Callum crested the hill and saw two forces battling among the trees. Whatever formations had existed when the battle started had devolved into disjointed and smaller engagements. Only the glowing icons floating over people's heads gave him any idea of who his enemies were.
As he charged in, a battle off to the side drew his attention, three beings battled it out. A large Fire Elemental was surrounded by a large area of steaming ground as it launched attack after attack at its two opponents; no snow was visible on the large swath of singed ground around it.
Before the Fire Elemental, a Grand Paladin absorbed its attacks with a large shield. A Shadow Rogue, another Advanced Class, constantly phased in and out around the Fire Elemental; her attacks penetrated deep within the Fire Elemental.
Callum almost missed the glowing green icon above the Fire Elemental's head; that wasn't a true Fire Elemental, that was a person! He was shocked at what he saw when he focused on the name, Wei Jin.
By now, he had finally cleared most of the distance to his chosen target. He activated <
Small Sapling (Lvl 18)
HP:(350/350)
Callum grimaced when he saw the pitiful stats of his creature. 'I waited a full day for this?' he thought to himself as he closed in on the fight.
Six enemies had forced three of the Baron's soldiers into a back to back formation; several dead bodies nearby attested to the desperate struggle. Callum's chosen target was so focused on the fight in front of him that he didn't notice Callum behind him.
His first swing nearly decapitated the inattentive man.
Callum turned with the momentum of the swing and immediately launched another attack at his next opponent. To his side, his first victim collapsed to the ground and died without even knowing he was in any danger.
His axe strike was blocked by his opponent's shield, but that only left him vulnerable to Amarok's lunge that took him down to the ground. Callum spun around but was immediately bound up in dark smoky chains.
To the side, Callum noticed a chanting figure was gesturing towards him; the chains around him tightened and his health started to fall. Callum raised one of his hands and sent a
The cantrip's pitiful damage was enough to break his opponent's concentration and the chains dissipated like smoke in the wind. He raced towards the distracted mage, intent on ending him before he could cast more magic against him.
Unfortunately, an enemy Berserker finished off his weak summoned spirit and intercepted him just short of the magic user; something blocked him from reading the magic user's class. The two axe wielders, a Berserker and a Druimborn Warrior, clashed.
Callum was forced to give ground as the magic user continued to sling magic at him while the Berserker relentlessly attacked him. With only limited success, he tried to keep the Berserker's body between him and his second opponent.
It quickly became apparent that they were used to working together; their attacks chained together and they both seamlessly moved to keep Callum at risk to both of their attacks. Only Callum's <
Despite the danger, Callum grinned viciously and eagerly countered whenever he had a clear shot at the Berserker. The reason for his grin quickly became apparent when an anguished scream erupted from the magic user as he collapsed under Amarok's weight.
Callum took advantage of the Berserker's momentary distraction caused by his ally's scream to bury his axe deep into the Berserker's side. Now in a one on one against a crippled opponent, it was Callum's turn to ruthlessly attack.
He pressed his advantage and didn't give the Berserker any breathing room. He was about to finish the Berserker off with his next attack when the Berserker yelled.
"I yield! I surrender!" The Berserker lifted his hands into the air and dropped his axe on the ground.
Callum was stumped, 'What am I supposed to do with a prisoner?' he wondered to himself as he stood rooted in place with his axe raised for the next blow.
He glanced around to take in the rest of the fights and his attention was immediately grabbed by the fight of the now four Advanced Class fighters; Captain Xinyi fought at her Baron's side.
The Shadow Rogue tried another sneak attack on the Baron, only for her blade to be turned aside by the Duelist. Freed from the distraction, Baron Jin unleashed twin jets of flame straight at the Grand Paladin.
The fighter was forced to hunker down behind his shield and focus solely on calling up a Barrier. The flame jets were only a distraction though and the large Fire Elemental took several long strides forward while maintaining the continuous attack.
The flame jets abruptly cut out and one enormous hand jerked the startled Paladin's shield aside and a large flaming fist descended onto his head. The strike sent him flying back into a fire-blackened tree.
Meanwhile, Xinyi kept the Shadow Rogue from interfering with the beatdown.
The Baron strode forward and grabbed the struggling Grand Paladin. Callum could only watch on in amazement as the Baron literally tore the Grand Paladin apart; the two halves were sent flying in opposite directions.
All the enemy fighters seemed to deflate upon the Grand Paladin's death; although Callum thought that could have been all of his buffs vanishing with his death. The death of the Advanced Class fighter struck a huge blow to the enemy.
"Retreat! Disengage and fall back!" The Shadow Rogue's command echoed out over the battlefield before she vanished from the battlefield for the last time.
Callum was tempted to chase after some of the fleeing fighters, but he was still holding a prisoner with his axe poised to strike him down. Then he noticed that Amarok held the magic user by his throat; he hadn't finished his opponent off either.
Some of the Baron's men, especially Callum's party, started to chase after the fleeing enemy. Most however were very low on mana or health and simply collapsed to the ground in relief at the sudden turn of events that the five fresh fighters had brought to the fight.
"Hold! Let them go, we're not in a position to chase after them," Captain Xinyi commanded.
Callum watched as the Fire Elemental's flames sputtered out and Baron Wei Jin briefly hung suspended in the air before he collapsed senselessly to the ground. Garrett started to race towards his Baron before he was waved off by Xinyi.
"Garrett, he'll live, concentrate on those with serious bleeding," she said before she turned to two individuals Callum didn't recognize.
"Sergeant, take charge of the prisoners. Disarm them and restrain them. Corporal, take these potions and pick out a party. Terrel will guide you to some sleds we left behind, bring them back here and distribute the potions and gear as needed."
Callum gestured for Amarok to loosen his hold over his prisoner and sent that thought over their mental connection. He then turned to face the magic user that Amarok had held prisoner.
"Don't say a single word, no gestures either. If you breathe wrong, you'll be Wolf poop before you know it. Nod if you understand."
The magic user frantically nodded his head, the fear in his eyes conveyed his earnestness. Callum motioned for Amarok to let the magic user up and then corralled them both towards the Sergeant who was gathering the rest of the prisoners up.
Along the way, he stopped to give his last health potion to a soldier who was bleeding out as he limped towards the healers; he vaguely recognized him as one of the three that had been surrounded.
He turned his prisoners over to the Sergeant before he went to find Captain Xinyi. She was carrying the unconscious Baron Wei Jin with the help of another person Callum didn't recognize.
"Is the Baron alright?"
"He's just Mana deprived. Their group was caught before everyone's Mana could fully regenerate. He has an ability that trades his health for Mana, but it always costs him dearly afterwards, he'll be back up in a couple of minutes."
Not knowing what else to do, Callum pulled up his notifications and saw that the battle had pushed him to the next level; he was able to select his next Class Ability.