in. When they made eye contact, the creature rushed forward. Morgan’s sword arm was still under the pile of bodies, but his left hand was somewhat free.
He could feel his strength returning as the creature tried in vain to get his knife close to his face. He swung his left hand back and forth, swatting at the knife. Willing his legs to work. The knife slashed across his palm and didn't even pierce the skin.
Sophia exclaimed triumphantly.
He could feel his toes!!
With a roar of rage and a shove of effort, he rolled with all his might to the left, bringing the sword from under the bodies and up into the surprised kobold's neck. It hung there, impaled on the sword, blood gushing from the wound. Its eyes blinked twice, then stopped forever. Morgan crawled the rest of the way from under the macabre huddle of corpses, grunting as he stood up.
Three more kobolds ran headlong into the building, brandishing weapons, no doubt prepared to meet a troglodyte. Morgan swung at the front two with a horizontal slash. There was the swooshing noise of Godslayer's Blade activating, and the two kobolds and their weapons fell into pieces, the blade slid through them without any resistance.
The third one, standing behind them, stabbed at him with a small spear. He diverted it to the side with his bare left hand, ignoring the familiar pain and itch, and brought the sword forward in a quick jab into the stomach of the creature. With a twist of the blade, he jerked it to the side and disemboweled the creature.
He asked himself as the creature gurgled its death throes.
Sophia replied.
He looked down at his tattered and ripped clothing. His shirt was all but gone. His khakis were also cut in multiple places. We wore little more than rags tinged a dirty black and red, smeared with ash, blood, and viscera.
Looking out, he could just see Frank’s back as he crested the hill about half a mile away, a trail of long blonde hair over his shoulder. He was jogging as fast as he could to get her to the safety of the Academy.
On shaking legs, he bent and grabbed the two backpacks, putting his on and shouldering Frank’s. Then, he began to jog after Frank. Getting steadier with each step.
