1.4 – Trial of Destiny II

Rika took the strike of an axe on her shield as she finally got herself into position. The kobolds swarmed her, just as she’d expected once she saw their Fury of the Horde buff. Preventing herself from immediately getting surrounded had been harder than she’d thought, but now she was safe. Relatively speaking.

The limestone oozed out from the wall like molasses and formed a wedge between itself and the rougher stone forming the rest of the cave. Rika got herself into a space large enough for her to move and swing her weapon effectively, if only just. It was small enough that she could face the oncoming kobolds and not really have to worry about any getting behind her.

Her initial assessment of them seemed to hold true, at least for now. Once the easy route to surrounding her had been cut off, they switched to a full assault. Tactically minded, these creatures were not. It gave her the chance to hold, and a precious few moments to collect herself and calm her nerves.

Fury of the Horde x11: Minor damage increase for every ally within 5 ft.

A spear struck out from the pack, darting just below her shield. The jagged stone tip ripped through her trousers, sinking into the flesh of her thigh. Pain screamed up her leg, and she had to grit her teeth to keep from voicing the same. She took half a step back. Strike came off cooldown, and she separated a kobold from its arm at the shoulder. A steady tattoo of clubs and axes thudded against her shield, but she kept her feet despite the pain in her leg. The trickle of warm and wet, along with the pant leg sticking to her skin, told her enough—she was bleeding badly, and couldn’t afford to make it worse.

Keep your weight off it and stand firm. She could almost hear Captain Marin’s lecturing. Know yourself, know your limits, but don’t be afraid to take any advantage you can grab hold of. All the time she’d spent in the library, and none of it had prepared her for this. If the Watchers were the sort of gods to listen to prayers, she’d offer them thanks for Marin and all the wisdom he’d imparted to her over the years.

Adjusting her sweaty grip on shield and hilt alike, she struck out at the kobolds once again. If there was one thing keeping her alive right now, it was her positioning. If there were two, the other was the kobolds’ utter lack of coordination. They attacked in a haphazard mass, just as likely to shove each other out of the way as they were to actually strike at her. It bought her space, space she desperately needed. Space she made certain to use.

She knocked aside another spear, then resisted the urge to lash out with a kick. The kobolds only came up to her waist. Kicks were powerful, and the kobolds’ size made them particularly vulnerable to them. But with her injured leg, Rika wasn’t willing to risk it. Fight safe, and live to see the next battle, as Marin would say. At least she had the advantage of height, weight, and reach all at once and for the first time in her life.

Her sword split the skull of a kobold that rushed in front of its fellows, axe raised and open mouth screaming a raspy war-cry. She wrenched the blade free with her Might—a near effortless motion. She was dimly aware of how exceptional all this was. While she couldn’t care less about her magic stats—Magic, Control, and Ward—her physical stats seemed nearly superhuman to her. She’d practiced with sharpened weapons against straw dummies enough times to know what a blade could do. At least before she’d gained her Might stat. Aiming for joints could see her lop off an arm of a kobold with a single strike. And her Finesse stat made aiming such strikes as easy as breathing. The wound in her leg still hurt like hell, but she pushed through it thanks to her Resilience. The fact that all her stats were only at two meant she’d only get stronger and tougher and faster from here. If she survived.

Fury of the Horde x9: Minor damage increase for every ally within 5 ft.

Another kobold fell. In a brief moment of distraction, an axe bit into her torso and ground against her pelvis. This time she did scream, the stone head digging into bone and ripping her flesh. Black started creeping in at the edge of her vision, and she did everything she could to keep her breathing under control as she fought back the mounting panic.

Rika brought down her sword in a heavy swing, smashing through her target’s futile attempt to guard. The rotten wood it had used for the handle of its axe cracked and splintered under the weight of a proper weapon driven by her Might stat. The kobold screamed as her blade parted flesh and dug into bone.

“Serves you right,” she growled. It was the same kobold that had just wounded her.

The kobold fell, and the Fury of the Horde dropped another of its counters. Strike came off cooldown. She activated the skill once again, and swept out with her blade, letting the divine guidance of the skill guide her arm. Blood sprayed over her as she opened one kobold’s neck. A small, scaly body hit the ground, and their buff counter dropped once more.

A shrill cry sounded from the limestone outcropping to her left. She turned in time to see the incoming kobold leaping from the top of her defensive bulwark, but she was in a bad position. She didn’t have time to adjust, twist, or even simply step out of the way. The thing’s bone club cracked against her skull as it fell, and she stumbled. A chorus of shrieking war-cries erupted from the horde, and they surged forward.

She transferred her sword into her right hand, gripping both it and the strap of her shield. With her newly freed hand, she grabbed the kobold ambusher by the neck. As she hauled herself back to her feet and the kobold into the air, she was shocked at how easy it was. How light the thing felt. Just another advantage of her stats, she supposed. She swung the creature like a bludgeon, knocking the leading edge of the pack into the rest and breaking their charge.

In the moment she’d bought herself, she slammed the kobold in her grip to the cavern floor. Then she smashed her heel down on its head as she transferred her sword back into her strong hand. The pack was already recovering, but she managed to skewer one of them before the rest made it back to her feet.

Fury of the Horde x5: Minor damage increase for every ally within 5 ft.

Strike: 3 seconds.

She stabbed down into another of the kobolds, landing her strike just between the neck and the collarbone. The counter ticked down to four. The pain in her thigh and hip screamed, but her Resilience—even at two—was enough to keep her going. She shoved back another kobold, sending it and one of its fellows tumbling over each other.

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Strike: 12 seconds.

Blood dripped from her arming sword. She let herself breathe a bit easier now. The pack had been thinned out, and their buff was back down to the same level it had been when she’d first noticed it. Sweat soaked through her shirt through all the exertion and pain, but now she didn’t also have to fight back the panic.

She dispatched first the one kobold that still stood, and then one of the two who were still trying to disentangle themselves. Fury of the Horde disappeared from the remaining kobold’s nameplate. As it scrambled to its feet once more, she struck out a final time. Chest heaving from the rush of battle, elation of victory, and fire of pain, a cascading melodious burst of information flooded into her.

Enemies Defeated. Your deeds shape your future.

“Chryson?” It was all she could manage. Now that the fighting was over and the rush of combat subsided, fatigue and pain crashed over her. Her arms ached, both from exertion and from all the minor scrapes and cuts she’d taken during the fight. Fortunately, she’d only gotten the two major wounds, one on her hip and the other on her thigh, but they were bad. Both still bled, and both hurt like hell. She idly wondered if she was still at risk of infection from wounds like these.