Bog Standard Isekai

Brin had expected that Myra would be here at the snake pond. Tawna had left a pretty big hint that she’d be coming this way. It was lucky they had Marksi, though, because if Myra was really underground, he doubted he’d ever find her by himself.

Marksi started to move through the brush, pushing aside tall grass, looking everywhere. Brin joined in, and Zilly and Davi helped as well.

What he really wanted to do was sit down and maybe do a little light sobbing to recover from their intense journey here. He needed to process the terror and pain from the fight with Simao, and maybe recover from the overwhelming awe from witnessing the Hidden Guardian. But they didn’t have time to waste. He needed to keep going; this night was far from over. He searched.

As he searched, he realized he still had that level up to take care of. He pulled up his status to look over his options.

Upgrade - Call Light through Glass Increased mana efficiency when summoning light. Upgrade - Call Sound through Glass Increased mana efficiency when summoning sound.

Mana Well

+50% to the amount of mana you generate and hold per point of Magic.

Brin smiled in delight. With only two [Illusionist] Skills, it was no wonder what Skills the System would offer to upgrade, but he was very pleased with the new Skill he was offered. Sure, it would’ve been nice to see an upgrade to his [Glassbound] Title or even [Lightmind], but that might be asking for too much.

Hogg had warned him that [Illusionists] had all the mana they needed and not enough things to do with it, but that was an ordinary [Illusionist] problem. For him, [Mana Well] was perfect. Eventually his [Illusions] would be powerful, but for now he mostly used his mana to work with glass, and having another 50% mana to work with was extremely nice. He took the Skill without a second thought.

He still needed to spend his general Skill points, but didn’t think he’d be able to decide right now. He wanted to keep at least one free in case he got another Achievement that let him upgrade one of his existing Skills, like he’d done from [Directed Meditation]. He decided to save them for later.

That done, he turned his attention back to the search. He should look for disturbed earth, he supposed. Was Myra really underground, though? If so, why? What was Tawna’s game here? He could understand why she would take Myra and bolt. If she really thought that someone who cared about him would die, then she would want Myra as far away from town as possible. But he didn’t understand how someone who would do that would then just leave her daughter underground and run away.

“Oh, wait, I think I found something!” called Davi.

Brin rushed over, but didn’t see it at first. It looked like Davi’s hand was empty. Then he got close enough to see it. A tiny, thin line of thread.

Davi pulled, and the thread came free. At first Brin thought he must’ve pulled too hard, until a rumbling sound came from underground.

The ground started grinding in a six-foot ring, so Brin and Davi stepped back. Mud churned up from below, almost liquid.

Zilly approached. “Is that–?” Her question was cut off as a huge flower burst up from the ground. It was closed like a tulip at night, four feet tall, and a dirty grayish-pink. It didn’t take a close inspection to see that the entire thing was made of cloth. The fabric was rough and uneven, hasty-looking, and completely at odds with Tawna’s seamless craftsmanship.

Before they could think of what to do with it, it bloomed. The petals of the cloth flower folded back to reveal Myra, curled up in the fetal position.

Her hair was drenched and her dress clung to her with sweat or maybe water. She was soaking wet, like she’d been dunked in a pool. Aside from that, she looked normal, but too still. Her eyes were closed, and he couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

Zilly stepped forward and leaned down to check on her. As soon as her hand touched her shoulder, Myra’s eyes shot wide open and she gasped in a huge breath of air. She jumped to her feet and stumbled back, panicked and startled.

Zilly moved forward to calm her down but Myra scrambled away until her back hit a tree.

“Hold on, Zilly, give her some space. Myra, it’s us,” said Davi.

Myra’s eyes locked on Davi, then they flicked to Zilly and she started to breathe more calmly. “Davi? And Zilly, and Brin. If you’re here– where’s my mom?”

Zilly stepped forward to help Myra up, but she pushed her hands away. “I’m fine. If you’re here, does that mean it’s all over? Where’s my mom? Did she–?”

“We don’t know where she is. It’s only been a few hours since you were taken,” said Brin.

Myra put a hand to her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why don’t you tell us what happened? What’s this flower you were stuck in?” asked Brin.

Myra shook her head. “It’s a hibernation Skill. She actually used a Skill point for it, since she didn’t have anyone to teach her how to make it normally. The plan was… she thought…”

“Take your time. Tell it from the beginning,” said Brin.

“I’m fine.” Myra shoved a wet lock of hair away from her eyes. “Mother’s visions were blocked, for the most part, when she made all those fate-catchers for the town. That was her idea, and she would’ve done it anyway, but telling everyone in town that it was her punishment got them on board with putting them in their homes. They probably wouldn’t have if they thought she wanted to make them. [Witches] can read fate, too, and mother started to get nervous that they were better at it than her, so she decided to blind fate for everyone. But then that curse hit. She was barely able to keep it at bay, just enough to keep herself alive. She couldn’t even get out of bed.”

“You could have taken her to the chapel,” said Brin.

Myra crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, no one bothered telling us that. Besides, she couldn’t move, but she could use her weaving. She could read fate again. And she saw that she was going to die. If she was still in Hammon’s Bog when the battle ended, she would die. And if she took off without me, somehow I would die? I think she was just saying that to get me to come with her. So she told me we were leaving, and then spent the rest of the day and night making that cape that would let her move around. Only, I didn’t want to leave. Mother’s visions aren’t always perfect and I… well, you know the rest.”

“No, I knew that part already, or I had guessed,” said Brin. “What happened next is the part I’m curious about.”

“The undead mobbed us. Mother was already tired from defending the gate, and they seemed to be everywhere we went. We made it here, and they didn’t follow. I think they’re afraid of the snakes.”

Zilly scratched her ear. “What I want to know is why Simao followed us.”

Brin had an answer for that. “Undead that still have their original souls are more intelligent, and they have a little bit more autonomy. Simao probably had orders to kill us and also to stay away from here, but he couldn’t do both so he made a decision. Honestly, he might have known the dragon would kill him. He might have been doing us a favor.”

“How do you know so much about undead?” asked Zilly.

“Simao? A dragon? I thought you said I was only asleep for a couple hours!” Myra looked around, no doubt expecting something to jump out at her. There was nothing in the trees, and no sound except the gentle lapping of the water in the pond.

“We didn’t see a dragon,” said Davi. “The undead just disappeared. Actually, come to think of it, it might be a little reckless for kids from the Bog to keep coming here.”

Brin snorted. “Nonsense. The hidden guardian, still in the water over there by the way, wouldn’t harm us any more than you would harm a baby snake.”

It dawned on Davi immediately what Brin was saying. “I would never!”

“Me either!” said Zilly.

“Gods forbid!” said Myra. She made the sign of Noctis, crossed fingers over her heart.

“And then?” Brin prompted Myra to finish her story. “Did Tawna tell you what her plan was before she put you in a flower?”

“She told me that she’d go on ahead and get help. If someone gets word to the outside world, this whole siege is over. Maybe that’s why it’ll be done two or three days from now. She said that she also left a note in our house, so if she never returns someone would come find me eventually.”

“I guess she never figured that we’d try to save you right away,” said Zilly.

“Oh, no, she did. She just assumed that Brin would talk you out of it.” Myra’s eyes darted to him, and then away again.

There was an awkward silence until Brin realized everyone was waiting for him to say something. “Well, I would have, but–”

“It’s fine!” Myra said.

“So should we head back?” asked Zilly.

Brin’s first instinct was to say yes, that they should return as soon as possible, but was that really the right choice? They were safe here. It might be more responsible to wait it out.

“We should go back,” said Myra. “And Mom said it would be safe. She said that… this place won’t be safe forever, not now that I’m out of stasis. We need to get back to town. ”

“What? When would she have said that?” Zilly asked. Myra was nervously twisting a piece of thread in her fingers, and Zilly squinted at it.

Myra put both her hands behind her back, fumbling her words. “What I mean, is, um… She said that if Brin isn’t in town at the end, a lot more people will die.”

This was too suspicious. Brin used [Inspect].

Name Myra Corrigid Race Human Age 14 Level 21 Class Weaver Description Myra is a close friend. She likes you, but Davi likes her. Skills

[Spin] - Myra is able to twist materials into thread.

[Weave] - Myra can turn thread into fabric.

[Manipulate Thread] - Myra can move thread with the application of mana. She can imbue mana into thread, giving it additional properties. Myra can imbue thread with the aspect of Fate. This Skill has been upgraded three times.

She had fate weaving now. Did that mean that Myra was predicting the future? It didn’t seem likely to Brin. She knew that her mother barely trusted her own predictions, there’s no way she would depend on them herself.

That led him to another thought. How likely was it that Tawna had actually run on ahead? Much more likely was that she was hiding somewhere nearby, maybe using that same hibernation Skill on herself. After all, why break through the entire army when she could just wait a couple days for it to leave?

Zilly knew something was up, too. She grabbed Myra’s arm and twisted it around, forcing her to show the thread she’d been fiddling with, but of course it was just ordinary thread.

“Ow! What’s wrong with you?”

Zilly didn’t let go of Myra’s arm. “What are you doing with that string?”

“I’m a [Weaver], Zilly. What are you doing with that sword?” Myra said. She pushed Zilly away, which never would’ve worked if Zilly hadn’t allowed it. Zilly took an exaggerated step back, looking offended.

Davi looked as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

Brin shook his head, thoughts on something else. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Was he really supposed to believe that Tawna somehow predicted this exact situation and told Myra what to do just in case? Unlikely. Using an ordinary thread to pass information? A lot more plausible. Tawna was telling Myra to go back, and that they’d be safe.

Now all he had to do was decide what he was going to do about it. If he told on her, Tawna would have to come back with them. If she didn’t, the rest of the town would know she was here, and he didn’t think they’d be too pleased with her for her little stunt.

He cleared his throat. “Myra, is–”

Myra’s eyes widened in alarm. She stepped forward and grabbed Brin by the shoulders. “Let’s go back now. Please? Let’s just go back. We’ll make it. I know we’ll make it and… I don’t want to lose anyone.”

Brin paused. He stared into the eyes of a young fourteen-year-old girl, afraid of losing her mom. He sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Where’s Marksi?”

As if on cue, Marksi slipped out of the water of the lake. Myra held out her arms, but Marksi skipped past her to climb up on Brin’s shoulders.

Myra smiled. “Oh, so you two made up?”

Marksi purred and rubbed his face against Brin’s cheek. Despite just getting out of the water, his scaly skin was surprisingly warm.

“Did you have a nice time catching up with your… actually, is that your mother or your ancestor?”

Marksi didn’t answer, purring contentedly.

“Well, I hope you know we can come back here sometimes, if you ever want to see your family,” said Brin.

Marksi gave him a contemptuous huff. Clearly he thought it was obvious that he was allowed to visit his home whenever he wanted.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The journey back through the forest was a lot slower. Myra stumbled over branches and her feet sank into the mud, even after Davi gave her his hand to help guide her along. Zilly walked with her eyes closed, straining her [Perception]-enhanced senses to the limit to try to scout out any undead.

They didn’t find any, surprisingly. It made the trip feel longer. In the silence, for no one dared to speak, Brin was alone with his thoughts and could do nothing except think about the fight against Simao. He’d nearly died. Honestly, he had sort of been medically dead there for a minute, and he’d come back from it. The strange part was that he felt… fine. The strike had been so sudden that he hadn’t really had time to be afraid, and then his healing afterward had been so complete that it felt as if nothing significant had really happened.

He knew he was almost out of tricks, but it didn’t feel that way. His armband wouldn’t recharge for another day, and his Healing Potion was spent, but he was completely uninjured and his mana was nearly full.

He knew he should be freaking out right now, but he wasn’t, and now that was making him freak out. Was he in denial, or was he really starting to get used to this? Which was worse?

When Zilly stopped the party with a raised hand, it was almost a relief. She guided them back a couple minutes, then stopped. “We should be good to talk if we keep our voices down,” she said in a whisper.

“What’s going on?” Brin whispered back.

“There are packs of undead all around us, but none of them are coming this way. They’re all heading to the town. They’re grouping up for something big.”

“Can you guide us through?” asked Brin.

“For now,” said Zilly. “The forest is emptying out so there’s more space to move in. But the closer we get to town the harder it’ll be to hide from them.”

Myra twisted her string through her fingers. “We should keep going. There’s going to be a way through.”

They kept moving, more of the same. Myra stumbled and caught her dress on what seemed like every single tree branch. Zilly moved slowly with her eyes closed, straining her senses. Davi shepherded them all patiently, and Brin replayed his death in his mind over and over.

After a few more minutes, Zilly stopped again. “It feels like they’re coming everywhere but here.”

“My mom knew this would happen,” said Myra. “She knew we’d be able to find a path through.”

They kept moving, Myra with more confidence, and the rest of them more warily. It wasn’t too long before the other shoe dropped.

Zilly froze. A patch of earth in front of them stood out, looking different from the ground around it. It took Brin a second to realize what was wrong. It was dry, bone dry. The ground was never dry in this forest. Had Zilly spotted a trap?

The ground shifted, rising up.

"No," she said, shaking her head. A huge, black form grew from the forest floor, not twenty paces in front of them. The starry sky had been more than bright enough for Brin’s dark vision to see by, but he hadn’t seen this figure at all. It stood up, and up, and up, until it was fourteen feet tall.

A giant undead. He wore no armor, and his clothes were the same tight black as all the other undead soldiers, but there was a certain dignity in his bearing and an intelligence in his eyes that was impossible to miss.

“I didn’t see him. How did I miss him?” Zilly asked, pale-faced. “They don’t have heat, but I can sense electricity and vibration. I should have felt him, even underground.”

“Someone good at making clothes can add enchantments to block those extra senses. This was a trap. The [Witch] kept the undead away from this area so we'd come through here and run into him,” said Brin.

"I still should've sensed--"

Brin threw one of Hogg's potions, an explosion one, before the giant could react. It stopped in midair, halfway between them, and harmlessly exploded in a burst of bluish light. Had the giant stopped it with some kind of Skill? Zilly and Davi used the blast as a signal to attack and moved in from both sides.

The giant shouted, knocking all four of them to their backs. Brin rolled and got to his feet. His body moved just a bit slower than it should've, yet the giant didn't press the advantage. His limbs felt just a bit weaker now. The spear in his hands and even Marksi's slight weight were just a bit heavier.

The giant didn't press the advantage, so Brin used [Inspect], mentally wishing for a condensed version.

Name Nico Bricanic Alanric Race Undead Description Nico was a [Warrior] in life, who fell in his first battle. He was later gigantified by a [Witch]. Skills [Iron Body], [Battle Cry], [Sword Mastery] (upgraded once), [Face Me] (Anti-projectile Skill)

Judging by the number of Skills, he had probably been somewhere between level 15 and 19 when he died, but that didn't mean this would be an easy win. It was possible he'd grown a lot stronger since his death, and not just because he was a giant. At least he knew why his potion had failed. They'd have to do this hand-to-hand.

Nico crinkled his eyes in sorrow, though didn’t close them completely. When he spoke, it was with the carefully polished diction that Brin had learned to call High Frenarian. “O children. Wo be unto you! I would that you had not found me this night.”

His words were laden with despair, and each sentence he spoke made Brin lose heart a little more, made him a little less confident. That could only be the effect of [Battle Cry], but knowing that didn't make it go away.

Just to see what he was working with, Brin [Inspected] his friends.

Name Davi Pimental Class Bard Level 29 Description Davi is your best friend. He's put the large majority of his free points into Strength and has some achievements boosting it further. He's stronger than you.

Skills

[Inflame the Spirit] The soul is flame and you are its keeper. Empowers a Bard to alter or enhance the emotional state of his audience. Can send directions or warnings through music. Increase attributes or magical power of targets. Upgraded three times.

[Color of Music] You are an artist. Music is your paint and words are your brush. A bonus to learning instruments and memorizing songs.

[Write your Story] Your life is the story you sing for the world. Heavily empowers a Bard in particular scenarios.

[Strength of Song] Firm is the hand that holds the lute. A Empower your magic through physical strength.

Brin only had the chance to briefly skim the message, but his eyes popped at Davi's level. Apparently, singing war songs was prime leveling fodder for a [Bard].

He [Inspected] Zilly next. Her status sheet wasn't too different from last time he'd seen it, except that she was level thirty now and she'd upgraded [Overload] again with the new Skill point. All those risks she'd taken on the front lines had paid off.

He still felt the fear and shaky from Nico's [War Cry], but it was gradually being overcome with hope. They could do this. He just needed to convince the others. Davi and Zilly's faces were pale, and Myra looked as if she were about to pass out.

“How did… how did you… my mom, did she…?” Myra stumbled.

Nico frowned in sympathy. “Rest easy, little one. You were not betrayed. Hear this: Are [Weavers] the masters of fate, or readers of it only? The directions you received from that thread came not from your mother. She sleeps. You were led here by another. You were led here to your doom.”

Myra gasped out a sob, and maybe would’ve fallen to her knees if Davi hadn’t been there holding her elbow.

“Oh, buck up,” said Brin. “It’s not that bad. We just have to take this guy down and then we’re home free.”

The giant shook his head sadly. “Would that it were so easy. I have offered you all the solace that I can. Now I must fulfill the other part. Now I must fulfill my purpose. Wo unto me! Would that it were not so!”

Brin cracked his neck side-to-side and sized him up, trying to project confidence. He needed his friends to think this was possible, or else they’d never make it, but truth be told, this guy looked tough. “You don’t look so tough.”

“You appear to me as a talented child. I was also at one time… a talented child,” said Nico. He hefted his huge black sword, eight feet long, but a regular arming sword in his hands. He stepped back into a perfect martial stance, eyes resolved. Whether or not he was telling the truth about how he didn’t want to do this, it was clear that he wouldn’t be holding back.

"Guys? He's not talking to us to be nice. That shout gave us away, lots of undead are headed in our direction. We need to move fast," said Zilly.

Brin made a show of cracking his neck side to side and limbering up. “Alright, let's do this. Where’s the music, Davi? Zilly, I want you jumping around like an annoying mosquito. Give me an opening.”

Davi began an adventurous song, but his hesitation came through the music. The [Battle Cry] had shaken him, and the music wasn't enough to shake it off. Zilly gripped her sword with white knuckles and gulped. Obviously they both thought they should run. Maybe they should, but [Battle Sense] was telling him something else. It was telling him they didn’t have to. They could win. It was time to show them the way.

Brin pumped mana into his spearhead with [Shape Glass], strengthening it. He couldn't use projectiles, but he could use [Shape Glass] to make his weapon tougher and even to make it hit harder.

He ran forward, and to her credit, Zilly got there before he did. She didn’t bother to strike, she just darted in and then dodged when Nico’s sword swung down at her. That gave Brin the instant he needed to leap up and stab with his spear.

With speed that belied his giant size, the giant brought his sword around to parry Brin’s spear. The black metal hit glass, and Brin felt a pull on his mana, but the spearhead stayed intact. Still in the air, he spun the spear around and got a glancing blow onto the giant’s side. It broke the skin but didn't go much further. [Iron Body] was the whole body apparently, not just the skin. That was going to make this tough. He kicked off the giant to get some space.

As soon as he hit the ground, Brin jumped back in.

Marksi squeaked and leapt at the giant, climbing up and scratching at his face. He couldn’t do anything to break through the giant’s skin, or even hurt the eyes, but it had to have been distracting. Still, the giant didn’t even react to Marksi, he kept his focus on Brin and Zilly.

Zilly used [Dash] to speed in and out, avoiding the giant’s counterstrikes. Brin attacked head on, using his spear’s greater reach to keep some distance between himself and the giant while trying to think of a plan.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something cutting the grass. Myra was using thread to shave away the foliage and give them a clear arena to fight in.

They struck back and forth, Brin keeping his distance and Zilly using quick hit and run, but they weren’t gaining ground. The giant fended them off with smooth practiced movements, clearly at home on the battlefield and not totally new to fighting multiple opponents. All he needed was one good hit and Zilly or Brin would be dead, and he was content to take his time.

Brin couldn’t see a way through it. Zilly was doing her best, but she wasn’t quite enough. Brin needed a perfect stab to break through [Iron Body].

The next clash, Brin used [Shape Glass] to catch Nico’s sword on his spear head, binding them together. Nico pulled and Brin pulled back. He had to release the sword or have his spear pulled out of his hands, but he’d done enough. Zilly had a clear opening.

She jumped, sword aimed for Nico’s throat. Nico raised his off-hand and slapped her out of the air. She bounced, hitting the ground and rolled.

Nico took a step towards her. Myra screamed. Not with fear, with anger. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Myra’s face contorted in rage.

Green ropes erupted from the ground, tying themselves around Nico’s ankles and knotting. They pulled his legs together and he tripped. Brin dashed forward to capitalize, but Nico rolled away. It wasn’t graceful, but it did the trick, giving him enough space to hack at the ropes with his sword.

“What about me?” Myra roared. Another rope burst from the ground, wrapping itself around Nico’s wrist. “You told them what to do but not me! Did you really think I’d just stand here? You think you’re going to leave me behind?”

She hadn’t been clearing the ground for their fight. She’d been gathering fiber and then [Spinning] it into thread.

Zilly stood, shaky on her feet, but then she was a blur of movement as she used [Dash] again. She planted a strong [Kick] into Nico’s side. He freed his sword arm and swiped at her, but she was already jumping away.

Brin stabbed at his arm on the other side, and surprisingly, the spear went straight into the bicep. He stabbed again, but this time [Iron Body] stopped it.

“[Kick] disrupts [Iron Body]!” Brin shouted. “Keep going!”

Davi’s music swelled with excitement as for the first time, the big teen really started to believe that they’d win. He started directing them through the music, matching nearly perfectly what [Battle Sense] told Brin they should be doing. Brin didn't even think Davi had a Skill for that, he was just smart.

Myra reformed her ropes as quickly as Nico could pull them apart, and snaked out to pull him off balance, disrupting his perfect form. Zilly used [Dash] and [Kick] together, and now that she knew it would help, always made one or two cuts on her way out. Brin lashed out with his spear, scoring deep gouges and keeping the giant away from his friends.

He started to smile as they fought, and then started to laugh. All his hard work, all of the hard work of his friends, it was all coming together for this one perfect moment. He couldn’t help but remember being a teenager himself, watching anime and dreaming about what it would be like to be one of those heroes in that moment.

It was everything he’d imagined. His blood thrummed in his veins.

He saw it then, the path through the violence. In his mind’s eye he saw Myra pulling Nico off balance, Zilly focusing his attention to his left, and then Brin would jump straight on and deliver the finishing blow.

Davi’s song blazed with emotion. The ecstasy of battle, the inevitability of victory. And then… just a little bit of envy.

"To the left!" shouted Zilly.

A group of six undead burst from the forest. Brin didn't hesitate, and whipped his second exploding potion at their group. He used [Shape Glass] to shatter the bottle at just the right moment, catching all of them. Four of the undead went down instantly, and Zilly [Dashed] in to finish off the last two.

It took seconds. Brin blinked away the kill notifications. Nico had started to edge to the side, clearly thinking he'd do what Simao had done and angle himself for a surprise attack while they were distracted with the fodder. With them dead, he seemed to be flatfooted for the first time.

He lifted a hand. "A pause, if you will."

"Sure," said Brin.

"No! He's just waiting for more undead!" said Zilly.

“Just a sec.”

Davi’s music stopped, looking at Brin with his mouth open.

Brin tossed Myra a mana potion, who snatched it out of the air and drank it gratefully. Then he stepped up and pulled the lute out of Davi’s hands.

“I’m tired. You finish this,” he said.

Davi shook his head, eyes wide like Brin had gone mad. Brin put Davi’s quarterstaff in his hands, and then pushed Davi around and kicked his back, pushing him forward. Then he began to play.

He’d actually given some thought about what song he’d play in this moment. The turning point, the victory music. There was Bleach, but that wouldn’t work. The music in that show only got good when the rest of the show got bad. Naruto was a little too sad. Natsu’s theme, now that was perfect.

Brin played the song, making the notes loud and pure. He didn’t alter them to sound electric, because he knew that this was how Davi would like it.

He played the music, and Davi’s Skill picked it up, reflecting and magnified it. Brin poured his heart into the song, making it drip with power and strength. Now only would they win, they were going to be cool as hell while doing it.

Just as Zilly had said, three more undead soldiers appeared from the forest and attacked together with Nico.

Davi’s quarterstaff whirred as he charged it. He didn't even glance at the lesser undead as his humming staff struck them down, but kept his eyes fixed on Nico. Myra’s cords seemed to double in strength as she pulled both of the giant’s arms down. He thrashed like a panicked animal and pulled one arm free in time to swat Zilly out of the air, though he lost two fingers for it.

She landed on her feet and jumped straight out again, and Nico took a step back while fending her off, barely able to keep his balance against Myra’s attempt to trip him.

Then the hero was there. Nico’s sword swung down with full force. Davi’s quarterstaff came up and met it–and knocked it back.

Davi’s muscles bulged as he laid into Nico, striking again and again with his quarterstaff. Nico flailed at Davi, trying to fend him off, but Davi acted like he barely noticed the resistance.

Six undead burst from the forest. Davi smashed Nico with a staggering blow, audibly shattering bones. His blunt weapon didn’t need Zilly to loosen up [Iron Body]. A Bog Standard quarterstaff and his unmatched strength were more than enough to destroy something as weak as iron.

Zilly and Davi fought back to back against the arriving undead soldiers, moving through them as if it were a dance they'd coordinated beforehand, while Myra disrupted their movements in a dozen different ways. They destroyed all six before Nico got back in the fight.

The three of them harried him, wearing him down, dodging every blow with ease and capitalizing on every mistake. Brin coordinated them through the music, but he hardly needed to.

They were majestic. Brin had another life’s worth of memories in his brain. He had unfair Achievements and the backing of some of the richest people in the kingdom, and he was still barely keeping up with them. Damn these talented kids.

A mighty crack, and Nico dropped his sword, wrist broken. Davi ducked under his legs and then swung around again, breaking the knee. Nico came down to a kneel and Davi struck him in the back, slamming him forward.

Zilly ran in from the front. Somehow she’d gotten Brin’s spear, so he used [Shape Mana] to push it along with her movements and hit as hard as he could make it. Between the speed from her [Dash] and the power of his magic, the spear was a ballista bolt. It blew straight through Nico’s [Iron Body] and pierced his heart.

Nico died.

Alert! You have defeated: Giant Undead Soldier Experience has been split between members of your party.

Level up! Level 25 -> 26 +5 Strength +1 Dexterity, +2 Vitality, +2 Magic, +3 Mental Control, +1 Will, +2 free attributes.

Level up! Level 26 -> 27

+5 Strength +1 Dexterity, +2 Vitality, +2 Magic, +3 Mental Control, +1 Will, +2 free attributes. You have 2 free general skill points available.

Zilly jumped, fist in the air. “Yes!”

Myra wrapped both of her arms around Davi’s neck in a hug, then pulled back, holding his head. “That was amazing!”

He couldn’t help but grin at the elation of Davi’s face. Brin knew he was a hard person to be friends with, but he came through when it mattered. Although, the effect was a little bit ruined when Myra hugged him next.

Zilly made as if to check if the giant was carrying anything worth taking, but quirked her head and stopped. “We can’t stick around. The undead are all heading towards us now. We need to move!”

Without another word, they ran.