Chapter 10: Wherefore dost thou flee

Chapter 10: Wherefore dost thou flee

Nathan turned away from the pursuing legionaries, focusing on the ground ahead of him as he sprinted down the hill. He jumped over the knee-high wall that marked the edge of the camp and was into the open pasture surrounding the Agmon camp.

Tripping now would be bad. Time to rely on that sprinting!

The fanciful voice spoke again, sounding like it belonged in a throne room instead of a battlefield. Company, accelerate! Our foes shall be hindered in their footsteps! The entire group of Agmon legionaries gave a warcry at the declaration, backing up the officers words with a wall of sound.

The shout washed over Nathan and his feet suddenly slowed. The effect didnt cancel his sprinting, but it felt like he had to will his feet forward individually. His Rage spiked at the feeling of an external mental influence on him.

Its like that [Slavemaster] from the slave raiding party way back when. I need to remember Im not immune to mind-affecting skills, just magic. And this ones a lot more powerful than that one was. Its backed by the legionaries somehow.

Our advance is ceaseless! Our legs carry then there was another crack of Sarahs rifle, and the officers voice cut out. Nathan glanced behind him again, and saw a nearly headless body slumping to the ground. The Agmon legionaries had been ready for another yell, but with their officers death their voices were staggered and discordant, accomplishing nothing.

Making a note to do something nice for Sarah later.I wonder if his helmet would have saved him.

Unfortunately, the legionnaires were catching up. They were charging as a disciplined unit, shields bobbing in unison as they closed the gap to Nathan.

He fought against the effect that still constrained his legs. It was strong. Nathan leaned into his Rage, pushing against the effect to keep his momentum up. [Juggernaughts Inertia] was working against the skill, preventing him from stopping entirely. But it looked like it was going to slow him just long enough for the nearly twenty legionaries to catch up.

Balls.

The Heirs and the Forest Rangers were in front of Nathan, and he ran to meet them. Aarl, Khachi, Farist and Orym had formed up into the front line, while Selnoa and Stella were just behind. Nathan didnt see Zanwin, the rogue presumably hiding somewhere.

Selnoa and Stella stopped moving and started casting spells. Stella was first, flinging a curving lightning bolt that arced over Nathans head and impacted with a blast of thunder. Nathan wanted to look and see what effect it had had, but he was too busy trying to keep ahead of the disciplined charge of the Agmon legionaries. The ground under Nathans feet tried to turn to sucking mud, but Nathan managed to stabilize his footing and the effect didnt slow him.

Mid-tier Sprinting 6 achieved!

The effect on his legs finally broke, and Nathan sprinted forward to meet the Adventurers, whod set themselves to receive the charge of the legionaries. He waved his hands to gesture them to turn back, but it was too late. So Nathan joined his teammates, turning to face the approaching soldiers. He flexed his regrown hand and checked his stamina.

Stamina: 259/690 nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

I did a lot of healing under pressure in the past few minutes. Im feeling jilted that it wasn't worth another Regenerate rank.

The spell Selnoa had cast had turned the ground to a muddy mire, but the legionaries had powered through it without slowing too much. It had managed to disrupt their formation, and they approached with shields up and spears leveled. The gathered legionaries shouted a disciplined battle cry. Agmon and Glory!

In response, Khachi intoned a prayer which cut across the night. By my faith and my god, by the righteous battle we engage in to protect our homes, we shall be protected! His armor flashed blindingly, a directed beam of holy light that caused several legionaries to stagger and others to jerk their shields up to protect their eyes.

Into that gap Aarl leapt, wielding an enchanted saber in each hand. The force blade flickered out and cut through several spear shafts, while the lightning blade collided with an upraised shield. There was a thunderous detonation and the legionary holding the shield was thrown nearly ten feet backward.

Those whod had their spears cut dropped the useless sticks and pulled out swords or wands, beginning to circle Aarl as he blew another legionary away and threatened others with his oversized force-blade.

The other Adventurers werent having any of that, coming forward to relieve their comrade. Farist sneakily maneuvered behind a legionary and sunk his longsword into his back, but was thrown away by a quick elbow when the legionary spun to face him. Another soldier tried to close in on him, but an arrow sprouted from his shoulder. He turned, snarling and ripping free a wand to fire lightning bolts in the direction of the trees where the arrow had come from. Another legionary stepped into the gap, threatening Farist in turn.

Orym ran up next to Aarl, bashing away a spear with her shield before bringing her ax down like a falling anvil. The legionary caught the blow and forced the big lionfolk woman to jump back or be spitted by his spear. Another attacked her from the side and she slid around his spear, kicking him backwards.

Khachi was more careful, matching a trio of legionaries with his broad and glowing shield. They tested his shield with their spears and then cautiously advanced, wary of his divine-glowing weaponry. Another crack of Sarahs rifle sounded and one of the three staggered, but did not fall. A couple of legionaries stepped back from the fight and started hurling lightning bolts in the approximate direction of Sarah.

The Adventurer mages werent idle, though they seemed to be focusing on neutralizing the legionaries whod pulled wands. Selnoa dropped some kind of darkness spell on the back half of the group of soldiers while Stella threw up a few force barriers to protect herself and Selnoa from counterfire. She then stepped back and started channeling an especially large spell, forming a ball of crackling lightning in her hands.

Nathan mostly just got stabbed. He tried to rush a pair of legionaries looking to flank and get to the mages. They aimed their spears towards him and he tried to grab the spearheads and throw them aside. The legionaries pulled the spears back a few feet before stabbing forward. One got him in the shoulder, the other in the gut.

Im just not very good at fighting people who specialize in melee fighting. And why do these people always aim for the gut? Rude.

Zanwin popped out behind the soldiers, stabbing each of them in the kidneys with daggers held in each hand. They winced as one. One of them turned, dropping his spear to pull out a sword. Zanwin ducked away from that soldier, circling the other one, who continued to focus on Nathan.

That soldier yanked his spear out of Nathans shoulder and thrust it backwards, bashing Zanwin across the face with the metal ball on the back end as the Knuld man stabbed him again. Zanwin staggered back and the legionary with a sword swung, cutting through the small mans arm above the elbow and deep into his torso.

Nathan leapt forward, dodging around the legionary facing him and throwing his shoulder into the orc who was bringing his sword back for another blow. Nathans momentum was enough to topple the tall soldier, and Nathan flashed more healing to the skin to hold the wound closed as he scooped up Zanwin to run away from the legionaries. He quickly circled around them to get back to the other Adventurers.

The wounded Knuld awkwardly pushed himself to his feet. He was still missing his left arm, but aside from that injury he looked mostly healthy - his broken nose was healed and the electricity burns were gone. Most impressively, the only trace of the sword wound that had cut nearly a third of the way into Zanwins torso was torn armor and blood. He still favored that side, and it seemed tender.

I cannot replace the arm, you will have to return to a specialist healer for that. Khachi looked disappointed in himself.

Zanwin and his sister embraced, and he looked up at the Heirs over her shoulder. Each word was terse, but he didnt spare them. That was a dangerous encounter. But we succeeded, and survived. I would work with you again. Preferably after this is fixed." He indicated his stump. "Would it be acceptable to leave now?

They all headed back towards Bridgeguard. Both teams were tired, but decided against camping. For one thing, they didnt want to be caught in case the Agmon soldiers decided to pursue, and also didnt want to be jumped by any of the predators that lived out here.

As they rejoined the road, Nathan received a familiar blue box.

You have leveled up to level 65! Congratulations, you and your teammates have handicapped an Agmon raiding party!

Sarahs eyes were wide. I think that guy was nobility. Count Kunal Mirial.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 7

Permanent Talent 2: High-tier Regeneration 9

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 4

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 65

Stamina: 156/750

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

High-tier Focused Mind 9

High-tier Earnestness 3

Mid-tier Sprinting 6

High-tier Spellsense 4

Mid-tier Notice 9

Mid-tier Identify 7

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 5

High-tier Enhanced Memory 3

Mid-tier Lecturing 2

Mid-tier Tumbling 2