Chapter 47

Randidly gathered fire and released it, aiming upwards. He didn’t bother with calculating wind, or speed, but just reached up and adjusted the flight path slightly with his extremely high control stat, backed by his willpower.

His fireball struck the wing of the first huge condor, the bird screaming and sliding sideways, losing its ability to glide with a huge chunk of its wing blown off. But dozens more cruised lower, aiming for the base.

“First Squad, switch!” Donny called, his squad sliding back one individual at a time, a member of the second squad. It was a smart ploy. Having the first squad at the back to deal with what came would be smart.

Randidly threw several more fireballs upwards. The first condor crashed into ground, its fully 30 meter wingspan smashing dozens of monsters on the ground. It didn’t appear to have a high level, or any offensive weapons, but it was able to carry around 30 monsters on its back while gliding. Randidly had seen them hoping off the mountain looming Donnyton them to get up speed, and slowly gliding down here.

It was annoying, but the condors themselves weren’t too big of a problem; it was what they represented that was scary. Randidly activated his Eyes of the Spear Phantom and looked the back of the horde. But low leveled monsters rushed out unendingly.

Not yet, huh….?

Randidly drank a mana potion and tossed a dozen more fireballs up into the air, ripping holes in wings and blowing heads entirely off bodies. Most crashed into the monster mass, sowing chaos, but there were far too many of the condors.Several times the condor crashed on their side of the wall, around two dozen groggy monsters staggered off the condor, met by the newer squads, backed by the 1st squad.

The only problem occured when a condor crashed onto the wall, splintering the wood and giving the monsters hand holds to crawl over the tall walls.

Luckily Decklan’s group appeared like ghosts, ripping through the distracted monsters while Sam gleefully had his men drag the condor over the wall. Shaking his head, Randidly admitted to himself that Sam’s pursuits were getting decidedly… strange. Randidly saw Sam just a small gash and his head and rub blood on the body, before looking at it with greedy eyes.

The way he looked at a fresh monster body he had never seen before… it wasn’t moral.

Randidly continued to rain fire down on the attacking monsters, his skill level increasing, the explosion getting marginally larger, inch by inch.

The squads rotated smoothly, the fresh recruits stumbling, but surviving. Ptolemy was there, healing scratches, bandaging wounds, replacing any wooden shields that broke.

Randidly spared a glance for the Weather Witch and the Archer. Both possessed a surprising amount of mettle, standing tall while harpies attacked the group of them up here. Not that he would let any get close enough to matter, but still. Both were accurate. Both were practical. Both were blessedly silent.

“Mana potion!” Lyra chirped, playfully poking Randidly’s side. Shaking his head, he tossed her a mana potion. As annoying as he thought he should find it, it was hard to be too put off when every time she summoned those glowing birds of hers, she ripped through a dozen enemies, clearly demonstrating her skill. It was... almost nice, Randidly admitted to himself, to have someone who didn't look at him with fear and awe. She treated him like a person.

The fact that she was a lovely teenager who managed to master skills that Randidly hadn't managed to imititate didn't hurt her appeal either.

After dealing with Lyra, he turned back and scanned the battelfield, a long, slow smile forming.

Looming at the back, crouched down, but abundantly clear, was a large wolverine. Too large. And Randidly could clearly see it’s name and Level, glowing blue.

Godmother Wolverine Lvl 19

Randidly prepared to go meet it, then thought better of it. Instead, he turned towards the forces below. Half of which were grunting and fighting, half of which were bent over and panting.

“Dozer, time to live up to your namesake. Clear a path directly forward, into the enemy. Donny, get your most durable people and follow him. We have our first boss.”

Dozer’s squad wearily got to their feet, hefting their shields and drawing their short swords. Randidly chuckled, then shook his head slowly.

“No, no, leave those twigs here. I said clear a PATH, not thread a needle. Give Donny a hole large enough to stumble through.”

The whole group stilled. Dozer shifted, looking up at Randidly. Then his ugly, flat face split into a huge grin. He dropped his short sword and shield, and drew the huge club that he had obtained in the dungeon. All around him, men shed armor and small arms, drawing axes, clubs, halberds, and spear. Huge, weighty weapons that were meant more to bash and slaughter.

Dozer strode forward, his 10 man squad following him. The 4th squad was currently at the front, holding back the monster horde.

“SQUADS 6 through 10,” Dozer belowed. “PART.”

Confused, they shuffled to the side, revealing Squad 5, who nervously glanced backwards, while the 4th squad struggled with grim expressions. Donny formed up a group of 25 or so people, hurrying after Dozer.

Dozer and his group began to run.

Randidly threw down handfuls of fire, not at the area near the gate, but in a line directly forward, thinning enemies in the way.

His huge thighs bulging, Dozer crouched behind the 5th squad, their eyes wide, and then leapt, his huge, 2 meter club held high overhead. His squad loyally followed, roaring. Their huge, muscled forms reached the apex of their leap, then fallin, weapons swinging.

Most nearby monsters were meat paste before they understood what was happening. Dozer rumbled forward, his huge club swinging, 4 or 5 monsters crushed or smashed backwards with every blow. His men charged after him, swinging like mad themselves, and the monster horde was quickly bulldozed before them.

Donny followed, the golden glow of Aegis suffusing his group as they walked forward, mopping up the mess left by Dozer. Feeling that the time was right, Randidly bombarded the area around the Godmother Wolverine with flames, killing the weaker monsters and antagonizing the boss.

It roared and stood on its hind legs, shouting its challenge towards the sky. Then it lowered itself again and charged forward, heedless of its minions it crushed. Within seconds, Dozer had caught sight of the charging wolverine and laughed wildly, raising his club.

The two forces met with a huge boom, Dozer staggering back several steps, but the Godmother Wolverine stopped dead. Its face was confused, and then furious, and it reared up again, but suddenly Donny was there, shield blazing with golden light, and Shield Bashed it directly in the face. Stunned, the thing stumbled, and Decklan was there, sweeping in, his knives leaving long scratches on its flank.

Their squads spread out around them, knocking the monsters back and forming a loose defensive circle, letting the powerhouses meet.

Randidly felt slightly disappointed that he wasn’t a part of the struggle, but he sensed that this enemy was not one that would get his blood flowing. Although it was as high of level as the things beyond the boundary, it just had a prodigious amount of health. It was enough for the three of them to defeat it. And also, they would be further reassured of their ability to survive without him. That was very important, for the future.

Instead, Randidly drew his spear and hopped off the wall. Now was time for him to play.

****

Randidly had a satisfied expression as he watched the sun rise. For one, there were only 3 deaths this morning, and 1 of them was an NCC who got too curious and wandered too close to the horde.

In addition, Randidly experienced an enjoyable amount of level gains. Spear Mastery increased by 2, Phantom Thrust by 1, Spear Phantom’s footwork by 3, Heavy Blow and Fighting Proficiency by 1, Haste by 2, Sweep by 4, Empower by 3, Calculated Blow by 8, Roundhouse Kick and Edge of Decay by 4.

Fireball also increased by 3, with Root Manipulation going up by 1, Pollen of the Rafflesia and Summon Pestilence both by 2, and Mana Strengthening by 3.

And the ever important Equip went up, putting it at 20, and giving Randidly a nice surprise. He was finally able to identify and equip the necklace he had gotten from the first cat he had killed.

Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ®: (Vitality +1, Strength +2, Agility +7)

He certainly savored that Agility boost, after wearing it without any effect for long. Then Randidly’s eyes widened as he wondered if the habit of teeth necklaces denoting authority came from imitating him. He shook his head ruefully.

There was no way that was the case, right…?