Chapter 139 - Strength in Numbers (Patreon)

As I've hinted at a few times over the previous couple of weeks, I've decided to go ahead and increase the Patreon benefit by another five chapters.  This affects both tiers, so, as of today, Monarch-Tier patrons get early access (over what's published on Royal Road) to thirty chapters, while Boss-Tier patrons get twenty.  Hope you all enjoy.

Zeke slammed his shield into one of the raptors, cracking its elongated beak and sending it sprawling into its fellows. He followed it up with an overhand mace strike that obliterated another monster’s skull before crushing its body. A devastating front kick took care of another of the flightless birds, caving in its side with a brutal crunch. With the resulting room, Zeke spun, sending his mace in a wide, arcing backhanded attack that swept through a trio of other raptors. Each movement added a little extra energy to the pool of momentum he’d stored via the first stage of his skill, [Unleash Momentum], which he was saving until something truly threatened him.

In the beginning of the avian invasion, Zeke had rapidly alternated between storing and unleashing momentum. The result was that every other strike had a little more force behind it. However, it also drained his mana so quickly that, if he kept it up, he’d have to cut his other skills off. So, reluctantly, he had changed tactics, charging the skill until he was truly pushed into using it. As he slowly and methodically tore through the raptors, he couldn’t help but wonder when that time would come.

The monsters were no easy foe. He had taken plenty of hits along the way. Some were mitigated by the chitinous scraps that had once been his armor; the weeks-long battle against the fire ants had melted it beyond recognition, and the forceful attacks from the raptors had further degraded it to the point where Zeke questioned whether it would ever be the same. In the past, all it took was a little injected mana to jumpstart the self-repair portion that was built into the armor, but it had never been nearly so damaged. Zeke couldn’t help but wonder where the limits of the minor enchantment really lay.

So, with his armor offering only marginal protection, Zeke’s defenses depended almost completely on his endurance. And it was up to the task, if only barely. Any less, and he’d have been ripped to shreds. That fact alone had made him rethink some of his stat allocation. If he was going to consistently put himself into the thick of every battle, perhaps he needed to invest more points into that all-important stat. Or perhaps he’d get a chance to choose a skill that would boost his durability at level twenty-five.

As enticing as that was, there was no guarantee. Outside of some skills that would boost his regeneration rate, usually outside of combat, he had yet to be offered anything of the sort. And even if he was, he had no idea if it would be better than whatever other choices he might encounter. Finally, level twenty-five seemed so far off as to seem almost unattainable. After reaching level twenty so quickly, he’d thought he would be reaching the pinnacle in a matter of months. However, he’d soon learned just how erroneous that assumption was; he’d already killed quite a few raptors, and the resultant experience had made almost no difference in his core. The implication was that going from level twenty to level twenty-five would take at least as long as the previous twenty levels had. It was a depressing thought, but Zeke hadn’t let it affect him too much. Other people had climbed that mountain, so it stood to reason that he could do so as well. He only needed commitment and persistence, both traits he possessed in abundance.

All this and more went through his mind as he mindlessly mowed through the raptors before him, and he was reminded of his battle against the drachnid horde. He’d almost died because he was on auto-pilot when the drachnid champion had attacked. He resolved not to repeat that same mistake, and re-focused on the extermination at hand. However, he did idly wonder why Tucker had been so adamant that they’d needed to run. As far as Zeke could tell, the threat wasn’t nearly at the level Tucker had made it out to be. The raptors were strong, but they weren’t the all-consuming –

Zeke’s though cut off when a shrill cry echoed from the center of the flock. It was soon answered by a dozen more. Then again. And again. Within seconds, every single one of the monsters had raised its elongated beak to the sky and let out a series of squawks. That’s when the earth started shaking.

“Retreat to the tower!” came Tucker’s startled shout. It was followed by a single crack of thunder that announced Abby’s use of her lightning skill.

Zeke destroyed the skull of one last raptor before looking around in confusion. The monsters had backed away, giving him a wide berth. The earth heaved, vibrating so rapidly that Zeke began to sink into the sand. Yanking his booted foot out of the building quagmire, he muttered, “What the…”

“Run!” Tucker yelled again.

Zeke had no idea what was going on, and he really didn’t want to find out. Neither did Pudge, who’d already charged back to the tower. Talia was nowhere to be seen, but she was so quick that she was the best equipped of them all to escape whatever phenomenon had turned the earth to quicksand. Suddenly, the raptors dove into the ground, the dirt and rock parting like water before their sharp beaks.

That did the trick, so far as Zeke was concerned, and he turned on his heel and ran. Or at least he tried to; he’d already sunk up to his knees, so it was more like wading through a swamp than anything else. The first couple of steps were a pain, but Zeke persisted – what choice did he have? And soon, the tower’s influence began to assert itself, firming the ground beneath his feet. By the time he reached the entryway, it was as if nothing had changed. He reached out to pat Pudge’s head, careful to avoid the blood and gore the bear wore like a badge of honor. A few seconds later, Talia rushed to Zeke’s side.

“What is happening?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Zeke answered, watching the entire flock of monsters dive below the sand. The ground continued to shake and heave, looking like nothing so much as an ocean of sand. “But it can’t be good.”

Almost as soon as the words left Zeke’s mouth, an unholy screech filled the air. The earth stilled, the waves of sand, dirt, and rock freezing in place. Then, the ground swelled as something pushed from below.

Something huge.

Something powerful.

Something terrifying.

Suddenly, with a spray of sand, a tapered beak broke through. However, this beak clearly didn’t belong to a four- or five-foot monster. Instead, it was enormous. The tip alone was as big around as Zeke’s waist, and as a new monster emerged, he saw that it soon flared into a truly intimidating size.

The shape of the monster was similar to the raptors. However, instead of the tiny, gemstone feathers, the gems that made up its coat were at least three feet across – sometimes a little bigger. More, its beak and talons were comprised of jagged rocks.

And it was huge, rivaling the tower for height and likely weighing as much as a hillock of pure stone. For a moment, Zeke stood there, his mouth agape, and staring at the monster. It let out a blood-curdling screech that rattled Zeke’s eardrums. If he’d had any less endurance, he felt confident that they would’ve popped. Indeed – Talia’s had, as evidenced by the green blood leaking down her jaw.

“W-what the…”

Zeke didn’t finish the question, instead letting the question taper off into silence. A second later, he remembered to [Inspect] the creature:

Raptor Amalgam – Level 25 (B)

The moment the results of Zeke’s inspection flashed across his eyes, an enormous bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the monster’s huge, stony eye. Zeke had seen Abby’s skill shatter boulders. He’d seen it burn monsters to a crisp. To date, nothing had stood up to the powerful skill, and he’d often wondered just how strong it was.

It barely left a scorch on the monster’s rocky skin.

But Abby wasn’t finished. As Zeke looked up, he saw four more glittering, blue conjured arrows flying through the sky. Right behind them were a pair of glass globes that radiated yellow light. The arrows hit first, each one sparking another lightning strike, and soon after, Tucker’s grenades hit with a force rivaling Zeke’s most recent use of [Unleash Momentum]. An explosion rocked the monster back, sending a web of cracks across its cheek. The lightning strikes were less effective, but with Abby’s unerring aim, they all hit the same spot. Nothing could endure that kind of abuse and come out unscathed, and the amalgam staggered, its heavy steps shaking the earth as it tried to maintain its balance. It barely succeeded in that mission, but it ended up a few more steps away from the tower. That obviously suited Abby and Tucker just fine, and their barrage continued.

For his part, Zeke shook himself out of his reverie and decided to act. A second later, he was sprinting forward, holding his latest skill on the verge of activation. He stowed his mace and shield, and with a leap, he found himself clinging to the monster’s craggy leg. On the smaller versions, anything not covered with feathers instead sported scales, but on this giant creature, it was pure rock. That suited Zeke just fine, because it gave him ample handholds. He started climbing – a task made more difficult because the monster wasn’t sitting still. Indeed, it stepped forward, clearly intent on attacking the tower. Zeke wouldn’t let that happen.

After a few seconds, he crested the creature’s inverted knee-joint and progressed to its body; the gemlike feathers weren’t quite as accommodating as the craggy legs, but Zeke was possessed of superhuman dexterity, strength, and agility. He barely slowed, urgency driving him forward until he found himself on the monster’s back. Standing there, he marveled at the amalgam’s sheer size. It was actually taller than the five-story tower, which was almost incomprehensible to Zeke.

Shaking those thoughts away, he re-summoned his mace, and without wasting any more time, hefted it in a two-handed attack. As the mace crashed into the monster’s gem-studded back, he unleashed the full force of his latest skill; he’d let it build all through the ongoing battle with the smaller raptors, so, while it wasn’t as strong as the one he’d used against the crab, it was powerful enough to shatter a few feathers into dust. Others succumbed to the shockwave, dislodging and flying through the air. As they flew, Zeke was once again surprised to see that the feathers weren’t feathers at all. Instead, they were the smaller raptors, which had been somehow clinging to the rocky amalgam.

The huge monster moved in a flash. Even amidst the steady bombardment from both Abby and Tucker, it turned. It’s elongated beak darted out, and in a second, it had gobbled up the raptors Zeke had knocked loose. Tilting its head toward the sky, it swallowed the smaller monsters down its gullet. A moment later, authentic feathers, covered in gemstones, sprouted from the cracked fissure Zeke’s strike had dug into the amalgam’s body. In seconds, it was almost entirely healed.

Zeke’s shoulders slumped as he balanced on the monster’s back. “Seriously?” he muttered, wracking his brain for how to kill a huge, rock-monster that could heal itself. Even as he thought, he hammered his mace into the amalgam’s back, dislodging more of the raptors. When they fell, the creature at them, the same as he had with the others. It gave Zeke time to think; if it was eating its “feathers,” it wasn’t attacking his friends, after all.

Finally, a plan began to form.

It was risky, it would take forever, and it would require the cooperation of all his companions. However, that was always going to be true when it came to combating something so overwhelming as the amalgam.

“Talia, Pudge – destroy the raptors when I knock them loose,” he screamed. “Talia, Tucker – keep concentrating on the head.”

“What are you going to do?!” Abby yelled back. He could see her steadily drawing and releasing on the tower’s balcony. Tucker was right beside her, tossing one grenade after another.

Zeke called back, “I’m going to pluck a few feathers.”

With his enhanced senses, Zeke could hear her groan, even from half a football field away. And it might’ve been his imagination, but he also thought he could see her roll her eyes. She said, “That’s just terrible. Absolutely terrible. You are such a dork!”

Zeke wanted to respond, but there was a much more important task at hand. So, he went to work, dislodging as many of the raptors as he could. Even as they fell to the ground, Talia or Pudge would dart forward, and using either their skills or, in Pudge’s case, his overwhelming strength, destroyed the bodies. They didn’t get them all, though. Not even close. Even with Abby and Tucker’s steady bombardment, the amalgam continued its single-minded consumption of its dislodged feathers.

But it was always going to be an uphill climb; from the moment he’d chosen this course of action, Zeke had known it was going to a long road. As he saw it, though, there wasn’t much of a choice in the matter. So, he bent his back to the task, methodically pummeling the monster’s back. As he did so, he was incredibly grateful for his boots, which had survived the assault on the fire ants more or less intact. With those, even as the amalgam bucked and writhed, Zeke’s footing never wavered.

One strike after another, his mace descended, and as the seconds stretched into minutes, and the minutes became hours, Zeke entered a familiar trance-like state. Unlike had been the case before, when he’d first unlocked or advanced his martial paths, he didn’t gain any new knowledge. His reflexes weren’t sharpened. He didn’t get some innate sense that told him how to maximize the effects of his attacks. What he did get was an epiphany.

All this time, it was as if he’d been fighting with one eye closed. Now, though, his eyes were wide open, and as a result, he saw more than he ever had before. For the first time ever, he understood. The martial path wasn’t just there to give him knowledge. It was a fundamental concept. And as he hammered into the back of that monster, he gradually learned to tap into that vast power, harnessing it for his own ends. He reached further and further, scratching and clawing for some goal he didn’t even understand, but he knew was there. All the while, the raptors that clung to the monster’s rocky skin were knocked away. Zeke paid them no heed. He was so close. He only had to keep going a little further…

Suddenly, a green light erupted from his mace, enveloping it and mingling with the red mist of [Leech Strike]. And when Zeke swung his weapon, the impact was far more violent than it ever had been before. It was as if he’d gained a hundred extra points of strength, though he knew it went far beyond stats. It was a conceptual force. The overt expression of his martial path, which he knew had progressed to the peak of the novice stage.

With a grin, he harnessed his new power, and using the momentum he’d gathered since he’d began his assault on the monster’s feathers, Zeke unleashed unprecedented force upon the amalgam. Before, Abby’s hard-won skill had barely singed the monster. Tucker’s best grenades only resulted in hairline cracks. The combination of hours’ worth of momentum, unleashed all at once, and the newfound effect of his martial path hit like a meteor, digging an enormous crater in the huge monster’s back. The shockwave stripped the “feathers” from its body in a forty-foot radius, and Zeke was knocked from his feet and onto his back. Luckily, the creature’s back was broad enough that he didn’t plummet to the ground.

He rolled to his feet, inspecting the damage. Then, he muttered to himself, “I think I could get used to this.”

Even as the amalgam reacted with a blood-curdling screech, Zeke went back to work, armed with his new ability to harness the conceptual strength of his martial path.