A Relatively Powerful Mage

The volunteers for the advance group were gathered together, going through their final checks. Emelia could feel their swirls of emotions, all of them were a combination of terrified and proud, even Zhaire who normally had those particular emotions locked away. Emelia had been one of the first to volunteer for the group. She had prepared a long list of reasons why she should go, expecting an argument with Imri. She was the only magic healer while the settlement would have access to the healing spring, Dr. Thompson and the other mundane healers, and Caroline’s potions. She was needed in the forward operating group far more than she was needed in Celestia.

Perhaps her emotions had revealed how set she was on going because he didn’t argue the fact. She had hoped they would spend the night together, a final passionate night before she undertook the mission that she expected to be her last. Instead, he had said he couldn’t afford to lose any mana regeneration, saying if it wasn’t sleep or meditation he didn’t have time. That stung a bit, but she supposed he was doing all he could to save them. She could feel his determination through their bond, he was doing everything he could to get stronger. She also couldn't feel any despair within him, he was confident he could find a way to save them, it just required he forsake everything in the pursuit of efficiency.

Apart from Emelia and Zhaire, there were the two slight psionic twins, Antonio and Veronica. The two didn’t look formidable, but they had survived while traveling hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers across monster-infested plains. Next was Jenson, the rugged outdoorsman who had led her hunting group. He was included for much the same reason he had been chosen for the hunt, his survival skills that were second to only Sylvi. He also was a good shot with both a bow and various firearms. The final member of the group was Teresa, the former secretary who had thrown herself at Zhaire at the first opportunity. Zhaire had often brought the lithe woman with him, and everyone had assumed it was so they could have sex. Apparently, the woman wasn’t just his booty call, she had been an aspiring ballerina before getting injured and becoming a secretary. She and Zhaire had more in common than everyone had realized. She was also a surprisingly competent fighter, relying on her absurdly high agility.

To give the group the best possible chance, they had all absorbed as many cores as possible. The lowest level among them was now 9 for both Jenson and Teresa, Antonio and Emelia were 10, Veronica was 11, and Zhaire was 13. They also had stocked up on as many potions and items as they could. They also had the first two pieces of armor made from the leathers of Umbral Tiger and Cliff Drake. Both were made into protective vests, with the Tiger leather being a lighter black material, while the Cliff Drake leather still retained the scaly texture of the creature. The lighter Tiger armor was given to Teresa and the heavier Cliff Drake armor was given to Zhaire. Zhaire argued he didn’t need the armor, pointing to his newfound natural armor. However, everyone else knew the armor would get the most use from him, as he tended to find himself in the thick of melee.

In addition to the armor, several new weapons had been made. Teresa had a pair of shortswords, shaped into blades from Cliff Drake's teeth. Zhaire had his new glaive which he had used against the Cliff Drake. Jenson had Sylvi’s bow, having been given it while the bowyer was working on a second bow that wouldn’t be ready for a couple of days. The rest of them each had a dagger made from shaped Tiger fangs. In addition, most of them had at least a handgun and Jenson had a rifle, though all of them had a very limited amount of ammo.

They left Celestia early in the morning, two days after the Chixel army had been spotted. A large number of people were there to see them off, cheering them as they paraded through the camp. Emelia didn’t need to be an empath to know everyone was scared. Some cheered more enthusiastically, hiding their fear behind a mask of bravado. Others were more overt, openly crying or despairing. Still, others handled it by burying themselves in their work, not daring to waste a moment. Imri, Sylvi, and Caroline all fell into that category, all busy with their tasks and were not among the crowd.

They set a brutal pace, needing to get away from the trails before the Chixel arrived at the base of Mount Celestia. As they passed a particularly narrow switchback halfway down, Zhaire pulled out a bundle of jerry-rigged explosives made by Caroline, who had been a chemical engineer before the integration. While the small stick of explosives had once housed fireworks, Caroline had repurposed it, packing a far more powerful explosive yield. She had lengthened the fuse but told them they would need to run after lighting it. She had cackled when Zhaire had questioned whether this was enough to blow up the switchback.

Zhaire waited until everyone was well clear. He lit the fuse and ran with a combination of speed and agility that would have put any professional athlete to shame. Despite this, he still dove for cover as the explosion reverberated across the mountain. The switchback was utterly obliterated, meaning there was no turning back from this point.

Zhaire rose to his feet and then started laughing uncontrollably. It wasn’t long before everyone else joined him. No one knew why they were laughing, but no one cared. It continued for a couple of minutes before dying down. Emelia wiped away a tear as the laughing fits finally subsided. As if a spell had ended, everyone became serious again, with no time to waste. As they hiked, Emelia wondered what the Chixel thought they were doing, having surely heard the explosion.

They reached the base as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting the plains in an orange glow. Near the base, there were several paths, and they had chosen one that had the largest amount of cover, opening up into a small wooded area. Hopefully, this would allow them to escape into the tall sea grass without being spotted. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones who had thought it was a good idea to use the wooded area for cover, and both groups practically ran into each other.

There were a dozen Chixel, most armed with spears, staring agape at them. Neither side had expected to encounter the other. Zhaire reacted first, rushing towards the scouts before they could flee. Everyone exploded into motion. Several of the scouts took a step forward and then hurled javelins at the oncoming Zhaire. He barely slowed, swatting away the javelin headed towards his head with his glaive. A second javelin impacted his chest but bounced off his leather armor, not dealing any damage. Then Zhaire was upon them, swinging his glaives in a wide arc, beheading a Chixel and injuring another.

An arrow sprouted from another Chixel’s chest as they attempted to flank the reckless warrior that plowed through their ranks, expertly fired by Jenson who was methodically nocking another arrow. He didn’t fire with Sylvi’s speed, but each shot was well-aimed and flew true. Teresa engaged another group, moving with a lithe grace that wasn’t matched, even by the usually nimble Chixel. Her blades whirled in front of her, slicing in a blur of motion that surprised her Chixel opponent. Despite her alacrity, she didn’t have the brutal destructive power of Zhaire or Jenson. Instead, she slowly wore her opponent down by inflicting shallow cuts. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t work against multiple opponents, and soon she was the one taking shallow cuts while dodging an onslaught.

Just as Teresa’s opponent was about to overwhelm her, an unseen force lifted one of her opponents off their feet and slammed the surprised Chixel into the cliff face with an audible crunching sound. Veronica stood with her hand extended in an unnecessary follow-through. Teresa nodded in thanks and continued her assault unhindered. The fight had quickly turned in their favor, and the Chixel knew they were outmatched.

The final two Chixel ran, dropping their weapons as they went. Jenson managed to down one of them, an arrow sticking from the Chixel’s back. However, the last one quickly got out of range, seemingly safe. Unfortunately for the final Chixel, the seventh member of the team had arrived. Orion, Emelia’s bonded Starseeker, galloped towards the group, trampling the fleeing scout.

With the fight over, Emelia rushed over to check on the injured Teresa, though it clearly wasn’t serious. “I’ll be fine, there are just a few scratches,” She said, waving Emelia away.

“Good, then it won’t take much mana,” Emelia said as she agreed with the woman’s assessment but used a small amount of mana on her compassionate healing spell. She had barely used any mana when the injury was fully healed, the effect was more efficient than she expected. Apparently, she had a lot of compassion for those who were comrades in arms, sacrificing themselves to hopefully give Celestia a better chance.

Zhaire and Teresa were wary as the Starseeker approached at a canter. Emelia quickly interposed herself, making sure the two melee fighters didn’t attempt to harm her bonded beast. With everyone on the same page, they quickly went through the corpses, though they had little of value. Those who had inflicted killing blows had also received the credits their victim had owned, but that only amounted to a few hundred credits among the entire unit. With no signs of reinforcements coming, they also took the time to harvest the cores, though they did so in a rush. All of the Chixel had been lower level than any of their human opponents, with the majority between levels 5-7 with a couple 8’s on the high end. Something about harvesting the corpses of sentient beings felt despicable, even ones who were willing to sacrifice the souls of captives.

Despite the lower-leveled opponents, both Zhaire and Jenson had leveled. With the grim task completed efficiently, they quickly moved out, following the edge of the mountain rather than heading further into the plains. Zhaire had a military-grade walkie-talkie and was communicating with Sylvi and the lookout team. The army had camped for the night, not far from their current position. The captives and supplies were as well guarded as ever, and they likely wouldn’t get an opportunity until more of the army was preoccupied with ascending the mountain.

After they had traveled a few kilometers away, they found a ledge with good obscurement located a couple hundred meters up. Traveling on an unknown trail at night made the final leg of the hike a challenge, but they managed to reach the location without any sprained ankles. They had worked out an order of watches, with one person easily able to watch for signs of another patrol while remaining obscured.

They awoke several hours past midnight, the sounds of fighting echoing up to their campsite. Everyone looked around in confusion, half dazed at being awoken unexpectedly. The confusion increased when everyone noticed there were only five of them. Orion had ranged further afield, and Emelia knew the Starseeker wasn’t the source of the fighting. The person missing was Zhaire, though his pack remained in camp. As they peered down the trail to the plains, they spotted the source of the noise. Zhaire was taking on an entire patrol by himself. While Emelia immediately thought he had gone mad, it quickly became apparent that he was winning.

The skirmishing tactics that the agile creatures favored were easily countered by Zhaire’s impervious skin. This was further exacerbated by the fact that most of his vitals were covered by the even more resilient Cliff Drake leather armor. The Chixel were forced to commit to full attacks just to do any damage, and while some managed to penetrate his tough skin, the wound appeared superficial, and offending Chixel often paid for the gambit with their life as Zhaire’s glaive swung through the air with deadly precision and force. The patrol, not wanting to retreat for an individual adversary, fought to the end.

Zhaire was smiling like a maniac when the rest of them arrived, the last Chixel having just been decapitated when they had turned to flee. Zhaire was covered in gore, most of it his opponents, though he had quite a few cuts and gashes.

“What the fuck was that?” Jenson said to the seemingly deranged man.

“I won’t become irrelevant, I will kill that entire army myself if that's what’s needed,” Zhaire explained, his grin never fading. He shared what he had gained from the two fights.

Class Tier Upgraded from 1 to 2

New Class Frenzied Berserker (2F)

Primary Stats / Level Gain

Strength .35% +.1%

Agility .25% +.1%

Constitution .25% +.1%

Intelligence .05% +.05%

Willpower .15% +.1%

Charisma .05% +.05%

Secondary Stats Gained

HP .6% +.35%

FP .4% +.2%

MP .1% +.1%

HP Regen Rate .25% +.1%

FP Regen Rate .15% +.05%

Achievement Upgraded Rank Primary Stat Increase

Horde Slayer 9 (+6) .9% (+.6%)

Trait Gained Tier/Rank Description

Feel No Pain 1F You do not feel pain, reducing the penalty from non-critical injuries by 25%.

Frenzy 2F Enter a state of frenzy, reducing damage taken by 5% and increases attack efficiency by 10%. Reduces intellect for the purposes of processing information and thinking rationally by 10%. Consumes FP while active, cost per second increases linearly for the duration. If Frenzy is activated within 2 hours of previous use, FP/second cost resumes at the previous rate.

Zhaire Reeves has reached level 16 in Frenzied Berserker (2F)

Zhaire Reeves has reached level 16 in Human (1E)

Primary Stats Gained New Value

+6 Strength 161

+4 Agility 136

+4 Constitution 145

+2 Intelligence 92

+4 Willpower 122

+1 Charisma 101

Secondary Stats Gained

+35 HP 271

+21 FP 216

+8 MP 115

+29 Attack Efficiency 283

Emelia realized he was a bit crazy, he really would throw himself at the army if he thought he could catch up to Imri that way. She was also glad he was on their side, she almost felt sorry for the Chixel.