Charlotte breathed heavy her steps breaking the small puddles beginning to form on the ground as she ran after the three people appeared on the wall with Sah Ul', trailing behind her.
"Sarah, what are we going to do about them?" she asked.
Sah Ul' looked over her shoulder, taking long strides, "We are first to reach the temporary camp. The Patriarch instructed us to go but he would not want us to allow them to harm Landin and the others. There must be more of these undead hiding in the city… Patriarch will be fine, but we must regroup."
Sah Ul' picked up speed, digging divots into the ground as she moved to catch up and move past the three ahead of them.
"Looks like the fun has followed us," Silvyr hummed.
"You two can deal with the tagalongs, I'm going to have my own fun!" Mae sneered.
"There is no helping it. We shall stop them here," Bromdo grunted, turning on his heel and pulling a large hammer and shield from his inventory.
Charlotte and Sah Ul' skidded to a stop, both readying their weapons.
Silvyr smiled widely, pulling a pack of cards from behind her back, shuffling it in a wide arc.
"I'm not one to pass up on an eager audience but I am in a hurry. We've been here longer than we intended already and I have more shows to perform," she snickered.
"It would be problematic if we allowed them to follow us, the count would surely give us severe punishment… I will take the stronger one, Silvyr," Bromdo huffed.
"Charlotte, I will fight the large one. His armor will be difficult for you. I am not confident that I can keep up with the more nimble one, I leave her to you," Sah Ul' whispered, gripping her axe tightly.
Charlotte's face slightly frowned at being called the weaker one, but she nodded. Right now she wasn't prepared to take on a heavily armored opponent, her skill set simply wasn't made for it.
Charlotte began chanting and the moment the first word left her mouth, Sah Ul' was already running headlong into her opponent, her aura burning red hot around her.
"Our victory to the sound of thunderous applause!"
The lightning magic circle spread out covering Charlotte and Sah Ul' endowing them with lightning attune magic. Once the last word left her lips, Charlotte immediately raised her short spear, deflecting a white card aimed at her head.
The card hit the spear with a metallic sound and much more force than was possible for a paper card. Charlotte tracked it with her eyes as it changed trajectory, embedding itself into the ground and begun glowing.
Gasping, Charlotte rolled out of the way, the card exploding a moment later.
"Just one of my tricks," Silvyr said gleefully, shuffling her cards in an arc, "Let's put on a fun performance shall we?"
Charlotte's emotionless face gave away nothing, but her heart was racing. It was the first time outside of Drake and the group that had followed him, she had faced someone remotely strong.
Gripping her spears she steeled herself.
It's time to put everything into practice, I know what they've done to these people, what they want to do to everyone… I'll do my part, I'll stop her here! Charlotte shouted in her mind, throwing her short spear forward.
Surprise painted the white face of Silvyr as she turned to dodge the spear.
"Throwing your weapon? Dubious indeed-"
But before she could finish, Charlotte appeared gripping the thrown weapon, her other spear clad in lighting as she thrust it forward, aimed right for the elf woman's chest.
Silvyr smiled, pulling and flipping a card in her hand, a black joker on a white background and when the spear contacted her, she went up in smoke.
Charlotte landed, skidding against the muddy ground and immediately spreading out her aura to find the woman, small sparks striking the area.
"Interesting skill, but I have quite the bag of tricks myself," a voice hummed from behind her.
Put on her back foot, Charlotte turned, arcing her spear in a wide swing but hitting nothing. Then she felt something on the edge of her aura, turning to it she saw Silvyr smiling broadly, holding up another card, a yellow spade.
Charlotte tried her best to process the information, the cards color and suit having something to do with their abilities but she didn't have enough to say for sure.
"I'll have to be cautious but still press her…" she whispered, sprinting forward.
Silvyr threw several more white cards at Charlotte, and Charlotte easily deflected them, a few moments later the cards letting out small explosions.
Finally able to get in close, Charlotte began her assault, thrusting and swiping with her spears in combination. Large arcs of lightning striking the area as she did, some hitting their mark but seeming to have little effect.
Silvyr was no slouch however, and with each successful strike, Charlotte slowly accumulated cuts here and there from the cards she wielded between her fingers.
The exchange lasted several seconds before another joker found its way into Silvyr's hand and she went up in smoke again.
"This will simply not do… I have underestimated your class specialty. I'm at a loss in speed, so it seems I will have to overwhelm you," Silvyr mused, pulling a red heart from her deck in one hand, flipping it in her hand to produce two, then four, then eight, and then sixteen.
Each flip of the card doubling the amount of cards until Silvyr threw them into the air and they began flying straight for Charlotte.
Charlotte clicked her tongue, but she couldn't pull her punches against someone several levels ahead of her.
Throwing her long spear into the air, she threw her other straight at Silvyr.
"Splanc thintrí, Cóipleabhar."
Using her skill once more she moved to her thrown short spear, her long spear above her crackling with electricity and then suddenly splitting into six identical spears of lightning.
Charlotte quickly gripped one of them in her free hand, "Titim!"
The bolts of lightning instantly convened on Silvyr along with Charlotte's main and off hand.
But the fight was not over. Silvyr managed to dodge several of the spears, but two of them hit home, skewering her to the ground with a grunt.
Now was Charlotte's chance, she had a vague idea of how Sarah's fight was progressing in her favor but there was no telling what might happen. She had to finish this now.
"The thunderous roar of your end is nigh!" she shouted, raising her spear into the air, the lightning around it humming to a crescendo, "Foclóir Gaeilge!!!"
The sound of rapturous lightning struck down on the elven woman like a hammer from above. The blow dealt a significant amount of damage to Silvyr but somehow she remained alive, struggling to pull another card from her deck.
And just before Charlotte was able to land another thrust with her spear, she went up in a puff of smoke.
"No!" Charlotte screamed trying to pinpoint the woman again.
She clenched her jaw and fist, frustration welling up after being unable to finish the job. But she knew that the elven woman could only travel so far with the skill. Charlotte had to use her trump card, but it would exhaust her of her resources. She would bet it all on this.
"The unforgiving lightning, strikes at my beck and call. Tempest's Beckoning!"
Calling down a cacophony of lightning strikes each one hitting the ground larger than the last as she fought back against her waning vision struggling to stay conscious from the exhaustion.
And finally when the last bolt of lightning struck, Charlotte heard a wail of pain and a notification entered her darkening peripheral.
[You have killed Silvyr Rava Level 17] [Experience Earned, 115 Nobility Points have been awarded]
[Congratulations you have increased to Lightning Spearman Level 16] [25 Free Points have been awarded]
[Congratulations you have increased to Lightning Spearman Level 17] [25 Free Points have been awarded]
—---------
Sah Ul' lunged forward, leaving her husband's young student to fight her first real battle as she went to take on the full plate armored man in front of her.
Bringing her ax horizontally from one side to the next she began ramping up her Berserking Aura.
"Heavy Crescent Cleave!"
Sah Ul's ax glowed with red light as it arced forward towards the armored man's neck.
But Bromdo raised his shield, slapping his shield like a gong with his hammer.
"Heavy Fortress!"
With the skill activation his skill hummed a deep blood red just before Sah Ul's ax crashed against it, sparks of metal and mana flying in every direction as they both fought for supremacy.
Sah Ul's skill ran out and she pulled back her ax with one hand, gritting her teeth as she brought it down again and again against the man.
Bromdo was fighting a defensive battle not because it was his especially but because of Sah Ul's unrelenting fighting style.
Each swing of the ax forced Bromdo to grunt in displeasure, and despite digging his heels into the ground he was slowly being pushed back.
The assault from Sah Ul' continued for several more seconds as Bromdo was forced to bet on him outlasting her in a fight of attrition and her exhaustion.
"You are very sturdy!" Sah Ul' shouted, "But my husband is much more sturdy!"
Suddenly her strength increased, her passive skills and Beserking Aura finally reaching their peak.
Bromdo couldn't help letting out a gasp as he saw his shield begin to chip against the consecutive swings and began to panic, shouting out several more skills.
"Stout Guardsman's Vitality! Bulwark! Unbreakable!"
Sah Ul' lifted her ax high, gripping it with both hands this time.
"Overload! Overwhelm!"
[You are now under the effects of Overload]
[You are now under the effects of Overwhelm]
Bathed in red light her muscles bulged and she roared one final skill, "Heavy Crescent Slash!!"
Chopping downward her blade passed through the plate armored man effortlessly embedding itself into the ground.
[Bromdo Blackrock Level 18] [Experience Earned, 139 Nobility points awarded]
[Congratulations! You have increased to Orc Ax Master Level 24] [20 Free Points have been awarded]
Bromdo's body slumped to the ground splitting down the middle, his helmet falling leaving his aghast face staring back at Sah Ul'.
—----------------------------------
It had been less than a day since they left the city, Rvul and Mikhail's party were escorting a group of people to the next nearest city to help improve their relations for the upcoming summit.
Rvul led the expedition with Mikhail helping, his party bringing up the rear while he stayed in the front with the rest of the Rahk guardsmen who begrudgingly came under his orders.
The guardsmen were disgruntled but easily silenced after their poor showing against the Patriarch's students whipping the floor with them.
"Keep your heads up! There is no shame in losing to stronger warriors of the same tribe! You must simply grow stronger and win next time!" Rvul encouraged thumping his chest and chuckling.
"Chief… We did not simply lose, we were beaten so one sidedly. Even Haygur… did not have a chance to display his skills. None of us did!"
Rvul laughed again, "And that is just how strong the Patriarch students are! My son is great! Imagine how strong he has become when even his students are this powerful! It's amazing, yes?" he guffawed, slapping one of the people they were escorting on the shoulder.
"Will you shut up already? It's been Patriarch this, Patriarch this the entire trip! I'm sick of hearing about him!" Marrissah complained.
"Now, now. We are almost to our destination, please just put up with his bragging about his son-in-law for a few more hours," Mikhail said, trying to placate the angered woman.
Marrissah scoffed, rolling her shoulder to bring up her coat.
The group had encountered monsters through this trip but seldom other people, which made for a fast pace. Everyone was also part of the system which allowed them to travel through most of the night, leaving little trouble to be had.
Rvul looked upward, seeing the snow cease and feeling the droplets of cold water hit his skin.
"We will want to pick up the pace, being out in cold rain will not be good for too long!" he shouted, hurrying them along.
But quickly feeling people enter his aura's range along with his sensing skill setting off alarm bells, he held up his hand an instant later.
"Wait!" he commanded, pulling two axes from his inventory, "Who's there!"
Out of the treeline, rows upon rows of pale faced men and women, along with humans in all white robes stepped out.
"State your business!" Rvul demanded the line of Rhak Warriors forming around him.
"We do not need speak to lesser trash…" one of the men growled.
Mikhail's party took up the rear forming a small circle around the people they were escorting.
"Stay your ground! We can hold the line if we remain calm, many of them are lower level!" he shouted, pulling his daggers out.
Rvul and the rest of the group began shouting and chanting skills, waiting for the mass of newly announced opponents to make the first move.
"Do not worry, we will make sure you will reach safety. I bet my life on it as the former chief of the Rahk, and a member of the Patriarch's city!" Rvul roared.
But he only felt a pain in his side and a soft whisper in his ear.
"You took the wrong bet, green man…" Marrissah hummed, "Don't worry, we will let one of you tell Drake what happened here."
Rvul slapped away the hand holding the blade in his side, turning around only to have other members of the guardsmen shout out in pain as well being stabbed,shot and hit with skills or spells from behind.
"Damn it…!" Rvul growled, nursing his side, "Y-you planned this from the beginning…?"
Marrissah pulled another dagger from under her cloak, playing with it in her hand as she smiled.
"Yorth! Heal Rvul! Hurry!" Mikhail screamed, turning around trying to reach the Orc Chieftain, only to be shackled to the ground by threads of light.
Mikhail knew exactly what this spell was, it was Yorth's only form of crowd control.
Turning his head he spotted Yorth pointing his staff at him, his eyes dead and distant, a small sun radiating orange on his right cheek.
"Drake always was soft. And of course… No one can outsmart the Emperor," she laughed, "Praise the sun! All hail, the Grand Sun Mage!"
A cacophony of triumphant shouts rang out from the people in white robes and the group that came with Marrissah.
She pointed to Mikhail, "Leave him. The rest can be cleansed and sent to the undead as was agreed," she smiled, moving next to Rvul, "He will send Lord Atticus's message just fine…"