Tigra stood in front of the squadron that she would be leading in the battle today.
"I'll be brief. As your commander, it is my duty to ensure that as many of you as possible survive this conflict. It is my duty to ensure that the Horde still has an army capable enough to protect the Horde should it ever be attacked.
However, I am not a being of infinite power or unmatched intelligence! This is war. I can only be in one place at one time. The person or people who will ensure your survival are around you! They protect you just as you should protect them.
Finally, at the end of the day, Force Commanders Lonnie and Serena alongside me have agreed on one thing: You are more important than this attack on Tyde. If we fail, we may try again, but if someone falls, they are gone permanently."
"So we could just…leave?"
"If you leave now and not during a retreat, it will count as desertion and will be punished as such." Tigra made sure they understood.
"Now then, you have been placed in my squadrons to lead, but I won't always be there. I am on back up call and as such, must respond if a threat or princess shows up and requires my attention."
"So fight to defend your fellow soldier and rid the Horde of those that will fight against us."
Tigra waited for anything, but only got a few nods. Yet, everyone seemed ready to fight.
"Alright, follow-"
"General!"
Tigra paused before pulling out her short-range communicator.
"General Tigra here."
"Princess Mermista of the Kingdom of Salienas has appeared in sector two and has begun disrupting our formations!"
Tigra held in a groan.
'We just got-' Her thinking paused. 'We just got here.'
Her face scrunched slightly.
'Well, that narrows down who one of the spies are. Only the people involved knew the time table of the attack. While Lucy did admit that some soldiers were talking, we planned for this specific day.'
Tigra sighed before being enveloped in a faint orange light and zooming away.
As she zoomed by, she formed 2 Fire Falchions and slashed at two soldiers near her.
3425 Fire Damage dealt! (2x)
Fire Falchion gained 17,600 EXP!
Fire Falchion leveled up! LV 25 → 28
Blades gained 4400 EXP!
Blade leveled up! LV 23 → 24
She leaned out of the way of a stray blast before slashing through the front of a soldier's armor chest piece. She spun before her second sword found its place in a soldier's leg.
They barely made a noise before the other met their neck.
3494 damage dealt! (3x)
Fire Falchion gained 17,600 EXP!
Leveled up! LV 28 → 31
Blades gained 4400 EXP!
Blades leveled up! LV 24→26
Due to Blades reaching LV 25, DEX increases by 1.
Her fur suddenly bristled before jumping into the air, just avoiding several arrows of water.
She pulled from her magic and changed her falchions into two Fireballs and shot them into a crowd of soldiers near her.
Two small explosions went out with several cries of pain.
937 initial flaming damage + 3514 surrounding damage = 4451 damage!
Fireball gained 17,804 EXP!
Fireball leveled up! LV 17 → 22
She landed back on the ground before creating two Flame Daggers and dashed.
One had gotten slashed through the neck. Another stabbed in the chest. One in the lungs. Another through the chin. One in the forehead. One in the back of the head.
Before she jumped in the air and used Fire Step to start shooting flames out of her feet to get above everyone and head to section 1.
Fire Dagger gained 52,800 EXP!
Fire Dagger leveled up! LV 21→31
Blades gained 13,200 EXP!
Blades leveled up! LV 25 → 31
For reaching LV 30, DEX and STR increased by 1
'MP check.'
MP: 1930/2200
Tigra frowned lightly at seeing that she's used more than she likes.
'My Armor spells are my go to for the most part and I need as much Magic as I can have when using them.' She reminded herself, flying over the city now.
She noticed something heading towards her and flew higher up as a lance made of water shot underneath her and into the city.
She floated in the air and closed her eyes. She could faintly hear the sound of metal clashing against metal. The occasional scream of pain. The yells of rage.
But her instincts could feel the threat.
She dropped lower this time and opened her eyes quickly, seeing a water lance shoot over her this time, likely trying to predict that she would go up.
Her eyes tracked the trajectory before seeing a sorceress on top of a building forming another lance.
Tigra used Flame Steps along with Flame Charge to shoot herself towards them before forming a Fire Spear.
Tigra pulled back her arm to take aim, just as they were as well.
Tigra threw the spear when they threw the javelin.
They were side by side and a small amount of steam started forming between the two weapons before they shot past each other.
The Fire Spear pierced through their chest and into the floor of the tower.
5610 damage inflicted!
Fire Spear gained 8800 EXP!
Fire Spear leveled up! LV 1 → 8
Spears gained 2200 EXP!
Spear leveled up! LV 1 → 5
For reaching level 5, DEX increases by 1.
However, the water lance slammed into her side and cut pretty deep.
1200*0.7175=861 Water damage!
Water resistance gained 1200 EXP!
Tigra held her side for a moment before using Heal and making her way back to Section 1.
'It feels like they really don't want me reaching the Princess. Lord, if I don't use Ice Armor , I can only take three more of those without healing myself.' She analyzed as Heal quickly made work.
Due to her Magic Control and high WIS, Heal could work quickly now, being able to heal ~1200 HP per minute now.
She flew over more buildings before seeing Section 1.
In terms of power…
The Horde had been slaughtered.
A large amount of the ground seemed to be wet with dozens of soldiers laying on the ground with a few Salinean Soldiers looking like they were about to corner everyone.
She looked for someone specific before narrowing in on a figure being stepped on by Mermista with her silver trident raised.
Tigra's pupils narrowed. Her fur was raised. Her teeth clenched.
Lightning shot off of her in wide arcs.
She summoned a Fire Falchion before she practically vanished with a boom.
_______________________
Tigra reappeared with a loud clang reverberating throughout the clearing, causing a few to even cover their ears from the sudden noise.
Tigra blocked the trident from moving an inch towards the injured Lonnie on the ground.
She quickly raised a foot and slammed a lightning infused kick into her chest, sending Mermista flying backwards and rolling onto the ground.
2000 lightning damage inflicted!
H2H gained 2000 EXP!
Tigra growled as Lightning Armor went away, having done its job but also being costly. She only had it activated for 3 seconds and it cost her nearly 100 MP and the new Fire Falchion cost her 110 to make.
This left her with 1510 MP for the fight and her instincts were feeling like this wouldn't be over quickly.
She heard Lonnie stand up with a huff.
"Thanks for the save."
"Commander, get your soldiers back to Section 3. We had managed to remove around 30 or so soldiers and should be making a good headway of clearing that section. Meet up with them and head to Section 2 and wrap that section up." Tigra ordered.
"And leave you-"
"That was an order , Force Commander." Tigra nearly growled out. "Besides, I've got this handled."
Lonnie grit her teeth and wanted to argue, but she couldn't. If Tigra hadn't shown up when she did, she would be in the ground and Section 1 would be without a leader, leaving it to be a disaster.
Not to mention, Section 3 should be leaderless unless Tigra had singled out someone to lead should she have to be reinforcement for a different section.
"Very well, General. Teach the princess not to mess with the Horde."
"Oh, we are past teaching." Tigra spat out, surprising Lonnie. "Now? This student needs to receive a detention."
Lonnie stared at her and seemed to have come to a realization and nodded.
"We'll clear the sections up quickly and head back here."
Lonnie quickly made her way away from the sight.
Tigra saw something in the corner of her eye and threw the falchion, intercepting another water lance from going after Lonnie.
Forming another one, Tigra opened her mouth.
"Everyone and anyone who attacks someone other than me, I will eliminate painfully." She warned.
Silence before she saw someone about to test her.
With a snap of her fingers, 8 Fire Arrows appeared and shot forward, each of them slamming into one singular person.
22800 fire damage dealt on one enemy!
Title gained!
[Over killer - By killing an enemy by dealing over 5x their HP total, you have a higher chance of making enemies listen to your warnings]
Fire Arrows gained 8800 EXP!
Fire Arrows leveled up! LV 70→71
The person had been hit by all eight of the arrows but the arrows had impacted hard enough that they tore off the part they impacted.
One tore off the hand, the foot, the elbow, the shoulder, the knee, the head, the hip, and the other one simply left a medium hole in the chest.
The parts fell to the ground with silence truly going through the area.
"Has my warning been received?" She asked as 8 more arrows appeared around her.
Mermista stood back on her feet before spinning her trident and slamming the end onto the ground.
"Soldiers! Go provide-"
Tigra snapped twice before 16 more arrows surrounded her, cutting her off.
"Oh no, please, send them running away from me. Makes for an easy target."
Tigra stared right at Mermista while saying this.
Mermista's grip on her trident seemed to grow tighter before water seemed to surge around her before covering herself in an armor like state.
'Water armor. Wonder what that does.' Tigra cocked her head to the side slightly. 'Considering that it is water, fire likely wouldn't do well with it. Then again, Raiju is electrical and has a 3x water weakness.'
"Go!"
Some soldiers obeyed and started towards the town.
Tigra snapped and 8 arrows flew through the air towards their back.
A whip of water shot out and intercepted all of the arrows fired, allowing them to escape.
Tigra kept an eye on the whip as it traveled back towards a person hidden in the trees before they dropped down.
Wearing a blue cloak.
"Ah. You're one of Bolt's companions, correct? Tell me, has he figured out a way around his little issue?"
The figure stood beside Mermista, coming into the light as her cloak fell down off of their head and became similar to a cape.
The figure was a grown woman with short, black almost blue hair that went down on the sides of her blue eyes. She wore a black undersuit beneath blue armor pieces on her chest, shoulders, forearms, blue boots up to her knees, a sword in her right hand while her left hand had been connected to a water whip that returned to a small orb of water in her hand.
She brandished the sword before falling into a stance.
"My name is Morgan, Ex-Captain of the Royal Guards." She introduced herself. "And you shouldn't be worrying about Bolt, as he won't let what you did to him stop him for more than a moment."
Tigra studied her.
[Morgan Bluenight Age: 31]
[Level: 67 REP: -34 [Hated] ]
HP: 10,500
MP: 1800/2000
'I really love and hate my instincts.' Tigra thought.
If Mermista had been by herself, she could have blitzed her with the speed from Lightning Armor alone, but with Morgan here?
Morgan often traveled with Bolt and would have gotten used to his speed, meaning that she should still be able to react quick enough to her and actually put up a fight.
'Morgan looks like a close ranged fighter with maybe magic to give her an edge in medium-long range capabilities.' She pondered. 'Mermista wields a trident, often used in place of a lance, which deals better at medium-range than close ranged. However, she is the Princess of water. She can definitely fight long range if she must.'
Tigra spun her falchion to keep her wrist active.
'Best defense is either Lightning Armor to not get hit or Ice Armor to reduce the damage. Fire Armor would be continuously weakened against water attacks, forcing me to use more Magic to refuel it.'
Tigra continued to watch the two of them as they also seemed to be appraising her, seeing as the battle around them had lulled enough that some soldiers seemed to want to leave while others didn't want to leave the Princess alone in case that something went wrong.
'Best offense may be my claws, Flame Fists , or maybe Lightning Claws. While I haven't used it, it adds lightning damage to my claws without wasting energy to my entire body.
Long distance is kept to throwing weapons - which would all be fire, Fireball , or Fire Arrows. Note to self: Work on making more ranged weapons outside of fire. Maybe ice?'
Tigra shook her head slightly to get back in the present.
'Focus on what to do later after the fight. As for now, go easy, figure out their reaction capability and how they prefer to fight.'
Tigra crouched lightly.
The other two must have noticed the shift in the atmosphere as they also fell into their own fighting stances.
'MP recovery rate is 41 per minute in combat. Haste is using 10 of that and Fire Falchion is using 20 as well. I can also include Flame Fists for 5 MP.' Tigra analyzed quickly before her hands were wrapped by flames.
The three of them waited for anything to start the fight.
A twitch, movement, or a surprise attack.
What actually started it was a chime from Tigra's long distance communicator.
The two of them charged her as her attention had drifted for a second.
Mermista shot her trident forward, sending a stream of water at her.
Inwardly cursing herself, Tigra jumped to the side to avoid it but found Morgan already running at her with a ready blade.
She swung at Tigra, who managed to bring her own blade in front of her to block it.
Only to find a fist in her chest and water to blast her away.
450 damage taken!
Tigra landed on the ground before placing a hand on the ground and flipping herself back onto her feet.
She saw Mermista riding a small wave towards her quickly with Morgan following before with…
'Wings of water!? Now that's absurd.'
Sure enough, Morgan had two bird-like wings and flying towards her.
Tigra looked at her blade and came to a small realization.
'Why am I fighting with a LV 31 skill instead of my LV 187 skill?'
She dismissed Fire Falchion before trying something out.
Her left hand remained on fire, but her right hand became engulfed in lightning in the shape of five claws.
Warning! Passive Reg. is 41. Current usage is 45.
Tigra didn't care about it as it should be fine.
She dashed towards them.
She jumped to meet Mermista who swung her trident forward.
Tigra clashed against it with her Lightning Claws, stopping it as she pulled back her left hand and swung.
It collided with her trident with enough power to slam the other end into her side, sending Mermista flying with a grunt.
The wave instantly collapsed as Morgan reached her.
Tigra continued to block the sword with her claws while throwing a few punches that Morgan continued to side stepped.
Slash, block, sidestep.
Slash, slash, block.
Sidestep, sidestep-
LUNGE!
Morgan gave a cry as five lightning claws embedded themselves into her shoulder and started to send a current through her.
Before she could recover or react, she found a fiery fist slamming into her cheek.
3000 Lightning damage inflicted!
Lightning Claws gained 6000 EXP!
Lightning Claws leveled up! LV 1 → 8
2500 Fire damage inflicted!
Morgan bounced on the ground before sliding to a stop.
She groaned as she pulled herself up and glared at Tigra.
"What? Did you expect me to continue fighting a losing battle of swordsmanship against an Ex-Captain of the Salinean Royal Guards? I'll say it without shame. You will likely beat me in Sword combat. I'm too new when it comes to using a blade."
Tigra crossed her arms, allowing the yellow lightning and red flames to almost dance with each other, catching Tigra's attention for a moment.
"So, I adjusted."
Morgan suddenly smirked.
"We just needed you to stay focused on us."
Morgan suddenly shot a stream of water straight into the air, no where close to even touching Tigra.
And yet, Tigra's instincts screamed.
She suddenly found herself on her knees and palms as she began to sweat.
'T-the h-hell?' She thought, pulling up her sheet.
Tigra Age: 18
LV 56 (3080/14,000)
HP: 3250/3700
MP: 1350/2200
SP: 927/1850*
STR: 86 DEX: 243*
CON: 185 INT:220
WIS: 207 CHA: 108
*Condition: Weighted (10x) - Through the use of a spell, your weight has significantly increased and as such, more stamina is used to fight it and speed is heavily reduced while in this condition
Tigra groaned slightly at her arms and legs feeling like lead. Lord, even breathing took effort and she hadn't started to try moving yet.
She saw a barrier of water start to surround her. The water is spinning around at a quick speed, similar to if the ocean were about to have a storm.
"C-Communicator…" She rasped out. "Read M-message."
With how this fight is going, may as well see what was so important.
*Beep beep*
Scorpia's voice came through.
"Hey, uh, Tigra. I need your help. You see, we were getting the rest of the things from Dryl and well, Glimmer and the guy with the bow showed up."
Tigra forced effort into her attempts at standing.
She looked around and found herself in a dome of water that was slowly growing closer as Morgan and Mermista were getting closer.
"Well, long story short."
"Catra's gone."
Tigra froze as the words were said.
Were registered.
Were comprehended.
'Relationship - Catra!'
Catra: 148 [Family], 48 [Chosen]
Tigra let the breath she held in go.
'It's not marked out.'
"So, she's activated her location beacon but it's nearly 3 hours away and they'll be in Brightmoon by the time I arrive if they keep moving at their current speed."
'3 hours. Brightmoon. Glimmer.' She took in as she also took a breath to prepare herself.
"I've sent the beacon to your device, so, let me know if you can retrieve her as soon as you can please!"
*Beep beep*
The clearing had gone quiet before Morgan laughed.
"You're saying that we've captured a Force General and the Second in Command on the same day? Man, that must-"
Tigra erupted into lightning.
Fire blasted out of her feet the instant the lightning stuck back to her.
Her fur had laid flat against her as her flaming claws struck the barrier.
The boom had happened instantly.
Mermista found herself flying backwards with an electrical burn impact against her chest and across her body as she still had her water armor activated.
Morgan barely reacted with a water spear before finding herself slammed into the ground from a fiery kick to the back of the head.
The ten guards surrounding Tigra found themselves decapitated with flaming arrows in their heads and a few with arrows in their chests.
Before anyone else could react, Tigra…
Tigra had vanished.
Leaving a dozen soldiers dead, the Salinean Princess on the ground almost heaving, and the Ex-Captain of the Royal Guard face planted on the ground.
Shadow Spies have been released.
Shadow Spy gained 4800 EXP!
Shadow Spy leveled up! LV 3 → 7
1500*3*0.705=3172 Water Damage taken!
Water Resistance gained 6052 EXP!
Water Resistance leveled up! LV 5 → 8
Lightning Claws gained 6000 EXP!
Lightning Claws leveled up! LV 8 → 11
H2H gained 25,000 EXP!
H2H leveled up! LV 187→189
Physical Resistance gained 1552 EXP!
Magic Resistance gained 3400 EXP!
New Quest Discovered!
Rescue of the Chosen
Catra has been taken.
Objective: Rescue Catra.
Failure: Catra being captured, Potential death of Catra
-----------------
Tigra
Age: 18
Level 56 (3080/14400)
HP: 3700 HPR: 740
MP: 2200 MPR: 828
SP: 1850 SPR: 370
STR: 85 DEX: 368
CON: 185 INT: 220
WIS: 207 CHA: 108
Skill Points: 5
Trait Points: 1
Upgrade Trait Points: 3
Speed: 51.1 MPH
Skills:
[H2H LV (1)89], [Run LV 68], [Dash LV (1)75], [Blades LV 31], [Spear LV 5]
[Dodge LV 41], [Reading LV 75], [Writing LV 71], [Sneak LV 48]
[Phys. Res LV 61], [Ice Res. LV 74], [Light Res. LV 3], [Air Res. LV 2], [Water Res. LV 7], [Magic Res LV 23]
[Program. LV 2], [Security LV 2], [Hacking LV 9], [Strategy LV 61]
Spells [Tigra still uses]:
Fire Step, Flame Armor, Flame Charge, Flame Fists, Fireball, Fire Dagger, Fire Arrow, Fire Sword, Fire Spear
Lightning Armor, Lightning Claws
Chill, Ice Armor
Darken, Shadow Mask, Shadow Ball, Shadow Spy
Haste, Heal
Titles:
Force General - Those in or allied with the Horde gain +40 REP
Princess Fighter - Through fighting several princesses, those of the Horde respect you. +10 REP
Conqueror: Geotan & Terra - Through taking those previously mentioned in the name of the Horde, those with the Horde view you as strong. +15 REP
Hero of the Horde - Through massive effort and strength, the Horde holds you at a high value. +30 REP
One Woman Army - You have proven yourself as capable as a full army. +15 REP
Traits:
[Night Vision], [Magical], [Obsidian Claws], [Huntress], [Primal Instincts]
[You are the Weapon - Multiplies H2H bonus by 2]
[Lightning - Multiplies final DEX by 1.5]
[Smart - Multiplies final INT by 1.15]
[You are Speed - For two minutes a day, your DEX is multiplied by 3]
[Omni-Regeneration - Multiplies all Regens by 2]
[Pyromaniac - EXP for Fire Spells is doubled]
[Fireproof - You can't be hurt by fire through natural or unnatural means]
[Electric-proof - You can't be hurt by electricity through natural or unnatural means]
[Phoenix - Once a month, if your HP is reduced to zero, you return to 75% HP once with a 25% increase in stats for the next 10 minutes]
[Raiju - Multiply your movement speed by 3x for 90 minutes within a 24 hour period. Lightning attacks do 100% more damage but water damage hurts you thrice as much as normal]
[Fueling the Fire - Increases Damage for Fire attacks by 50%]
[One with Fire - Fire spells take 25% less MP than normal]
[One with Lightning - Lightning spells take 25% less MP than normal]
[The Myth is Real - You have 8 spare lives and will restore you to 50% HP, MP, and SP upon resurrecting 5 seconds later]
[True Heir - Allows you the ability to connect with the Runestone of your home kingdom, or a Runestone should there not be one]
[Over Killer - Due to your ability of overkilling, your threats are more likely to succeed as warnings towards enemies]
Milestones:
[Genius - All EXP for spells is doubled]
[Hare - Increases movement speed by 25%]
[Cheetah - For 30 seconds every 2 hours, your DEX is increased by 50%]
[Iron Body - Decreases damage taken by 25% after resistances]
[Patient - MPR remains active at 5% while using spells continuously]
[Confident Aura - Those around you will think you know what you are doing]