Camran's breathe was visible in the frigid cold. He had left the cabin behind for now, it would serve as a good checkpoint and a place to retreat to. He looked around the vast, white desert of snow. The wind blowing caused dunes of snow to shift and move, grow bigger and smaller, creating a maze with no landmarks to follow. Camran looked behind him, his most recent footprints refilled with snow, gone forever.
Shin followed close behind, occasionally moving in front of or beside Camran. His strong sense of smell made detecting corpse traps easy, or would have been, but it's obsolete now. The traps are closer to the shore, their too far in now.
Camran looked into the distance and squinted with his hand perpendicular against his forehead to block the sun. He groaned, "Well shit," he groaned before stretching a bit and pulling his knife out of his boot, "I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't think the horde would show itself so soon". Shin responded to Camran's emotions and got in a defensive stance.
The hordes are dangerous small legions of monsters. They include living dire wolves, goblins and hobgoblins, trolls, ogres, a commanding monster, typically riding a mount, and many other "troops". Camran groaned again and started walking towards the horde. The commander rode forward towards Camran on his horse. It appeared to be a wraith.
Wraiths are an undead monster, and extremely rare. They don't have a physical form naturally, however they can manifest themselves as golems, automatons, and even suits of armor. Their souls are scattered across the body to create a system of "nerves" and "muscles", which all attach to the largest soul shard in the head of their body, the "brain".
The wraith commander held up a large lance and pointed it up, straight towards the sky. After a short moment, it pointed the lance towards Camran, and the horde began roaring as all the monsters charged towards him. Camran took a small step back as Shin jumped in front of him. They grew closer.
Shin slashed through goblins and hobgoblins with ease, but was slowly getting overwhelmed. Camran looked around and noticed a nearly intact corpse of a hobgoblin. He threw a string of mana at it, and the monster slowly rose. It's eyes were green, and almost looked like they were glowing. It let out a roar before picking up its axe off the ground, "I'll name you… umm… Gore! Gore, support Shin!" Camran shouted. The hobgoblin, now Gore, roared again and approached Shin, and the two began to fight off the horde with far greater ease.
Camran smiled and kept reviving monsters to fight him. Each and every creature that rose, be it goblins or wolves, ogres or trolls, their eyes turned jade green and their wounds healed. A page from Camran's book ripped off and flew out of his pocket and flew in front of him.
- Skill Page -
Powernapper - Level 8.
Tough Skin - Level 3
Necroslayer - Level 4
Soul Alchemist - Level 6
However, there was something new. Camran's lips rose in the corners.
- New Skill -
Level Sacrifice - Level 1
"The user can sacrifice the souls of revived beings and give their levels to another soul. Cannot be used to give the user the levels. To use, mentally select the soul(s) you want to sacrifice and the soul(s) you want to level. Cannot sacrifice/level golems"
Camran looked around and chuckled, throwing around dozens of mama strings, "All these cannon fodder monsters, practically useless except for their levels." He closed his eyes. Within a few seconds, all of the low level goblins, hobgoblins, and even trolls under level 10 all fell, their glowing green eyes turning back to normal. They didn't move a muscle. From their bodies rose green orbs of mist and smoke, which evenly flew into the three remaining monsters: Shin, Gore, and an ogre wielding an iron, spiked tower shield and wearing thick cast iron armor. "I'll name you… Wrex!" He laughed at his own joke, in poor taste.
Camran's page quickly flew back into his pocket and an audible ripping followed, the sound of the page healing itself back into the book. Three new pages flew out a moment later.
- Shin's Page - Level 24 -
Shin is a chimera, a hybrid created through intentional means. A cross between a wolf and a human, Shin is a werewolf that retained some of its human tactical knowledge, while keeping a lot of its canine senses and savagery.
Ultimate Loyalty - Max Level
"Skill used by summons, revived souls, and companions. Max Level benefits: undying loyalty and able to follow mental orders"
Savage Impression - Level 24
"Passive. Scales with user. Creatures of a lower level than the user have a 24% debuff to all stats if directly targeted. User does 24% more damage to targets STRONGER than itself"
Chimera's Restoration - Level 9
"Skill unique to hybrid monsters. Passive. Scales with users. The user can rapidly heal and regenerate wounds to a certain degree. Level 5 benefit: heal all damage to nonessential organs and lesser"
Vanguard's Assault - Level 19
"Allows the user to quickly adapt to any situation in battle. The higher the level, the greater the user's capability to adapt and make a comeback."
Vanguard's Charge - Level 10
"Passive. All buffs received are improved by 50% (varies by level). However, all debuffs are also increased by the same percentage. Level 10 benefit: User also increases buff time limit by 5 minutes"
- Gore's Page - Level 24 -
Gore is a hobgoblin. Although not intelligent, it is loyal to all it deems stronger than it. Hobgoblins have massive strength but a poor sense of smell and taste. Gore prefers charging forward with Shin.
Berserk - Max Level
"Automatically maxed on hobgoblins, trolls, and ogres, as well as specific types of demons. The user drastically increases their strength and speed 200% (varies by skill level). Last until user dies or after 10 minutes. 100% debuff on all attributes after skill ends"
Axe Proficiency - Level 24
"Passive. Scales with user. Allows the user to become more proficient with axes, hatches, halberds, tomahawks, greataxes, battle axes, pickaxes, and ice picks."
Ultimate Loyalty - Max Level
"Skill used by summons, revived souls, and companions. Max Level benefits: undying loyalty and able to follow mental orders"
Strength Buff - Level 10
"Allows the user to cast a 50% attack buff (varies by level) on themselves or one other. Lasts 10 minutes. Level 10 benefit - Select two targets to buff"
- Wrex's Page - Level 24 -
Wrex is an ogre, thus he has incredible defense, high poison resistance, cold immunity, and a power healing factor. Wrex prefers to hang back and protect Camran with his greatshield and thick armor.
Ultimate Loyalty - Max Level
"Skill used by summons, revived souls, and companions. Max Level benefits: undying loyalty and able to follow mental orders"
Ogre Healing - Level 24
"Passive. Scales with user. Powerful regeneration. The higher the level, the more types of wounds can be healed. Level 20 benefit: heal minor brain damage and spine trauma, and everything below."
Shield Proficiency - Level 24
"Passive. Scales with user. Allows the user to become more proficient in using shields of all types, including improvised shields made in the middle of battle."
Cast Wall - Level 7
"Allows the user to create a magic forcefield wall. Gets stronger the higher the level. Level 5 benefit - Fire cannon pass through wall."
Defense Buff - Level 10
"Allows the user to cast a 50% defense buff (varies by level) on themselves or one other. Lasts 10 minutes. Level 10 benefit - Select two targets to buff"
Camran laughed, "Shit, these skills are amazing! We might stand a chance against the wraith!" And as if on cue, the possessed armor rode close on its horse and slowly got off, dropping its lance and pulling a greatsword off of a sheathe in the horse's saddle.