Hack, Slash & Burn 2: A LitRPG Fantasy, page 13
+80% boost to Stamina
+10% boost to Agility
+10% boost to Strength
+10% boost to Magic
+35% boost to Perception
The Minor Enchanted Stone wasn’t quite as powerful as the wall they had constructed back in Berring, but it would still almost double the health of the enemies, not to mention boost their other attributes—even if only marginally.
Examining the mini-map, he tried to count the blinking red dots. Though the settlement was smaller than Berring, there were far more orcs within it than Berring had humans before it had been invaded.
There must have been at least two hundred orcs.
Two hundred orcs, at least at level 30…
Calder and Yesna stood behind a tree, at least half a mile from the settlement’s main gate. Far enough that the enemy wouldn’t be able to hear them.
“Should we bring in another squad for this, Cal?” Yesna’s forehead was deeply lined. “This is a fortified village, nothing like what we’ve faced before, and our squad isn’t even full.”
Calder shook his head. He looked at Yesna and scanned her, reminding himself of her attributes.
Yesna
Level 48
Classification: Mystic/Sacred Defender
Attributes
Strength: 25
Agility: 70
Magic: 110+20=130
Stamina: 50+10=60
Perception: 50+5=55
Calder often forgot how high Yesna’s Magic attribute was. He smiled. It was almost as high as his inflated Agility attribute, mostly because she had forgone strength almost completely. Though she had found that Agility helped her cast her spells faster, not to mention keep track of all her allies and their positions more rapidly.
“Remind me of the spells you gained during the Battle of Berring?” Calder asked.
Yesna pursed her lips. “I gained a few. One of them, you’ll remember, is Strength Boon, which adds 30% strength to those I cast it upon. Then there was Mass Heal, which lets me heal multiple allies at once.”
Calder nodded. He had remembered the difference those spells had made. “What about your defensive spells?”
Yesna let out a sigh. It appeared as though she knew where he was going with this. “Sacred Barrier. It creates a barrier around me that recharges each time three enemies are slain by myself or one of my direct allies—specifically one of my party members.”
During the Battle of Berring, Calder hadn’t even known that she had received this spell, as she had never needed to use it, and they hadn’t exactly gotten much time to talk. He had been looking forward to getting the chance to see it in action. It reminded him of Berserk, as each time he gained ten kills it would gain him a Killstreak, effectively recharging the spell.
With two hundred enemies in the settlement, enemies that he was mostly sure were all lower level than them, and Yesna using that spell while he went Berserk and slayed the enemies… he couldn’t imagine a way they would lose.
Especially as he would be receiving heals not just from Yesna, but each time he gained a Killstreak his health would restore by 50%. With two hundred enemies, that gave the potential of receiving twenty Killstreaks, and rejuvenating Yesna’s Sacred Barrier over sixty times.
Yes. They didn’t need the rest of their party for this.
“Do you trust me, Yesna?” Calder asked.
The priestess released a heavy sigh. “Far too much, apparently.”
Calder grinned. “Don’t worry, if things get too heated, I’ll portal us out of there.”
“Won’t we need to use your Portal spell to get into the settlement in the first place?” Yesna raised an eyebrow. “With a ten-minute cooldown, it might not be of any help.”
Calder didn’t bother correcting her—the Portal spell’s cooldown was only nine and a half minutes now. Though he supposed that didn’t negate her point. They could get into plenty of trouble in that time. He twirled his Sage Sword around in his hand. “Oh, I can think of another way to get us in there. When the gate opens, cast your spell and make your way in.” He stepped out of the cover of the tree and gazed up at the two guard towers before Yesna could say anything to protest his actions.
Then he strode straight for the orc settlement’s main gate, waiting to gain the Orc Hunters’ attention. He couldn’t help but smile. He had been looking for a challenge, and he imagined this would be quite a good one. And considering how many enemies there were, he was bound to gain a level.
Even if he didn’t gain a level, Yesna surely would.
He couldn’t help but wonder about what would happen once they had cleared the settlement—would they be able to claim it for their own? Would the Minor Enchanted Stone work in their favour, instead of in the favour of the orcs? He wasn’t sure if he had enough people to have them make this place into an outpost, but he couldn’t help but like the idea.
But perhaps he was thinking too far ahead. He had more than enough on his plate as it was.
It didn’t take the Orc Hunters long to notice him. Actually, now that he was closer, he scanned one of them, finding it wasn’t an Orc “Hunter” at all.
Orc Rogue
Level 30
Classification: Hunter
Attributes
Strength: 30
Agility: 50
Magic: 0
Stamina: 40
Perception: 35
It’s a Hunter classification, but now it’s called an Orc Rogue. He shook his head at the confusing title of the Darktouched archer, clashing with its actual class.
It not being a Ranger didn’t come to much of a surprise. He had already discovered that the orcs could pick their secondary classes at level 25.
One of the Orc Rogues rang a bell in the guard tower, alerting the entire settlement of his presence. The other nocked and loosed an arrow at him. Calder’s activated Charge—he didn’t want to activate Berserk until there were more enemies clustered together. It would be a pity to waste it without the possibility of gaining a Killstreak, then have to wait for its cooldown to end. Besides, for the next few moments, he wasn’t focused on killing enemies.
At least, not purely on killing enemies—he would surely take a few down along the way, mainly those two Orc Rogues.
His immediate goal was getting that gate open.
When the arrow was a split-second away from reaching him, Calder Dream Stepped straight to the top of the guard tower on the left. He activated Power Strike, wanting to ensure he took the enemy down in one hit. The Orc Rogue’s eyes bulged in surprise as a sword was suddenly thrust through its chest. Proficiency flooded into Calder, though he didn’t need to feel its presence to know the orc was dead.
Fifty-five second cooldown. Calder wouldn’t be able to use Dream Step to help him right now. Though fifty-five seconds didn’t sound like much, he wanted to have the gate open before that.
He whirled around to face the opposite guard tower. He didn’t bother raising his shield to block the arrow coming his way—it bounced straight off his Sage Full Plate armour. As he gazed over at the other Orc Rogue, an idea came to him.
It was a bit crazy, but he liked it.
He gauged the distance between the tower he stood on, and the tower the Orc Rogue was shooting him from.
It wasn’t that far—maybe twenty feet. Considering his level of Strength and Agility…
Calder backed up ten steps—the entire length of the platform atop the guard tower—then sprinted forward, straight for the ledge.
He leapt from one tower to the other.
Calder couldn’t help but think how absolutely insane what he was doing was. Before becoming Touched—no, even after becoming Touched and before the Battle of Berring—he never would have considered doing something so foolish.
Now, he felt more powerful than he ever had before. He couldn’t keep using what he used to be capable of as a reference for what he could do now. His strength was so far beyond that of a normal human that he needed to think outside of the normal. He needed to fight like what he was now, not the soldier he used to be.
Calder easily made the jump, landing atop the surprised Orc Rogue on the other side. As he landed, he activated Shield Bash, crushing in the orc’s skull before it even had a chance to scream.
It wasn’t pretty, but these things never were.
Now all he needed to do was get to the ground and open that gate before he was overrun by enemies.
Calder gazed over at the middle of the settlement. Orcs were streaming toward the main gate. His earlier assessment of the blinking red dots on his mini-map had been accurate—it looked to be around two hundred enemies.
No hesitation. Calder let out a breath, looked over the guard tower’s ledge, then vaulted straight over the side.
He landed, catlike, in the dirt, creating a small crater. Gods, his knees didn’t even creak. He’d had no idea he was capable of something like that! He looked at his right leg, the one that used to be injured, and simply shook his head in awe. Calder snapped back into action. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t just stand there and bask in his own glory.
The settlement wasn’t the most sophisticated, which he was glad for. The gate was built from two massive heavy wooden doors, not a metal portcullis which would have taken him longer to get open. He shoved his sword into the dirt and picked up three heavy planks of wood from across the doors that had been keeping it shut, tossing them to the ground.
Then he threw open the main gate, wrenching his sword back out from the dirt. He gazed out of the doors, over to the tree they had been hiding behind. Come on, Yesna. The roars and stampeding boots of the orcs neared. They would be on him in seconds, and just because he had gotten the gate open didn’t mean he could keep it open.
With his shield, he shoved the doors open even farther, then he turned around to face the oncoming mass of orcs. He hadn’t seen Yesna pop out from behind the tree, and he could no longer turn to check if she was on her way, he just had to trust that she was.
Two hundred orcs, each supported by the boosts offered by the Minor Enchanted Stone, making their stamina almost double. Calder activated Strong Stance to better hold his ground. Tough Skin to fortify his defence. He enchanted his blade with every Mage spell he had—which, admittedly, wasn’t very many. Fireball. Lightning Bolt. Freeze. It ate through much of his mana, but he would gain that back soon enough.
Then, finally, he activated Berserk, so he could rip his enemies to pieces. How hard could this be?
He could have focused his hearing behind him to identify whether Yesna was on her way—he would have been able to hear even her soft footsteps—but his full attention was centred upon the enemy.
I will hold this ground. He must look utterly foolish. One man standing against two hundred bestial beings, all taller and thicker of muscle than him, surging toward him in a raging mass.
Calder bared his teeth and shouted a battle cry. He threw his shield up, blocking several incoming arrows from Orc Rogues. More than one of those arrows had been Knockdown Arrows. Strong Stance let him keep his footing. The arrows threatened to push him back a step, but he didn’t let them.
These orcs are weak. I can take them.
The Mage spells came, then. Fireballs. Lightning bolts. Shards of ice as large and long as his sword. They didn’t do him any harm. At least, nothing he noticed. That fact made him feel invincible, but he knew it was only an illusion. No matter how powerful he might be compared to each of those orcs, if he wasn’t careful, this battle could end in his death.
Calder scanned the first of the enemies headed his way.
Orc Swordmage
Level 30
Classification: Spellsword
Attributes
Strength: 42
Agility: 38
Magic: 15
Stamina: 35
Perception: 25
Orc Defender
Level 30
Classification: Paladin
Attributes
Strength: 40
Agility: 30
Magic: 20
Stamina: 40
Perception: 25
Orc Swiftblade
Level 30
Classification: Duellist
Attributes
Strength: 40
Agility: 45
Magic: 0
Stamina: 40
Perception: 30
All level 30. At least he had gotten that right, so far.
The Orc Swordmage’s sword had flames running up its blade.
The Orc Defender had a white glow about it—some defensive Cleric spell? A pre-emptive self-heal?
The Orc Swiftblade didn’t carry a single sword and shield. Instead, it dual wielded two long, thin blades.
Calder couldn’t hold his ground any longer. The bastards were taking too long to get to him, even though they were only a few steps away. Calder surged forward. Charge was still active, though he knew it would soon run out. But in that moment, he was swifter than the wind.
The way Calder wielded his sword was not like that of an artist. His technique was not utter perfection, his strikes not the embodiment of diligent, practised swordsmanship. No, the way he wielded his sword was like that of a butcher hacking through meat.
It wasn’t pretty—it was efficient.
An Eviscerate powered strike had him hack through the Orc Swordmage’s shoulder. A Power Strike had him decapitate an Orc Defender in a single swipe. A Bleeding Strike had him tear through an Orc Swiftblade’s armour and open its belly—the bleeding effect didn’t have a chance to do any damage as the orc died trying to hold its guts in.
Bodies began to surround Calder.
+10 Killstreak!
Kill 10 enemies in a single minute to keep Berserk alive.
Your health and adrenaline have been healed by 50%.
The Killstreak came faster than he had anticipated. Calder smiled, glad to have his Sage Full Plate back on after having to fight those damned Orc Dominators back in Dranador.
The entire first line of fighters were all orc warriors with varying secondary classes. Calder felt arrows hit him from the ranks of archers. Felt them rebound off his armour. The arrows simply weren’t strong enough to break through. It reminded him of when they fought the Protector of the Dark Nexus, how barely any of his party’s strikes had gotten through that beast’s armour.
Except now Calder was the beast.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t taking any damage, of course. His health points steadily declined as he was battered by a dozen swords, dozens of arrows, and more than a few spells, but they also rose straight back up every time he received a Killstreak.
He didn’t even bother blocking strikes from the attackers—defenders—anymore. Though their strength was higher than a usual level 30, he could still take them quite easily.
Almost too easily.
Even the Lightning Bolts and Fireballs thrown at him did very little. His shield offered +5 resistance to both of those elements, and they barely affected him. The only reason he was taking any damage at all was because of the sheer number of attackers.
With the amount of Proficiency he felt entering him, he sincerely doubted there would be enough enemies here for him to gain multiple levels.
Part of him doubted he would gain a single level.
This is not where the Quake Mammoths came from. This little settlement doesn’t have the numbers, nor the strength, to send powerful beasts like those.
As he fought, a glowing white light enveloped him.
Yesna has cast Strength Boon upon you.
For the next 2 minutes and 10 seconds, your Strength will be increased by 30%.
Calder couldn’t help but grin. He probably looked like a maniac doing so, but he was gladdened by the fact that Yesna, the Mystic, had joined the fight. She mustn’t be too far behind him. He saw a few orcs split off from the group to go after her.
His first instinct was to stop them. He knew how important it was to protect one’s healer. But he also knew that she would have Sacred Barrier activated, which meant the best way for him to defend her was to simply keep fighting. For every three enemies he slayed, her shield would recharge.
Which he had no problem doing.
+10 Killstreak!
Kill 10 enemies in a single minute to keep Berserk alive.
Your health and adrenaline have been healed by 50%.
Calder had lost track of how many times the Killstreak notification had come up, but this must have at least been the fourth, which meant he had already made a significant dent in the army’s forces.
This isn’t almost too easy. This is too easy.
It felt as though Berserk and Sacred Barrier had been created for this exact purpose—to bolster Touched fighting in large battles such as this one. He was glad those were the spells they had gained. Glad he had gone for the main class specialisation of Berserker. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
A roar permeated the air, one loud enough to sting Calder’s ear drums. His forehead creased. The roar was far louder than any that these level 30 orcs would be able to produce. Come to think of it, some of the orcs he was facing were getting taller, and his attacks weren’t doing quite as much damage.
There were more enemy healers too. Clerics that were throwing mass heals over the Warriors he faced, making it harder and harder to take them down.
Calder scanned an Orc Swordmage in front of him—the orc’s armour had large gashes in it, blood pouring down it, but Calder had slashed the bastard three times and he was still standing, mostly because the orc had received heals from what must have been multiple healers.
Orc Swordmage
Level 40
Classification: Spellsword
Attributes
Strength: 55
Agility: 40
Magic: 43
Stamina: 43
Perception: 25
Level 40? When had the orcs gotten to level 40? Calder cast Power Strike, thrusting his sword straight into the Orc Swordmage’s throat.
The orc’s eyes glazed over and went blank. Its body slackened. Calder kicked the thing the chest, shoving it into several orcs behind it that all stumbled backward at the force. Proficiency flooded into him, and he couldn’t help but notice it was more than usual.
These bastards are getting harder to kill. The Defender’s bonus they received finally seemed to be making a difference, even when their stamina wasn’t all that high, especially as they had Clerics on their side healing them.
