A large man with half his body covered in some kind of stone seemed to be the leader as he called the shots. "KILL EVERYONE! LEAVE ONLY THE WOMEN ALIVE!" He yelled out. "THIS TOWN IS MINE!"
Craig Lodger
Rank: Iron
Race: Human, Earth Spirit
Level 13 Barbarian
Health: 1800
Mana: 2000
Draven scanned the man.
He had above-average stats with a rare species and his level was also rather high compared to the others had Draven not force-fed his father and the rest then there wouldn't be anyone above level 5 right now. To the credit of Draven's group, they were fighting with everything they had to damage Craig and his minions but at level 5 they couldn't do any damage to him or his minions as they were all at least level 8. James had launched into the fray as well while Draven was taking his time to understand the strength of his enemies. He tried calling out for him to fall back but he was already engaged with the boss. Craig summoned a fist made of earth that struck James in the chest causing him to fly through a building.
Draven blood began to boil as he filled the runes in his legs with mana.
"System ban all these invaders from Ironforge."
The only thing Draven heard was that all of this was his fault. Had he changed the setting from the get-go to not allow others to enter this would never have happened they would have first had to have sieged the barrier to gain access. Draven still lost in thought heard someone calling out to him. "Draven help!" It was Jennifer the fox girl. One of Craig's underlings had grabbed her after she had missed her fireball attack threw her over his shoulder and began walking towards Craig with her. At that moment something snapped within Draven. He sunk into his shadow and traversed instantly through the shadows cast by the buildings and the people until he appeared behind Mr. Piggy as he seemed to be part boar. Draven extended his claws and slashed his neck, taking his head clean off. As Mr. Piggy fell limp to the ground Draven caught Jennifer as she fell into his arms. She immediately hugged Draven around the neck and cried into his shoulder uncontrollably. Draven patted her on the head as he stared at Craig with cold murderous eyes filled with killing intent. Craig had taken notice of Draven glaring at him. "Look the Hero has arrived to save the princess!" He laughed while pointing at Draven. Craig's arm began to form into the shape of a stone club. He then began to walk towards Draven with a wide smile on his face unable to to hide his excitement to crush him. "Too bad that princess is mine now like everything else once I see it, it is MINE!"
Draven pried Jennifer's arms off of him and used wind magic to float her away from him towards his father who had started climbing out of the hole in the building. All of Craig's underlings started to surround Draven as everyone decided he was the main threat that needed to be dealt with before they could take over the town. As he looked around to see Craig's underlings surround him Draven saw the bodies of many of the villagers who had come with him sprawled on the ground lying in pools of blood. Some of the attackers didn't even have the decency to step over their bodies as they trampled on the faces of their victims. "Useless Trash!" Draven yelled out as he flung a curved wind blade towards his left side that cut through the torsos of 8 underlings. He then summoned another spear made of water and launched it towards Craig the spear dug into his rock armor leaving a large hole in his defense but as quickly as the hole was made it was sealed again. The force caused Craig to slide a few meters back but other than the shock of impact he was uninjured.
"You're a strong magic user who can also fight up close we are similar in that sense," Craig said as he seemed to study Draven "But you need something a lot stronger than that to hurt me," he said. Cracking his knuckles he showed a devilish smile. "I'll enjoy playing with that Fox girl after you're dead she seems like a real treat." Craig began to lick his lips in anticipation of it. "I might not be the strongest there is in this world but someone as weak as you will not kill me," Draven answered. Craig was about to laugh in Draven's face but Draven had already unleashed the runes in his legs and traveled the gap between them in an instant while punching Craig into his stomach his fist penetrated through all layers of stone until he reached his abdomen. From the force alone Craig was launched into another building similar to how James was earlier.
All of Craig's underlings tried to jump on Draven but he had already sunk into his shadow and began to shadow-step between each member assassinating them one after another some he cut the head off, others he stabbed through the heart, and one had the privilege of getting his spine crushed as Draven had stabbed into his body grabbing his spine and crushed it into dust between his fingers. Before Craig could even stand up from Draven's attack, over half of his men were already dead. Seeing Draven going on a killing spree the rest of the Townspeople found their courage once more and started launching spells at the invaders and were even able to kill a few themselves. James had passed Jennifer to one of the orb hunters he knew and rejoined the fight as well. As a powerful dragon, he made quick work with any of the underlings that dared get in his way. Similar to Draven long claws sprouted from his hands and his eyes turned red as he went into a Barbarian's rage. A skill from his class.
He lacked Draven's finesse in combat but he made up for it in pure violence as he mutilated his enemies ripping limbs off and even biting someone's neck and tearing their head off. He might not be Craig's equal due to his level, but these underlings were nothing to him. At this point, Craig was back on his feet and Draven was free to entertain him again as the last of the invaders were being dealt with. Craig had a trail of blood running down the corner of his mouth he must have coughed up quite a bit after Draven's attack. Craig however wasted no time and fully encompassed his body in many thick layers of stone making him look like a large earth elemental. "You caught me off guard before but you're not getting through my defense this time." He called out to Draven as he began charging him at full speed. But, compared to Draven he was incredibly slow. He sacrificed his mobility to attain strength and a high defense.
"Let's see how much my Dragon breath has improved since ranking up." Draven thought as a wicked smile began to form on his mouth. Draven inhaled deeply as temperatures exceeding that of lava formed in his body and with a mighty roar were expelled from his throat in the form of a pillar of fire that completely enveloped Craig's golem form. At first, Craig could be heard laughing as he continued his charge through the fire but then bits and pieces of his stone body began to melt and drip onto the road. Draven didn't let up and continued his breath determined to cook him inside his shell like a turtle in the sun. Before Craig had even reached the halfway point to Draven he started screaming in pain as the rock began to fuse with his skin in a molten pool of flesh, blood, and stone. Draven stopped his Dragon breath as Craig had already collapsed to the ground screaming in agony, he quickly released his stone armor revealing the charred black skin underneath. Thanks to the improved vitality Craigs new body gave him he was able to survive that number of burns as a normal human would have long perished under such wounds.
Draven quickly set the Barrier to only permit citizens from entering Ironforge. Draven looked at the town map and located the Prison cells. He snatched Craig up and carried him across town and dumped him into the cell. After ordering a healer to heal him just enough to make sure he stays alive and a few Orbhunters to stand guard and call him as soon as he wakes up. Draven walked back out into the open and according to the town menu, 58 people had died. Leaving 1396 members still alive. All of it could have been prevented had Draven just changed the barrier setting right away. He remembered seeing the option in the menu why didn't he just activate it? Was it because he was lazy, or because he just didn't think anyone was going to come here today? No matter what the reason was one thing was for certain this was all his fault. He had never felt more guilty in his entire life.
As if he could sense Draven's feelings James placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault kiddo." Draven smacked his hand away. "Of course, it was my fault there was a setting to not allow non-citizens from entering. They would have had to break through the barrier before coming inside and by that time I would have been able to deal with them before anyone got hurt." Draven angrily replied. "Even so, we had just got here and there was too much to take in at once no one can blame you for not having set up everything perfectly moments after arriving. No one including myself could have done it any better. The fact is you took care of the situation and saved everyone you could. Without you, we would have lost." James said with a look of concern on his face.
"Without me, they wouldn't have been here to die in the first place. I got too cocky allowing myself to get a big head thinking nothing could touch me. But I can't be everywhere at once I made a stupid mistake and 58 people died because of it. I didn't factor in that we would be fighting against other people they just walked in and started killing people. We have only been here a month and those with power are turning into the monsters we are fighting to survive against. If anything they are more dangerous than the monsters. Don't they feel anything when killing another person?" Draven said looking at his hands that were still stained in blood as he remembered murdering all those people like they were cattle. James stayed silent as he let Draven explain all the thoughts that were on his mind. "Why am I not more shaken up from killing them? Am I going to turn into someone like that as well?"
Seeing Draven had finished voicing his concerns he saw his son desperately looking to him for answers so James spoke up. "The fact that you are asking these questions already proves that you are not like them. Do you think any of them sat down and thought about their actions and the morality of their decisions? You did what you had to do and maybe since evolving we all can deal with the mental stress of killing another person but maybe you acquired that from surviving in the woods full of monsters for a month. I don't know but there is a difference between killing to protect what you have built and killing to take what others have built. You said we've been here a month and people are already turning into monsters. I disagree, those people were already monsters they just now have the opportunity to act on those thoughts and beliefs. They no longer fear the consequences for their actions and seeing them act the way they did just shows that that is who they were all along."
Draven let his head hang as he replayed everything his father said to him in his mind. It made him feel better but it didn't change the fact that all this was his fault. "You made a mistake fine but eventually all of us would have made it here at some point in the future. and in that future Rock Boy would have been the leader of this town. We would have all died or turned into his minions at that point so don't think for a second that you didn't change the lives and the futures of all these people for the better. Learn from your mistakes and move on that's the essence of any leader. These people need you and there is a bunch more at Novice Village that still need you as well. Use this to strengthen your resolve instead of allowing it to become an excuse to crumble."
His father was right he needed to get his head on straight feeling bad wasn't going to bring all these people back to life. He wasn't like those people he wanted people to be happy and he wanted everyone to survive. This didn't mean he no longer felt guilty to the contrary he would remember this day for the rest of his life and make sure what happened today never happened again. "Thanks, Dad. I know what to do now." Draven said smiling. "Anytime son. I got your back." James replied. Jennifer initially wanted to walk up to Draven to thank him for saving her and had unintentionally heard the entirety of their conversation. Her heart started to swell hearing how much Draven cared about doing the right thing and how badly he felt that people had died. But after hearing him say they would still be alive had he not been there bothered her. So after they had finished talking she placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
Draven could feel another hand on his other shoulder as Jennifer chimed in. "Without you, I would still be back at Novice Village as a weak little girl willing to do anything for a scrap of food. All of us were starving while most of the Orb Hunters had everything and treated us like trash. We were too scared to speak up for fear of offending someone who might give us some food. And far too scared of going to the training grounds. We had no hope and were almost broken. But then you came along and changed everything within a day. We all have the same opportunities now and are no longer afraid to say what is on our minds. We can now also fight for ourselves without having to rely on anyone while still having you to stand up for us in case we need it. Like with Ross the bull-man. You were so upset that no one stepped in to help him and everyone was so ashamed of themselves after you ripped them a new one. Jared the Frog Man is a completely different person now. We all knew the risk of coming here and so long you do your best each one of us will have a better outcome in our lives than what we would have had without you in it. I know now because of you that I have to take risks if I want to become stronger and live my life the way I want to. So on that note."
Jennifer said while taking a deep breath and quickly kissed Draven on the cheek and then ran away squealing. Draven placed his hand on his cheek and turned to his father. What just happened Dad? James laughed so hard he had to cover his mouth or risk spitting all over himself. He tried to compose himself but after looking at Draven's dumbfounded face he started laughing even harder. He is the strongest guy around and looks like a full-grown man but he's still a kid on the inside who has never had a girlfriend.