Hack, Slash & Burn 2: A LitRPG Fantasy, page 22
That is quite a difference, Calder replied.
Again, you can always World Step home.
Calder sighed. Not yet.
He stepped out from behind the tree, reminding himself that it was only one enemy. It made him wonder how much extra Proficiency he would gain from fighting something this strong. Perhaps it was a foolish thing to do, but foolishness seemed to pay off for Calder.
It had so far.
His sword drawn and shield in hand, he waited until the enemy noticed him. It only took a moment, even with its weak Perception. The Ice Yeti Alpha stood to its full, rather impressive height. Calder had noticed it was bigger than the others—which were roughly twelve feet tall.
What he hadn’t realised was how much bigger it was. This bloody bastard was at least twenty-five feet tall. Bigger than the Orc Destroyer had been, even. I guess that’s what makes it an alpha.
Calder looked up. Swallowed. But ultimately, wasn’t deterred.
He wasn’t about to let this beast call for help like one of the first Ice Yetis he had faced. Calder sprinted forward and leapt up. His sword danced with lightning and flames as he Dream Stepped behind the beast, sending every Warrior strike he had down on its back with Charge and Berserk making him faster than ever.
Calder was glad to find his attacks penetrated the enemy’s skin well enough, though he did realise something… the Ice Yeti Alpha didn’t bleed near as much as the others, despite the gashes being just as deep. He supposed that had something to do with its inflated Stamina attribute. And it was faster, too. It might not have been near as fast as Calder, but its speed still took him by surprise after facing so many slow enemies.
Which was why the yeti managed to backhand him straight in the face the second Calder landed on the ground after delivering a deluge of strikes. The force of the beast’s backhand sent him flying over the snow.
But this wasn’t the first time Calder had gone flying. He reckoned the Ice Yeti Alpha wasn’t the only one who could take their enemy by surprise. Dream Step wouldn’t have reached the end of its cooldown yet—though that cooldown had been staggeringly reduced with each level he gained.
But Calder didn’t need to use Dream Step.
He summoned a Portal directly in front of him, and another just above where the Beast Elemental stood. In an instant, he was falling straight at the bastard, his sword thrusting for the top of its head.
The sword struck, sliding straight through the Ice Yeti Alpha’s skull.
Calder grinned. A wound like that was bound to kill the thing. Can’t live without its brain, after all. Calder landed on the beast’s shoulders and tried to dislodge his sword, ready to ride it to the ground.
Except no Proficiency flooded into him. The beast did not go limp. Instead, one of its massive arms shot up and grabbed Calder by the waist. How were its damned hands large enough to do such a thing? Calder struggled against his enemy, finally yanking his sword out of its skull as he was picked up.
Right now, with Berserk active and the +10% modifier he gained from being the Main Defender of his outpost, Calder’s Strength was technically higher than this thing, but that didn’t seem to matter.
He was still thrown across the rocky clearing until he smashed straight into a tree. The tree—despite its trunk being five damned feet across—was snapped in two by the force. Calder flew into the next one before it finally halted his momentum. He hadn’t had a moment to twist around that time. He stood, shaking off the snow and glaring at the Ice Yeti Alpha, who was now some distance away from him.
The massive Beast Elemental raised its head and opened its fang-filled maw, releasing a near-deafening roar. Calder winced at the sound and felt something drip from his ears. Blood.
The wounds Calder had managed to inflict on the beast closed, healing as it beat its fists against its chest. Even the wound in its skull—one he had thought would be a killing blow—healed, though it healed slower than the others, blood dripping down its face. A dim white glow surrounded it as it growled in his direction. Some sort of buff, like Berserk or Tough Skin? Calder didn’t know.
But he heard resounding roars, coming from every different direction. He didn’t have time to look down at his Proximity Scanner.
Calder gritted his teeth as he felt Dream Step reach the end of its cooldown.
Graham appeared in front of him, both hands raised. “Calder. There are ten enemies heading your way. As strong as you are, I do not think you can handle that many, especially when you were unsuccessful killing their alpha.”
“I haven’t been unsuccessful,” Calder snapped back. Though if he were honest, his adrenaline had taken quite a hit after using Tough Skin, Strong Stance, Berserk, Charge and all four of his strikes not including Shield Bash. Many of those strikes had already reached their cooldown, but that wasn’t any help unless he had some adrenaline to actually use them, and that reserve was currently down to a quarter full.
That’s not going to stop me. His health had barely taken a hit, and he still had plenty of mana. Though he had to admit, he wasn’t used to facing anything with as much Stamina as this Beast Elemental possessed. It did make for quite a different dynamic in the fight. I could certainly use Luceen and Peter’s damage dealing abilities right now.
He Dream Stepped right behind the Ice Yeti Alpha. This close, he realised that though the wounds had healed, they hadn’t actually fully closed up. The Ice Yeti Alpha might have a massive amount of Stamina, but that didn’t mean it was completely invulnerable.
Calder took full advantage of Charge and Berserk being still active, his sword hacking into the beast’s back with as much power as he could muster, careful to avoid its strikes this time.
But each time he hit the Ice Yeti Alpha it hurt. It hurt the alpha, that much was clear—but it hurt Calder too.
That white glow around it wasn’t defensive, exactly—it was offensive. Each time he hit the yeti it sent a wave of sharp ice straight at him. His armour wasn’t able to resist it at all—he didn’t have any elemental resistance to ice.
Still, the damage was fairly minimal.
Calder, Graham said in his mind. Those ten beasts are close. Very close. A mere thirty seconds away.
Calder ignored the ghost. Twenty seconds. Roughly how long he had left being at this speed. He dodged under a wild swing from the yeti, sunk to his knees and slipped under its legs—something he had gotten used to doing with larger orcs—and slammed a Power Strike straight into the back of its thigh.
The beast went down to one knee, where Calder was able to slash at the back of its neck with Eviscerate, Bleeding Strike and a Shield Bash on its head for good measure. The Shield Bash made its head snap forward violently.
When Calder sent that last strike, his adrenaline reserve petered out, reaching its end. Out of all the fights he had ever been in, he wasn’t sure if he had ever let that reserve empty completely like he had done with mana on more than one occasion.
And he was not ready for what came next.
It wasn’t pain. Not like mana burn. This was something else.
Utter exhaustion weighed upon Calder. His body suddenly felt heavier than it ever had. His sword. His armour. It was as though all his strength had fled him completely. Simply picking up his sword to strike the enemy once more felt as though he were trying to lift a mountain.
Heavy footfalls stomped the ground from every single direction. Roars filled the air, and the first of the ten Ice Yetis Graham had warned him about sprang out from the trees.
Chapter 25
Calder took two stumbling steps back.
He had never felt so heavy with exhaustion in his entire life. Even before becoming Touched. Even when he had his leg crippled and was forced to crawl away from General Katan.
How could this be possible? Calder glanced around. He could see a half-dozen of the Ice Yetis now. Four more on their way. The Ice Yeti Alpha, which Calder had taken down to one knee in his offensive, managed to get back to its feet. It stood at its full height. The wounds in the back of its neck Calder had just dealt healed gradually, though not as effectively as its previous wounds.
It’s taking damage. I’m hurting it. I’m just not hurting it enough.
Calder didn’t want to leave this place.
Didn’t want to escape.
Didn’t want to run.
But as foolish as his actions may have seemed, he wasn’t a complete fool. He knew when he was outnumbered. He hated to say he was outmatched, as he was sure he would defeat the Ice Yeti Alpha were it acting alone.
Calder took another few rapid steps back. I guess you were right, Graham, he said down the link. Perhaps it’s time I return to Berring. With World Step, he would be able to get through the portal restriction and teleport straight into the middle of the town.
As the Ice Yeti Alpha and its ten cronies faced Calder, he sighed in relief and activated World Step. He could regenerate his adrenaline reserve back in Berring, and was sure he would feel like his new self again soon.
Nothing happened.
World Step does not function while fighting enemies of a higher level than oneself. Disengage from battle before activating World Step once more.
Calder swore as he rapidly read the text.
He thought using World Step in a situation like this was the entire point! He had been relying on it, in fact. In all the fights that he had just been in, he had thought he had always had the option of escaping back to his world in an instant.
Apparently, that wasn’t possible.
Calder gritted his teeth. He could always use a Portal Stone. Yank one from his pouch of holding and toss it to the ground. It wouldn’t take that long. And, as he was fighting by himself, he didn’t need to worry about leaving anyone behind.
But he didn’t have time to take one from his pouch. The enemies were already on him.
They would only follow me through the portal anyway.
All eleven of the damned yetis roared at him. Calder roared back. He still felt utterly exhausted. He had some adrenaline potions in his pouch, but again, he didn’t have a moment to use them. Dream Step should be back in action soon. He could escape through different means, if he needed to.
The red glow around Calder—the one that indicated that he was Berserk—seemed to choose that moment in which to disappear. As his Strength and Agility were effectively cut in half, he felt twice as exhausted as he had a moment ago. Another thing he hadn’t thought was possible.
His adrenaline was slowly regenerating. Emphasis on slowly. It didn’t seem to be regenerating at the same rate as before, perhaps because he had used so much of it, taking it down to nothing.
He let out a breath as the first yeti reached him. Charge, blessedly, was still active, though he knew it couldn’t possibly last much longer. He fought the exhaustion he felt. The massive weight that had settled in his head, in his chest, and in every one of his limbs.
Calder dodged the first strike, slipping through the enemy’s legs. He didn’t have a moment to scan the other Ice Yetis, but from the looks of them they were a far lower level than the alpha. They looked to be level 100 and slightly below.
The Ice Yeti Alpha was the enemy he had already injured, but Calder had the feeling that killing that bastard wouldn’t be an option while ten other big bastards were trying to thrash him to pieces.
So he sliced into the back of the lower-level yeti’s leg. Five strikes, he managed, before he had to dodge from another attack. The good thing about the Ice Yetis being so large and him being so small in comparison was that they tended to get in their own way. It was difficult for eleven beasts, which were all over twice his height, to attack him at once.
Time to use my relatively tiny stature to my advantage.
He practically danced between the legs of the enemies, confusing them as to his whereabouts and making them stumble. As he did, his adrenaline ticked up and up, but that exhaustion was ever present.
When will this infernal exhaustion end, Graham?
The ghost was silent for a moment. Calder managed to strike the back at another three of the Ice Yetis’ legs. It wasn’t Crippling Strike, but it still managed to give those bastards a limp. His attacks were slowly bleeding them of their health.
Too slowly.
He roared, pushing on. He almost had enough adrenaline to use Power Strike once more. Though he felt Dream Step reach the end of its cooldown, and was sure he would be able to escape now if he needed, he wanted to see if he could keep fighting.
Whatever was driving him to reach level 60 hadn’t stopped just because the fight had become more difficult to the others.
Adrenaline fatigue, Graham finally replied. Yes, I never did warn you about that… The ghost trailed off. Calder was too tired to be mad at him for neglecting to mention this. He knew the ghost had a fractured memory, after all. Eventually, Graham spoke once more. If I recall correctly, you will feel this way until your adrenaline reserve is back to being full again.
Calder cursed once more. At the rate in which adrenaline was regenerating, he would have to wait quite a while for it to go back to being full.
He decided he would be better off simply fighting through the exhaustion he felt. He must be close to reaching the next level. It hadn’t taken many kills for him to get as far as he had. He might reach level 60 by killing one or two of the smaller yetis, then his adrenaline would be fully healed.
Calder slashed at the back of one of the yeti’s legs once more, then he glanced upward, spotting a sturdy looking tree branch. He Dream Stepped to it. At the same time, he cancelled out the magical enchantments in his sword—he couldn’t cast Lightning Bolt and Fireball while they were actively enhancing his sword—and stared at the enemies from above.
The yetis looked absolutely confused, which put a grin on his face despite the heavy exhaustion. He looked for the weakest of the lot, one that could barely stand from all the wounds he had inflicted on it. Before he struck the enemy with anything, he jabbed his sword into the tree then yanked an adrenaline potion from his pouch of holding, consuming it at once. It took his reserve up to half. He consumed another. When he had Dream Stepped up to the tree, he hadn’t realised it would be such a perfect opportunity to recover.
But the longer he spent recovering, the longer his enemy would too.
The exhaustion that had settled over him dissipated the second his adrenaline reserve hit its limit. He felt like a new man—much as he had the day he had received his Weapon Stone from Ballam.
Calder sent Lightning Bolt, Fireball and Freeze straight at the beast. With his mana reserve as full as it was, and his Magic attribute at 138, he actually wasn’t a half-bad caster. By the time Freeze had landed, slowing the bastard down, the other yetis knew exactly where he was. The Ice Yeti Alpha stomped toward the tree, looking ready to tear it from the roots.
The massive tree shuddered as the Ice Yeti Alpha slammed into it. At the same time, Lightning Bolt and Fireball reached their cooldown.
He cast them again, on the same enemy.
Then he ran across the branch’s length, Strong Stance keeping him from slipping and falling on his ass, and leapt straight toward the injured Ice Yeti—it was behind the pack, even though Freeze was now wearing off. Spells like that didn’t last long on enemies of a higher level than his own.
He came straight down at the Ice Yeti’s head, landing a Power Strike straight between its eyes, which widened in fear then went blank as the life left them.
Proficiency flooded into Calder, but no light enveloped him—one kill simply wasn’t enough.
His mana pool still robust, Calder sent the same three spells at the nearest Ice Yeti. Lightning struck it, shuddering it where it stood. A ball of fire slammed into its chest, singeing its white fur. As he cast Freeze, slowing the beast’s movements but not ceasing them completely, Charge finally ran out.
The fight felt as though it had lasted for an hour, yet it had only lasted the duration of one use of Charge. It was difficult to believe.
Berserk had lasted for one minute, and wouldn’t begin its cooldown until it wore off. Charge had lasted for two minutes, which meant Berserk still had four minutes until he could use it once more.
Unless he gained that next level.
Calder surged forward, running straight at the Ice Yeti he had cast the spells against.
He dragged his legs through the snow, boots sinking on each stride. Now that Charge had worn off, he felt so gods damned slow. He was still faster than the Ice Yetis. Even the level 105 Ice Yeti only had 80 Agility, if he recalled correctly, while the Ice Yeti Alpha had 130 Agility.
Calder was faster, but only by six points.
It was much harder to weave through the enemy and avoid their strikes now, but with his adrenaline reserve back in action, he was able to deal a fair amount of damage once more. A Crippling Strike further slowed down the one he had just frozen, then a Bleeding Strike slowly sapped it of its health.
A massive weight slammed into Calder’s back, one he hadn’t even noticed coming. His Perception wasn’t amazing, but he should have heard if there were any enemies right behind him.
Calder was sent flying, but there wasn’t far to go. He slammed into another of the Ice Yetis. The Ice Yeti managed to grab him by the shoulders, its huge hands locking Calder’s arms to his sides. His Strength was high, but without Berserk, even the lower-level Ice Yetis made him feel like a skinny child wrestling a large blacksmith.
When he was snatched up by the beast, he saw what had hit him. The tree he had Dream Stepped into had been torn straight from the ground and lobbed straight at him.
Try as he might to wriggle out of the bastard’s grasp, Calder wasn’t able to. Without his arms, he couldn’t even strike back. He was swiftly running out of options. He could hear the other Ice Yetis approaching, surrounding him where he was being held.
Then something bit into his left leg. Pain stabbed into him. They’re trying to eat me! Calder roared out in pain as his other leg was bitten into. He looked up, eyes widening as the Ice Yeti that held him lowered its head, giant maw open with spittle dripping from its mouth, ready to bite into his skin.
