NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Raid!
Chapter 5: Raid!
Everyone stopped speaking at exactly the same time. A second later, the panic began to set in. The villagers started muttering uneasily and moving around. Miriam was startled. I guess that must be the aforementioned cult, then.
“Attention!” a firm, authoritative voice sang from the crowd. It was the sort of commanding yet uplifting voice every teacher, especially Miriam, wished that they had. “Silence! Can I have your attention?!” The crowd somewhat silenced, an older woman with deep brown skin and long leaf-green hair tied in a long ponytail emerged from within the crowd and strode to the young messenger.
“That’s Mayor Frances,” Charlene whispered to Miriam. “She’s in charge of this place for good reason.”
“I figured,” Miriam said back.
“Citizen!” the mayor called in her firm, confident voice. “What news do you bear?”
The young man was panting, his hands on his knees. “The cult!” he said. “They’re here!”
The crowd started talking apprehensively again. “What?” “But it’s still weeks before their tribute collector usually comes!” “Oh Order, what’s happening?”
“Explain,” Mayor Frances said. “Where are they, what are their numbers, and how do you know they’re attacking?”
The young man inhaled deeply and began speaking rapidly. “I was on guard duty with Lisa and Boris. From the peaks, we saw them over a mile away. There must be at least fifty. We sent Boris down to talk with them, and they… They…” Tears streaked down his face. “Order. Oh, Order.”
“You did well, guard,” Frances said. “Where’s Lisa?”
“She’s alerting everyone who wasn’t at the tavern,” the man said. “What do we do now, mayor?”
The mayor’s face turned into one of grim resolve. “We fight. Group A, to the west pass. B, to the east pass. Form a shield-wall. Children and elders, to the caverns.” Everyone but Miriam must have understood the order, for each adult present in the room materialized weapons from their inventories into their hands.
These inventories sure are convenient, she mused as she saw the array of polearms, axes and bows each villager procured. The weapons seemed to be made out of glistening white bone, and everyone pulled out an oblong shield of dusky grey hide. They split into two distinct groups. The first group seemed to be made up of mid-level villagers, whereas the second one consisted of both the strongest and weakest villagers. The mayor joined the former group as they marched out of the building single file.
“Miriam!” Charlene called.
“What do I do?” Miriam asked, moving over to her.
“Have you fought before?” Charlene asked. “Anything?”
“I fought some cockroaches yesterday,” Miriam replied. “There was an entire nest located in an abandoned building out east. Got to level 2 that way.”
“Well, if you haven’t already got this by now, equipment is far more influential on your capabilities than raw stats,” Charlene explained. “A low-level fighter with good equipment can easily beat a moderately higher-level fighter with poor equipment. Here, let me get you some gear.” She reached into her inventory and took out a [bone spear]. “Here.”
Miriam took the spear. It was made of a long, straight brown stick topped with what looked like a sharpened white leg bone. Ugh, I hope this wasn’t a human. It looked too big to be a human’s bone, but she had no preconceptions as to the morality of these people.
“Do you know how to fight with a spear?” Charlene asked. She nodded when Miriam answered that she had not. “It’s not that hard,” Charlene replied. “Anyway, you won’t be doing much fighting in this battle. We outnumber the cultists 2-1 and have the terrain advantage.”
“So what will I be doing?” Miriam asked, equipping the spear. It more than tripled her strength score. Charlene wasn’t kidding! If a low-quality-looking weapon like this one is this powerful, what about stronger ones? “In this battle?”
“You’ll be protecting the elders and children,” Charlene said. “They’re taking refuge in the main storage cavern in the northern cliffside. None of the foe should break through our lines, so you’ll be fine.”
Miriam understood the orders, but she still felt confused and lost. I just got here, and there’s already a battle. Oh, god.
“You all right, miss?” Charlene asked.
“It’s just…” Miriam gulpled. “Where I’m from, people don’t often experience war and fighting. I mean, it’s still common around the world, but it just doesn’t happen where I lived.”
Charlene’s face belied no emotion. “You aren’t there any more. Your land was probably far less savage than this place. Here, you must learn how to defend yourself.”
“Who’s this cult, anyway?” Miriam asked. “What’s their idea? Why are they attacking us?”
“The cult’s name is the Association of Divine Thanatos, but that’s a mouthful,” Charlene said. “I have no idea whether or not they actually worship Thanatos.”
“Who’s Thanatos?” Miriam asked. Man, I probably sound like a damn toddler asking all of these questions.
“Probably some powerful demon or angel or something.” This posed more questions, but Miriam refrained from asking them. “Anyway, he probably doesn’t give one single miniscule flying fuck about this cult. So basically, they showed up three years ago and set up camp a few miles to the west. They’ve been extorting us ever sense, demanding food as tribute every year.” She laughed. “They’ve never attacked us, though. I don’t know what made them come after us now.”
“Well, it’s happening,” Miriam said, taking deep breaths to calm herself. “So, show me where I need to go.”
Charlene guided her out of the tavern and into the dark night outside. Miriam couldn’t see a thing save for several distant patches of torchlight, so she placed her hands on Charlene’s armored shoulders and let her guide her. The ground felt rough and uneven, but her boots gripped the ground and steadied her.
Charlene led Miriam a few hundred paces to the left, then up a long, twisting incline. Soon, the area was bathed in the soft golden light of torches, giving her her first good look at the layout of Smogvale. To her side was one of the sheer cliffs that walled off either side of the village. The deep orange color of the stone and its jaggedness reminded her of the Grand Canyon back on Earth, a place she had visited once. Carved into the cliff-face were several door-sized portals, each of them covered with a sturdy brick door and bolted shut.
“We’re almost there,” Charlene said. “When you get up top, close the door behind you.”
“Where are you going?” Miriam asked.
“To help the defense,” Charlene said. “I’m the best fighter in the village by at least six levels. Probably one of the reasons why the cult hasn’t attacked us before is because they fear my power.”
“Makes sense,” Miriam said. “Anyway, good luck.”
“May you always find the roughest gemstones,” Charlene replied. Is that their cultural equivalent of ‘good luck’? Interesting. The armored woman turned around and began bolting down the incline. MIriam saw wide patches of light at either end of the village, illuminating the outlines of dozens of people standing in neat rows with weapons raised in front of them.
She continued her trek to the top of the ramp, and found a large, circular door. It was made out of grey metal, and hung open. Another ramp on the opposite side went downwards, forming a sort of “A” shape with the door at its apex. Torchlight and hushed conversation emanated from inside, so Miriam walked in to investigate.
Several dozen people sat or huddled in small groups, looking around them fearfully. All of them were either prepubescent or elderly. A young boy who couldn’t have been more than five or so hugged an older woman who could have been his grandma. While all of the children were level 1, some of the elders had levels much higher - the grandma Miriam had seen before was a whopping level 9.
“Are you here to protect us?” an elderly man named [Vincent] asked.
“Yes, I am,” Miriam said, withdrawing her spear and then putting it back in her inventory. “Nothing’ll get through the lines, anyway. At least, that’s what they said.”
“Good,” Vincent said. “Anyway, close the door. We don’t want to get involved in the fight.” Miriam nodded in the affirmative and went to close the door. However, as she looked outside one last time, she saw a group of people struggling to make their way up the opposite incline.
“Huh?” she said to herself. “I thought that we had everybody.” Looking closely, she identified the grey robes of Smogvale villagers. None of the soldiers seemed to be attacking them, so they were probably allies. Most of them seemed to be children and elders, based on their short stature or greying hair. As she watched, one of them tripped and fell, a wrinkled man with a long grey beard. A young boy with neon green hair bent down and started to help him up.
I’ll escort them up here, just to be safe. If anyone falls, I can carry them. “Hey!” she called through the gate. “There’s a group of stragglers behind us. I’m gonna bring them up here.”
“Be quick!” a raspy voice called. “I’m closing the door in ten minutes!” Taking that as a yes, Miriam began to bolt down the incline towards the group.
She was halfway there when she noticed three shapes descending from the sky. Huh? They looked to be humanoid in shape, and were heading directly for the stragglers. The group began to visibly panic and mill around in anxiety.
No! Are these cultists? She withdrew her spear and increased her pace. Holding the weapon out in front of her, she reached the group just as the enemies landed.
[Combat initiated versus Entities: Lauren: Wretch Lv. 11, Donald: Wretch Lv. 9, Michael: Gravity Wizard Lv. 10]
Three humans wearing long, black, tattered robes stood up and lifted their hoods, Hp bars appearing over each of their heads. Each of them had pale skin and short blond hair. Intricate symbols were tattooed on their faces in red ink. The one labeled [Gravity Wizard] had a purple tattoo intertwining with his red one. All of them pulled long, sharp-looking knives out of their inventories and began rushing the villagers.
Miriam gulped. Oh god, they’re people! I can’t kill people! She shuddered. No time to think. I can only act. Innocent lives are at stake.
“Blood for the Divine!” Michael called as he charged the group. Definitely cultists of Divine Thanatos, then. His ululating war cry was taken up by Donald and Lauren as they careened down the hill.
“Oh no you don’t!” Miriam shouted. “Get back here, fuckasses!” The cultists turned to regard her.
“Oh?” Lauren sneered. “A worm that thinks itself a lion, protecting its fellow insects? How funny.”
“Pick on someone your own size, you psychopath!” Miriam yelled. She banged her spear against the ground.
“Let’s crush the worm!” Michael exclaimed, charging at Miriam. Oh shit, time to fight! She thrust her bone spear, stabbing the cultist directly in the sternum. While that would have been enough to incapacitate an ordinary human back on Earth, the high-leveled cultist was made of sterner stuff. His Hp bar shrunk by about a quarter. He grunted in pain and raised his dagger as Lauren and Donald charged Miriam from the side, knives raised.
“Shit!” Miriam cursed, trying to dislodge her spear from Michael’s innards. She pulled it out in the nick of time and blocked Donald’s attack with the haft of her weapon. Lauren, however, got past her defense and nicked her torso.
Thankfully, her robe blocked some of the damage, causing her health to decrease by a measly three points. Charlene wasn’t kidding when she said that armor and weapons are more important than levels. Feeling nothing more than a sting, she raised a free hand and punched Lauren directly in the face. The woman yelled and staggered back, her Hp bar depleted by a fraction.
“Come and eat it, you wimps!” Miriam roared. “What’s the matter, scared of a level 2 wretch? Cowards!” Evidently, the cultists didn’t take kindly to her insult, so Lauren and Donald charged her once more. Michael stayed back, whispering something under his breath.
What’s he doing? Miriam stabbed Donald in the chest as he charged, taking out a great deal of his health.
[Entity: Miriam Ward has learned the Basic Skill: Spears Lv. 1. This skill represents your general skill with spear-type weapons and is indicative of personal experience. Your spear-strikes will be stronger, faster and more accurate now, increasing by an amount each level.]
“Nice!” Miriam called, stabbing Donald again. He dropped to the ground, moaning in pain. His Hp was all but depleted. She was so focused on blocking Lauren’s next attacks that she barely noticed a bolt of purple energy fly from Michael’s fingers.
Miriam had barely any time to dodge out of the way before the energy bolt struck her on the chest.
[Status: Increased Mass: 0m 15s remaining. You weigh twice as heavy and feel the effects thereof. Type: Gravity magic.]
She felt like she was at the bottom of the ocean, millions of gallons of water pressing down on her. Is this what the Gravity Wizard class can do? She cried out and collapsed to the ground, struggling feebly to stand up. She felt the cultists begin to repeatedly stab her in the back, taking a small chunk of her Hp each time.
No no no no no no, oh god! Please… End… The status timer ran out after what felt like an eternity, and at that point she was at a mere 13 Hp. I can’t end like this! Filled with rage, she pushed upwards, knocking the surprised cultists away from her.
“What?” one called. “She’s so strong! My magic barely worked!”
“These bastards have better gear, dipshit!” Lauren exclaimed. “I tried telling Gazzack that raiding the heathens was a bad idea! ‘Theyre too well-armed, boss!’ I said. ‘We’ll fucking die!’ I said! But no, our fucking cult leader decided to…” She was cut off as Miriam skewered her and Donald simultaneously with a ferocious thrust. Donald died, his Hp bar blinking out of existence. A look of surprise mixed with pain came to rest on his face as his eyes glazed over. Lauren took heavy damage, and staggered backwards with a scream.
“Raagh!” Miriam bellowed, rushing forward with primal endurance and rage. The weak, short-ranged knifes of the remaining two cultists proved ineffective against the overwhelming damage and range of her spear, and they were dead within moments.
Immediately afterward, Miriam fell to her knees and vomited. Oh god oh god oh god, what came over me? I… I… Her thinking was cut off with another retch. The citizens she had protected looked at her with a mixture of relief, revulsion and horror. I… killed people!
[Combat complete. Entity: Miriam Ward victorious. Earned sufficient experience to reach Lv. 4. Max Hp +4, +6 stat points.]
“Hey, are you okay?” an adolescent girl with scarlet hair asked her, startling her from her thoughts.
“I’m… Ugh, I’m fine,” Miriam groaned. The pain from her wounds stung, but didn’t feel as painful as she was expecting. She averted her gaze, not bearing to look at the corpses or the people. “Let’s… Let’s get you folks to safety.”
As she walked up the incline, the motley group behind her explained what had happened. Many of the villagers had been sleeping due to the late hour. While the able-bodied adults among them had quickly geared up and moved into formation, it took significantly longer to rouse the elders and prepare the youth than anticipated. Most of the people had been located on the far side of the village, making the transit time even longer than what it normally would have been. The sound of shouting and weapons clashing echoed from the distance, a sign that the main battle had already begun.
The dialogue served as an adequate distraction, but Miriam couldn’t get the images of the dead out of her head. Donald’s glazed-over eyes, the blood spurting from myriads of wounds her spear had inflicted… They were evil, she rationalized to herself. They were going to kill these unarmed citizens, and I was the only one who could have saved them. I had to, otherwise they and perhaps I would have died.
Eventually, the group reached the portal. Without a word, Miriam and her company were ushered in and the door was closed behind them. For a time, she sat crouched in the faint torchlight, resting on her hands and knees. She put her spear into her inventory and sat back, watching the door. After a little while, she decided to turn her mind away from the morbid thoughts that consumed it.
I leveled up twice! Considering that she had only leveled up once before, having an additional four maximum Hp and a whopping six stat points to spend felt like a significant upgrade. I can allocate these points however I want! But what to do… Strength would increase her damage, agility probably impacted her mobility, vitality obviously determined her Hp, endurance her stamina. What are magic, wisdom and charisma good for? I probably don’t need those stats at the moment. She allocated one point each to agility and endurance, and two apiece to strength and vitality. As the numbers on her Attribute Sheet went up, she felt even more powerful than she already had, as if she could take on the world.
Attribute Sheet of Entity: Miriam Ward
Name: Miriam Ward
Class/Level: Wretch Lv. 4
Stat Points: 6
Moves (basic):
Unarmed Lv. 1
Spears Lv. 1
Defend Lv. 1
Dodge Lv. 1
Enhanced Calluses Lv. 1
Enhanced Breath Lv. 3
Moves (advanced):
Defy Death Lv. 1 (immune to bleeding out, survive 1 lethal blow/day)
Stats:
Hp: 13/47
Mp: 5/5
Stamina: 9/9
Defense: 15
Resistance: 7
Strength: 7 (+12 when attacking)
Agility: 6 (+0)
Vitality: 11 (+0)
Endurance: 7 (+0)
Magic: 5 (+0)
Wisdom: 7 (+0)
Charisma: 5 (+0)
She sat in the cave, unable to tell what was happening outside. The battle could still be raging on, it could be won, or it could be… She didn’t want to think about what would happen if it was lost. Eventually, she laid down on the hard earthen floor and fell into a fitful sleep, an ephemeral respite from the pain she had inflicted and suffered today.