20 Soar (1/2)
Rainer stared in absolute disbelief at the message that appeared. This was a ring given to him by the system and likely created by that same system. It wasn't like the [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood] that was once a real item. It was a ring specifically designed to move them in and out of Nalmar and back to their previous world. Yet somehow something, or rather someone, blocked them from leaving.
Rainer connected the [Arch-Lich] to such a thing instantly. Not just for him being the only one with such motivation but more importantly the very way he captured the Mana-Well: by teleporting there directly. Gunthar didn't know the details but Rainer thought this could be the only option. He also became even more sure that the [Arch-Lich] was made immobile by whatever he was doing with the Mana-Well. Else if he could block such a transfer could he not just teleport to them and end it in an instant?
Kara looked nervously over at Rainer as he now had his eyes closed in thought. The undead had just broken through, Wyvern Riders were on the horizon, and yet they just stood waiting.
”Rainer when are we leaving?” she questioned.
”We aren't…” he replied before switching gears immediately.
”Gunthar, take Kara and throw whatever you can down the stairs to block the undead. I'll handle the Wyverns,” he instructed before repeating it for Kara. Both were quick to assume something had gone wrong.
Gunthar turned around to head down the stairs and Rainer nodded at Kara to follow the former Paladin. Rainer himself moved down to a different floor meant for Mages to attack from that he had used the last time. He faced away from where he bombarded the gate before and instead looked out toward the approaching Wyverns.
There was at least a dozen flying in close formation. He'd use that.
A [Spear of Holy Arcane-Light] formed within his hand. The radiance shined out from the floor as the cast completed made him a target; he'd have to act fast lest the [Lich]s on the ground got in position to reach him with magic once more.
The first spear soared out from Rainer, far surpassing the speed of an arrow. The Wyvern stood no chance at dodging and even as the Rider braced it was pointless. The spear stabbed through and with an explosion of Arcane and Light defeated several nearby Wyverns.
Gunthar had mentioned before to Rainer about the Wyvern Riders of Nalmar. Compared to many flying mounts, Wyverns were quite inferior in many ways, whether it be their general attributes, their temperament, or their breeding habits. Yet there was one thing that put them at the level of their draconian ancestors...Instinct. To Nalmar, which devoted countless resources into every member of its army, survival was everything. Wyvern's senses were at a point where they could dodge magic and arrows before they even left their assaulter.
Yet these ghouls lacked what made them previously so mighty. And so a spear rang out once more. The cast charged and, supported by Rainer's Arcane Power, killed another grouping of Wyverns.
Just as Rainer cast the third spear, while simultaneously recharging his Arcane Power, the situation changed. He felt a surge of death magic and instantly he stabbed the spear into the ground in front of him as a beam of death magic slammed into it.
The beam divided in two. An aura of death surrounded Rainer on both sides. He poured more mana and Arcane Power into the spear still within his grasp as the powerful [Lich] riding the Wyvern too increased his spell's power. Rainer could feel his knuckles going numb as death washed over them. The magic of the [Lich] only grew stronger as he felt himself losing hold.
His entire body now felt as if it was going numb. As if all he needed to do was allow the sweet release of death to take him…
[Arcane Rage]
Vein-like violet lines shined on Rainer's skin. Just this single stage alone pushed the aura of death back an inch. Yet he was not done. He harnessed more and more Arcane Power, reaching an increase of 27% before he felt his body start to give in.
[Skill Gained: Arcane Resistance lvl 1/10]
It was not enough. More and more Arcane Power was ignited in a rage as Rainer's attributes increased by 55% before he felt as if his body would be destroyed from the inside out. The Arcane radiated off him as the magically constructed clothes around his chest dissipated, leaving only the violet lines now reaching to his eyes. The power within him felt almost addicting even as the energy wracked his body. With a vicious grin on his face, he focused once more on empowering the spear stabbed into the ground.
The spear erupted in energy as the [Lich] desperately tried to increase the power of his spell to match. Countless years of mana compressed into but an instant.
Rainer now only had a single thought filling his mind: utter annihilation of the foe in front of him. In his left hand, he cast an [Orb of Arcane-Light], thrusting it out in front of him, the bright light fighting against the tide of darkness. He held the spear in his right hand and lifted it out of the ground, drawing it back. He slammed down his foot and threw, aiming directly at the center of the beam. Rainer yelled out, Arcane naturally infusing in his voice, and the undead within the tower shook. And then...the spear was released, as if a God declared death upon its target. The spear split the beam in two, all but removing the aura of death from existence, hurtling towards its doomed target at a speed far beyond any spell he'd cast before.
The [Lich] could react in only a single way...
To know that death called for him one last time.
In an eruption of Arcane-Light, even the sounds of the horde lost primacy as a thundering magic roar filled the air for miles. The Arcane-Light, so bright and powerful in its ending, caused many of the classless undead beneath the [Lich] to fall. The surrounding Wyverns and their Riders stood no chance in surviving this mighty attack from so close.
[15 Primary Level Difference, Experience Bonus added]
[Total Experience Gained: 212%]
[Calculating Excess Experience]
[Arcanist has leveled up to lvl 11/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 1 Attribute and skill point have been rewarded.]
[Arcanist has leveled up to lvl 12/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 1 Attribute and skill point have been rewarded.]
The Arcane lines on Rainer faded completely as he collapsed to his knees. He had no time to rejoice as he felt the casting of a massive spell from a long distance behind him. Reminiscent of death it was once more and yet he could not even move as pain far surpassing his resistances wracked his body.
The mass of death approached him and he was powerless to flee. In a final act, he huddled around Luna, hoping at least one of them would survive.
Yet from the right a clawed hand reached out and grabbed him just as the spell arrived.
Kara rushed out of the room, Rainer in tow, and headed up the stairs. Gunthar was close behind her as they all climbed to the highest room and shut the heavy door behind them.
Gunthar and Kara had been grabbing anything they could find, whether it was a barrel of wine or a bookcase, and throwing it down the stairs in hope of blocking the undead as much as they could.
”Kara thanks for the…” Yet the moment Kara set Rainer down she collapsed, her breathing rough.
With all the power in him, he crawled over and looked at Kara. He saw a strange gray fur and sensed the presence of death magic within her.
”Shit, shit, shit, Luna come heal Kara, worry about me later!”
Gunthar stood bracing the door knowing he'd be no help in such a situation.
”Rainer, it's not working!” Luna called out after attempting to heal Kara.
”Keep going!”
Rainer crawled with his pained body over to Kara's ears and whispered to her.
”No matter what Kara stay in that form, fight it.”
Injuries stayed with her when she transformed back. Leaving behind the improved power of the Werewolf form now could mean instant death.
He gripped his hair as he thought over the situation. He completely ignored the undead surrounding him. He shoved down all feelings of self-blame, of planning for the future, and only focused on helping her.
Death Magic...Death Magic...Magic…Mana...
As quickly as he could manage, he grabbed her paw. He went through each finger, carefully feeling the bones and shapes of the muscle. He continued up the arm before he finally got what he needed.
[Skill Gained: Demon Anatomy lvl 1/10]
It was with this skill he now understood a fundamental fact about Demons. They were a single race. They had differences and had the demonic characteristics of their form within their normal state but, in the end, they were a race based on magic. Their forms were more of differences in ability and talent rather than purely racial.
Without hesitation, he put in 1 point for lvl 2, 2 for 3, up until level 6, leaving him only 1 skill point.
His mana was low, his Arcane Power nearly gone, but he still channeled the rest into Kara as he placed his hands over where the Death Magic had hit. Mana flowed in and with a gasp Kara seemed to wake.
Color returned to her fur under the combined efforts of Luna and Rainer, and her breathing steadied completely. Soon the aura of death vanished along with the remainder of Rainer's mana.
He collapsed backward, completely unable to move after expending that last bit of strength to just crawl around. His entire body felt of deeply rooted soreness and a heavy pain.
Kara shifted back to her normal form as the silver rings around her arms and legs transformed back into her clothes, a new creation of Luna's. Her hair and eyes remained unchanged. Rainer didn't know if it was a Fairy-only phenomenon or if changing Kara would require a far larger amount of mana.
She was confused for a moment before moving over to Rainer's side. She was about to ask him if he was alright before she just ended up staring at his face as if inspecting him.
”Something wrong with my face?” he managed to ask despite the pain. He also lacked the tension for the situation they were now trapped in, simply glad that Kara was now okay.
”Were you always this handsome?” she asked right after.
Rainer thought it was a joke but her question was completely serious. Luna flew directly over him and with an over exaggerated rubbing of her chin and a loud hmm spoke out as well.
”Ah! Rainer reached +1 to all attributes! Luna is right?” she asked as if it was a question but the look on her face said otherwise.
”I did...so Charisma went up then?”
”It must have, Luna says Rainer feels better looking. Maybe 100 more levels and Rainer will be a match for Luna.”
Rainer tried to grab for Luna before he groaned and realized he was once more in too much pain for such a thing
”Oh, Luna forgot, Luna will heal Rainer,” she said as she looked him over. There was no visible damage, the arcane lines having long since retreated from him.
As he attempted to relax, Kara sat to the side, seeking to comprehend what she just heard.
+1 to all attributes...so he reached a level where it added up to +1 to ALL attributes…it's amazing to see the effect of an elixir only existing in legends happen so commonly…
Kara, seeing Rainer was okay, walked over to Gunthar to assist him in bracing the door that now rang out with banging sounds. She had momentarily forgotten the situation they were in but now she understood. They were most likely going to die here.
As she stood bracing against the door she looked over at Rainer and Luna in their usual play thinking it wouldn't be so bad to die in such company. She had fled from home, hid who she was, and yet now in front of her she finally gained someone who didn't care who she was or what kind of heir she could produce. Yet soon, she'd lose it all.
”Do not give in so easily to despair little Wolf. The Sorcerer has not given in, do not give in, even as the undead swarm around you.”
Kara looked over in surprise at Gunthar.
”The little Fairy shared her skill with me. With our connection apparently she could have done so from the start but she liked to have a job...”
Kara laughed thinking that it fit Luna to do such a thing before returning her focus to blocking the door. It was heavily enchanted to protect this important room but it'd fall sooner or later. Even if they couldn't push their way in they'd eventually break through instead.
”Rainer, Luna is done healing but…” Luna responded seeing nothing wrong with Rainer despite him most certainly being not okay.
”I guess I just have to wait out the rest,” he grunted out while trying to sit up. Everything still felt sore and weak but most of the pain was gone.
Rainer rubbed his tired eyes, wondering what he could do about their current situation. He looked out towards the small window in the room. He wasn't anywhere near a working flying ability but if he reduced the effect of gravity on all three of them they could likely glide past the horde with a strong enough push. Of course assuming they weren't riddled with arrows or had the very life drained from them by the three [Lich]s still remaining.
He looked back towards the door. As of now Gunthar and Kara were only half-heartedly blocking it. After Rainer's attack on the front line of undead it's likely all the undead currently outside were classless or low leveled. The real problem would come once the stronger ones made it to the door.
He opened up his status window to see how long it'd take for his mana to recover. He wouldn't be running or moving properly any time soon but he could still cast magic. Surrounding him were his still armed [Arcane Bolts]. The [Lich] from before was simply too far away for such a thing to be useful.
[Primary Classes: Arcanist Lvl 12/25]