Chapter 35

The world around Randidly warped, and he suddenly found himself in an archaic stone room lit by torches. A notification hovered in front of him.

Defeat the Guardian and gain power! But be careful, it will not be easy.

A dark figure stood in front of Randidly, regarding him coolly. As Randidly dismissed the notification, the figure exploded into motion, rushing towards him.

Or at least, the figure “exploded” as much as he could with his seemingly low stats. Randidly stepped to the side, avoided the roundhouse kick the figure aimed at him, and lashed out, his hand slashing at the opponent’s throat.

When the blow landed, the dark figure shattered, turning into a black mist that flowed into Randidly’s body.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Roundhouse Kick Lvl 1.

And just like that, Randidly found himself back in the dark clearing, the group of people slowly dispersing. Daniel was giving him an uneasy look.

“Perhaps you should go first,” He said, his brown eyes nervous. “If there is danger…”

Randidly snorted. “I’ve already returned from the Roundhouse kick challenge. If you are prepared, and have at least 10 in Strength and Agility, the Trainee challenges shouldn’t pose a serious problem to anyone here.”

To demonstrate, Randidly performed a slow and controlled roundhouse kick. Then he accelerated, enjoying the explosive power. He might need to increase his flexibility a bit to use this effectively, but otherwise it seemed incredibly useful….

After a few strikes, the skill increased to Level 2, and Randidly ceased kicking, the eyes of the watchers wide from the speed of the strikes.

Randidly glanced around. Even if the skill level was low, his agility of 42 probably was a level higher than any present here were used to. They obviously hadn’t seen Shal’s casual grace, or the vicious speed of the orcs. Even the cat beyond the safe zone was an impossibly powerful existence for them.

Sighing to himself, Randidly wondered if it really was possible for Sydney and Ace to still be alive. If they were at this level of strength...But then he quieted that thought and turned back to Nul.

****

After obtaining both the Fireball and Healing Palm skills, and raising them both to level 2, Randidly decided to take a quick nap. The fireball skill produced a ball of flame that would explode on contact. Although the explosion was small now, the heat was already impressive. Randidly was curious how much more powerful the explosion would get.

Magic Missile cost the same amount as mana bolt, and was slightly weaker, but the dart-like like missiles could be controlled somewhat, causing them to avoid shields, defenses, or terrain, and home in on the enemy.

Still, even though Randidly wanted to train these useful skills, he decided to nap. If the enemies would come at the same time as the previous day, they wouldn’t come for 6 or so more hours anyway, which would give him time to rest.

Although it was clear that Randidly didn’t require nearly as much sleep as an average person, there was undoubtedly a limit to that; and as he planned on once more to go beyond the edge of the safe zone tomorrow, he didn’t want to encounter that limit.

So he slept.

When he awoke, it was to a long slow stretch, and to a familiar sensation of danger; it appeared the horde was coming. Randidly stood and moved smoothly out from his cabin, drawing his spear. Activating Eyes of the Spear Phantom, he scanned the edges of the valley.

His frown deepened. Although he had expected it… it was still somewhat intimidating to feel the movements of almost 500 enemies beyond his vision. It seemed like the enemies were still gathering, so Randidly spared a glance for the forces of the village.

Sam had been busy today, and it looked like he had help, because they managed to set up a fence around the entirety of the village, and dig a trench outside that. There was a wide gate area, but the rest would serve as a way to funnel the enemies into a place, where they could be slaughtered.

Or at least that was the plan.

Turning away, Randidly sat and filled his empty potion vials, making as concentrated a mana potion as he could. His greatest success was a potion that would restore 91 mana, but he had several others that would restore 80 at a time. Pleasingly, his Potion Making skill improved another level, the first time in a while.

Not today, because he wanted to go out beyond the boundary, but tomorrow, Randidly made a mental note to visit the village of the Policeman and make sure he held up his end of the bargain, providing glassware to hold more potions. With those, Randidly could afford to be much more free with his spells, making hordes of low leveled enemies like this dead meat.

Rising with glittering eyes, Randidly smiled in the darkness.

Well, it wasn’t like they would be much challenge anyway…

****

As the sun dawned, Randidly surveyed the battlefield. The fence had certainly bought time during the beginning of the fight, but the sheer numbers of monsters had eventually overrun it, making it useless, and the “villagers” as they had taken to themselves, had been swamped by all sides.

Surprisingly, they didn’t break. Donny’s skills made him a great force for locking down large numbers, and focusing their attention. Decklan came and went freely, wolverines and goblins and lizards falling to the side dead. Dozer wielded a huge club, smashing at least two or three enemies with every strike.

Randidly had started the fight by taking it to them, throwing out Arcane Orbs and drinking mana potions like water, rocking the enemy lines. Of the 500 some, probably only 200 made it past him to assault the village. But that was still 200 enemies rushing against 50.

Casualties had been prevented somewhat by Daniel and a slight man named Ptolemy, who gained the Healing Palm skill naturally from his class.

But then something happened to the defenders, or at least most of them: they ran out of stamina.

Most of them chose either of Decklan’s or Dozer’s paths, focusing on strength or speed. Very few chose to invest a heavy amount of their points into Vitality or Endurance, resulting in a steep drop off in their skill usage after a few minutes of hectic battle. And although they would only need about 2 minutes to recover their stamina fully, there was no time for that with a wolverine slashing at your throat.

All in all, 13 people died, their total number of individuals with classes falling to sit at 41.

With the sun at his back, Randidly stood before the exhausted individuals, covered in blood and grime, looking at the ground.

“I’m sure you all noticed it.” Randidly said, speaking softly. But most people looked up at him. “The limits of what you can do without a true tank. What you do is your business- but you need to be strong enough to defend the village.”

Inwardly, something clicked, and Randidly offered a rare smile. “...I will not be present for tomorrow’s horde. I hope you manage to survive in my absence.”

Donny’s face twisted in horror, and there was shock and worry on most faces. Randidly simply shrugged, turning away. As he departed, he turned and spoke once more over his shoulder. “Perhaps you should consider forming divisions, underneath Donny, Decklan, and Dozer. Specialize, but cover all your bases. And become familiar with fighting together. If you don’t have sufficient individual strength, at least come up with a plan. Good luck.”

Randidly knew this would seem like an impossible challenge to them, but a day’s worth of leveling, especially with some points going into Vitality or Endurance, could do a lot. And without this prodding, they might grow too reliant on him, leaving them useless in the future.