System Change

Braxton and Avery finally crossed the boundary of the Stronghold. They were minutes, if not seconds, away from being within range of the invading army. “Are you ready for this, little man?” Braxton asked Avery as the figure of the army grew larger and larger.

“Did you… just call me ‘little man’?” Avery looked down at Braxton and frowned.

“You are scrawny,” Braxton said. “Need some more meat on your bones. Some brew and a decent meal would do you good. I can’t believe that you work at a restaurant.”

“That’s… not how it works…” Avery muttered. He ate plenty. It was his stat distribution that made him a bit skinnier than most. Still, he wasn’t ‘scrawny.’ “Never mind that,” he said. “I’m ready. I’m always ready for a good fight.”

“Good man!” Braxton laughed.

“You take melee and I take ranged?” Avery asked.

“Sounds like a plan if there are any left after our opening attack,” Braxton replied. “I hate dealing with those little mosquitoes, anyway.”

“You do realize that I’m a ranged fighter, right?”

“But you can fight just as good up close,” Braxton replied. “Or so I’ve heard.”

Avery shook his head, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he impatiently waited to be within range. Soon, a minute passed, and it was time. Braxton hefted his hammer onto his shoulder, and Avery tightened his grip on his bow.“Let’s show Derek that we aren’t useless. What do you say?” Braxton asked.

“He already knows that I’m not useless,” Avery replied. “But you can do what you want.” With that, Avery’s dragon wings sprouted from his back once again, and he took off into the air.

Braxton looked up and muttered, “Show off.” Then he sprinted at the army of over two hundred by himself.

From the city walls, Derek watched his two friends charge at the invaders. He saw Avery take flight and Braxton begin his charge. As the dwarf inched closer, his entire body began glowing a stunning fiery orange. Soon, all that visible energy was transferred into the dwarf assassin’s warhammer, and a massive transparent image began to form behind the man.

“It’s almost like Tyron’s image when he fights,” Derek muttered. The difference was that Tyron’s image looked more like a smith, while the one forming behind Braxton was that of a warrior.

“Fascinating,” Natalie said from the side. “You don’t see many classes that have such a manifestation. The Walking Forge is the only one in Cydaria that I know of that has one, and it is not nearly as potent as the one we are seeing here. It is hard to believe that he is an assassin.”

“Yeah,” Derek chuckled. “Nothing says assassin like a giant scary manifestation appearing behind your killer.”

“Just the sight of it may complete most jobs,” Natalie said.

Derek smiled at the thought of the manifestation appearing and the target having a heart attack on the spot. He shook his head to clear the thoughts, then asked, “So, is it as rare as Alanah’s Metamorphosis?”

“Hmm…” Natalie touched her chin in thought. “I am actually unsure. I believe that Alanah is unique when it comes to that. I would want to put her in the same category as those who can transform their bodies with their elements—such as the former King of Astrus. I believe you fought that man?”

“I did,” Derek said. “And yeah, it definitely feels different. Him turning into an ice cube only changed his body and composition. It didn’t alter his mind or anything like Alanah’s Dawn Siren form does.”

“That is correct…” Natalie replied. “I would say that her Metamorphosis is similar to a Transformation, but also vastly different. I would put it in its own category. Nobody that I know of can do the same thing as her, but I know more people—though still few—that can transform themselves than can manifest like Tyron or Braxton.”

“I see,” Derek replied. He couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever get such a skill. It certainly felt like the closer one became with their affinity, the more likely it was to be able to transform like that. Technically, even Edgar could do so already, even if it was only for a short time. But that short time was all he needed to travel through someone or something and shock their organs.

“It’s starting,” Natalie said from the side, breaking Derek out of his thoughts.

“Come on, Avery…” Stella, who was still there watching quietly, muttered where Derek could barely hear her.

Derek smiled at her concern for her… What even is he to her? he thought. They are basically siblings, I guess. Derek shrugged internally and focused on the battle.

By the time Braxton reached the army, his Manifestation was almost completely solid. It was much more corporeal-looking than anything Derek had seen from Tyron. Suddenly, the assassin struck out with a two-handed overhead strike directed at the ground in front of him.

The warhammer hit the ground and sent a shockwave through it. The ground exploded over and over, sending dirt and terrain flying. Before they could even react, the attack reached the stunned army, and the ground beneath them exploded in multiple waves.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I am not paying for that,” Natalie murmured from the side as she took out what looked like a notebook and began writing in it. “I’ll send the Assassin’s Guild the bill.”

Derek chuckled inwardly as he saw soldier after soldier get launched into the air from Braxton’s massive opening attack. As the soldiers took their impromptu flight, arrow after arrow landed on their torsos. Some were wearing armor strong enough to block the attacks somewhat, but most weren’t as lucky.

The majority of them were not wearing armor strong enough to do more than block some of the damage before losing the battle. Those people all ended up with differently sized holes in them. Avery was certainly accurate. Just like he had said, not a single shot landed on a head, and it also looked like he avoided the heart in his attacks. Though, with the levels of the soldiers they were fighting, Derek didn’t believe that a single shot to the heart would be fatal.

However, he did believe it would send them into a Dying State, and that would be way too expensive if they wanted to keep them alive. So, Avery’s judgment was spot on.

When the attack finally stopped, Derek could see that it had reached much farther than it needed to. Just in front of the dwarf was a rectangular crater that stretched close to half a mile long. Buried bodies littered the inside of the massive crater.

Many soldiers had been pushed back and landed far from the crater due to the momentum from Avery’s attacks. Some lay completely still while others dug themselves out or stood up on shaky legs. Even from as far away as Derek was, he could see a defiant look in some of their eyes, while others shone with nothing but fear. The battle was going just about how he expected it would.

Derek was occasionally checking the Invasion Status sheet the entire time he watched the chaos in front of him. Not long after Braxton and Avery left, he saw that Osian’s status had changed to ‘In Battle.’ He knew that the army had arrived at Eloria, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the same scene was playing out there as it was in Savannah.

He wasn’t worried at all—especially since Edgar’s status never changed. If Osian was having a difficult time, then the former prince would have certainly joined in. Derek dismissed the status sheet and focused his attention back on the fight in front of him.

Braxton and Avery looked at each other, then nodded. The next second, both disappeared. He’s faster than I expected him to be, Derek thought as he followed Braxton’s movements. Though the Manifestation behind the dwarf had faded and grown smaller, it was still there, and enough energy was still flowing through his warhammer that it continued to shine a brilliant fiery orange.

When the assassin reappeared, he was standing directly in front of a man who had taken one of Avery’s shots without much trouble. He was shouting something at the surrounding soldiers when the dwarf appeared and shut him up almost instantly.

The soldier’s armor wasn’t lucky enough to survive another attack. As soon as the surprise attack hit the man’s torso, the armor exploded off of him in pieces.

“Holy shit!” Derek half-shouted. “Did he just use that same shockwave skill, except on a person?”

“He did,” Natalie replied. Derek turned to look at her and saw that her dull eyes were glowing as she watched on. “I am still unable to tell exactly what kind of aura that man uses. It looks… like… explosive strength, maybe? There isn’t even a hint of earth aura in it.”

“So he created that entire crater with nothing but strength?” Derek asked with wide eyes. “It wasn’t reinforced with any earth skill to help? That’s crazy.”

“Yes, it is,” Natalie said.

“I wonder what getting hit with that would feel like,” Derek said, then shuddered. He was more than sure that his armor would be okay under the attack—especially if he used its skill. But as he thought about getting hit with it directly without his armor protecting him, he flinched at the thought of how much his organs would be shaken.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would survive the hit. His regeneration and stats were just too high. But he hated feeling that kind of damage more than anything else.

“It certainly would not feel good,” Natalie said as she pointed at the naked soldier. “It destroyed more than just his armor.”

“And that was with it powered down,” Derek said.

“It had to be if he didn’t want to kill the man,” Natalie said. “Which he didn’t, surprisingly. He’s just unconscious. He’s not even in a Dying State. Braxton is almost as precise with his attack as Avery is.”

“He’s probably got a lot more practice,” Derek said.

“Yes…”

For the next ten minutes, Braxton and Avery methodically dismantled the army. After the initial attack from Braxton, the invaders were never able to regroup or establish orders. Also, it looked like the first man that Braxton targeted was the invaders’ leader, and once he was down, those showing more fear than the others ran off like scalded dogs. Neither Avery nor Braxton chased them.

Instead, they focused on those who remained. The fight was completely one-sided. The small assassin with a large hammer continued to disappear and reappear in front of soldiers, only to destroy their armor and send them flying unconscious.

This actually angered Natalie a small amount. According to her, it was a waste of good armor that Braxton would have been able to sell to hire some earth mages to fix all the damage he caused.

Avery just hovered above the battlefield, and every time a soldier drew an arrow or channeled a magical spell, they lost a hand or an arm. It looked like he was on ranged patrol while Braxton did the dirty work. Derek had to admit, they fought well together and really complemented each other.

With just a few stragglers left, Derek looked at the Invasion Status sheet again and smiled. Osian was no longer ‘In Battle.’ Neither Savanna nor Eloria ever changed their statuses to ‘Under Attack.’ I guess they had even less of a problem than we did here, he thought as Avery finished knocking out the last soldier.

Derek looked at the battlefield, then back to Natalie, who held a communication crystal for a moment before putting it away. She looked back at Derek. “I sent orders to collect the soldiers and their equipment. I anticipated as much and have spent a great sum expanding the dungeons and reinforcing them with runes. I am not even sure you would be able to escape them.”

“That would be fun to test,” Derek said, but that would have to wait. Avery was currently walking back beside Braxton, who was carrying the leader on his shoulder. He wondered if the man had any information about the other side’s Champions. Derek was itching for another fight.

***

Deep in a forest, a man began to stir. Soon, he awoke and looked around. As soon as his vision steadied and he saw his surroundings, he let out a gasp. There was blood everywhere. It soaked the forest floor and stained the surrounding trees.

The man saw four of his fellow soldiers lying around him unconscious and took in a deep breath. Each person was nearly naked and had runic marks inked into their skin from top to bottom. The man looked down at his own legs and saw that he, too, had the same markings.

“W-what… what is this!?”

“So… what exactly did you do to them?” Edgar asked Nyx.

“Oh, nothing much,” Nyx answered. “I collected some blood from a butcher shop and tossed it around the area where we left them.”

“What about those runes?” Edgar asked. He’d seen the eerie marks that Nyx had left on the bodies of the ‘messengers.’

“Oh, those?” Nyx actually chuckled from behind his mask. “While I was on my way back, I saw some small children playing and had them draw some pictures. They… weren’t very talented artists. I inked those pictures under the skin of the soldiers.”

“Nyx…” Edgar muttered. “Has anyone ever told you that you are evil?”

“Yes,” Nyx said. “You did. Just moments ago.”