A Relatively Powerful Mage

Zhaire stood unsteadily on his feet, leaning heavily on his glaive. Knights stopped mid-attack, staring in confusion as the Ogrog prostrated themselves in the blood-soaked muddy ground.

When it was clear the fighting wouldn’t break out again, Zhaire checked the vast amounts of notifications that lingered in the back of his mind.

Profession Rank Up

Beast Tamer from F to E

New Trait

Tough (1F): You have survived numerous injuries and shrugged them off. Increases HP by 1%.

Zhaire Reeves has reached level 25 (+3) in Frenzied Berserker (2F)

Zhaire Reeves has reached level 25 (+3) in Human (1E)

Zhaire Reeves has reached level 12 (+9) in Beast Tamer (1E)

Primary Stats

Strength 171 (+5)

Agility 141 (+2)

Constitution 154 (+4)

Intelligence 94 (+1)

Willpower 128 (+4)

Charisma 106 (+3)

Secondary Stats

HP 350 (+45)

FP 261 (+25)

MP 126 (+7)

Attack Efficiency 335 (+26)

Skill Rank Up

Heavy Blow E to D

Skill Tier Up

Heavy Blow 1D has become Unstoppable Blow 2F

Heavy Blow 1D: Exert stamina to strike with extra power. Increase damage by 2.62%/FP max 2 FP.

Unstoppable Blow 2F: Exert stamina to strike with unstoppable force. Increase damage by 4%/FP max 3 FP.

Trait Rank Up

Combat Exhilaration F to D

Trait Tier Up

Combat Exhilaration 1D has become The Thrill of Battle 2F

Combat Exhilaration 1D: While others find the prospect of fighting daunting, you are exhilarated by it, allowing you to keep fighting longer. Improves all resource regeneration by 5.25% while in active combat.

The Thrill of Battle 2F: You long for the release of battle, letting it invigorate you and keep you moving forward. Improves all resource regeneration by 6% while in active combat. At the start of the fight, regain 2.5% of max resources instantly, but only if enemies are near or above your level. This effect only triggers once with an 18-hour cooldown.

New Skill

Shared Senses (1F): Through your bond with your beast companion, you can go into their perspective and sense the world through their senses. Consume MP/seconding depending on the distance from you to your companion.

There was a tense moment as the Ogrog rose to their feet. Fortunately, they seemed disinterested in continuing the battle. Instead, they simply stared at Zhaire as if waiting for him to do something.

The remaining knights made their way towards Zhaire, each of them favoring one leg or another as they limped over. Numerous injuries adorned their bodies, from superficial scrapes to deep gashes that were quickly bandaged. Unfortunately, it appeared their numbers continued to dwindle with only seven knights. Clay and Maddison were missing from among their numbers, and judging by the other knights' grim expressions, Zhaire knew they were among the dead.

Zhaire supposed they should feel fortunate that only two had fallen; by all rights, they should all have perished. Despite that, all he felt was a blinding fury, a hatred for the creatures who had taken more from him. He took several deep breaths, attempting to regain his composure.

His tenuous serenity was shattered as the Ogrog began eating the fallen. A pair of Ogrog snarled at each other, posturing over which of them would get the remains. Zhaire stormed over to them, his rage no longer contained.

Zhaire activated Frenzy and lashed out, his glaive moving with blinding speed despite his protesting muscles. It cleaved through the unfortunate Ogrog, who had the misfortune of being closest to Zhaire, its head separated from the rest of its body. The second Ogrog looked confused as Zhaire swung his blade around and brought it down with finality. He used his newly upgraded Unstoppable Blow to bisect the creature from shoulder to hip.

The other nearby Ogrog let out a whimpering sound, but instead of attacking, they were once again prostrating themselves on the ground. Zhaire had to restrain himself from continuing the assault on all the nearby monsters. He wanted to continue cutting through them, exacting a heavy toll for each person they had killed.

With his Frenzy dropping and his anger somewhat vented, he again got his emotions under control. The Ogrogs continued to show no signs of attacking, even during his rampage they had only shown their subservience rather than striking back.

It wasn’t just the Ogrog who stared at him with fear. A large group of survivors had gathered nearby, standing frozen in place as Zhaire surveyed their group. None met his eyes except the Asian woman Zhaire assumed was in charge. Zhaire ignored her and turned to Antonio.

“Can you read those beasts’ minds?” Zhaire asked.

“Kind of. I can’t figure out exactly what they’re thinking, but I can get general ideas through images. It’s closest to a dream, but a little more coherent, a lucid dream would be the closest analogy,” Antonio explained.

“Don’t overdo it, you already over-channeled,” Veronica reminded her brother.

“Any of the Ogrog in particular you want me to go through?” Antonio asked Zhaire, ignoring his twin's comment. Zhaire surveyed the cowering Ogrog and pointed out one with an average temperament.

Zhaire watched as Antonio’s hand went to his temples, and he closed his eyes. While Imri had told him these sorts of things weren’t strictly necessary for spell-casting, having a physical follow-through made the spell more manageable. Antonio had decided to rely on the image of the most well-known telepath who put his hand to his head when using his powers. The eye-closing was probably so he could focus on only one visual image.

After a few seconds, the teenager opened his eyes and stumbled a bit before his sister helped him regain his balance. Despite the assistance, the telepath looked completely spent.

“They think of you as their leader, their alpha,” Antonio explained.

“So, they’ll follow me?” Zhaire asked.

“They respect strength and always follow the strongest. Who the strongest is can change, and I suspect you’ll eventually have challengers to be the alpha title,” Antonio said.

“Good, I wouldn’t mind another excuse to cut a few of them down,” Zhaire said, hoping it wouldn’t be any time soon.

“We’ll make sure none of them come after you,” Brad said. Despite the bravado, he didn’t appear to be in much better shape.

With the tenuous peace, Zhaire began removing the now useless scraps of armor that still clung to his body, leaving him with only a layer of bloody and torn cloth. Being past the point of caring about modesty, he also removed those. He soaked a washcloth and scrubbed at the worst portions of blood and grime that covered his body. He had to stop several times as it quickly became saturated. When that was done, he dressed himself in a somewhat clean outfit.

As he turned around, he noticed the camp leader pointedly looking away from him, though she hadn’t completely turned around.

“I’m not sorry for what I did,” Zhaire said harshly. “It’s better to die as people than live like cattle.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” she said in a barely audible voice. “Though in my defense, I had no idea each of you was so monstrously strong. It was impressive.”

“Not strong enough, and two more of my knights paid because of it,” he said, a tendril of anger threatening to take hold of him again.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, still not meeting his gaze.

“Why didn’t you fight back before this?” Zhaire asked.

“We did, but you can lose only so many times before spirit breaks. This was the first time there was a decisive victory over them. People are talking like this is some kind of miracle,” she said.

“It’s not, it’s just hard work and lots of fighting,” Zhaire said simply.

“I’m Christina, by the way,” she said awkwardly, holding out a slender hand.

“Zhaire,” he said, grasping her hand.

“So, what will you do now?” Christina asked.

“We’ll head south and take care of the rest of these dogs. Hopefully, more groups like yours can be saved,” he said.

“Oh,” she said, the disappointment obvious in her tone.

“There is a sanctuary to the north. A settlement with strong people, one of them is even stronger than me,” Zhaire said, noticing how wide her eyes went when he mentioned someone stronger.

Saying that felt wrong, but there wasn’t any way in which Imri could be construed as weak. He used that feeling to spur him onward, to keep getting stronger until Imri was the one who would have to admit he was the strongest.

“I’m sure everyone will be relieved,” Christina said.

“Not you?” Zhaire guessed.

“It wouldn’t feel right, rushing to safety when others out there could use my help,” she said.

“No offense, but unless you’re a mage, you’ll just get in the way,” Zhaire said, looking her up and down. She was tall for a woman, but her slender frame made her look frail.

“I am, sort of. I was a struggling singer before the system, and then I got a Bard class that allowed me to imbue my songs with various magical effects. It’s subtle but affects every ally who can hear me,” she explained.

“You were the one singing that song during the battle?” Zhaire asked, and she nodded. “We will certainly take everyone who volunteers to help; it’s not like the seven of us can win the war alone.”

The rest of the day was spent burying the dead. Despite the camp's late arrival to the fight, they still had far more casualties than the knights. There was a large service for all those who had fallen.

The knights held their own service, honoring Clay and Maddison. Zhaire felt a pang of guilt as he realized he didn’t know much about either of them. It pained him that he learned more about them in death than in life. How Maddison was a mother striving to get stronger in hopes of finding her children. How Clay had been so passionate about helping people, having spent much of his too-short life volunteering to help the less fortunate.

“They were better people than I ever was and deserved better. All we can do now is keep moving forward and keep fighting so their sacrifice wasn’t in vain,” Zhaire said when it was his turn to speak.

With the funeral services over, a general unease settled over everyone. No one felt truly safe while the Ogrog milled about so close to the camp. Despite being the alpha, Zhaire had no idea how to get them to move further away. While they gave him some space, they generally followed him around like a massive shadow.

Zhaire purposefully distanced himself from the camp, the remaining Ogrog moving with him as if wordlessly commanded. He had told the knights to take the night to relax and celebrate the victory with the camp survivors, many of whom were eager to spend the night with their saviors. Despite this, they unanimously agreed that they wouldn’t leave Zhaire alone. It seemed foolish to Zhaire, if the Ogrog decided he was no longer the alpha they would all be dead.

The sounds of the party drifted out across the plains, Christina’s lovely voice piercing through the general din of the crowd. He could see some wistful gazes from the knights as they heard what they were missing out on. Despite Zhaire urging them this wasn’t necessary, none returned. Instead, they camped on the plains, surrounded by the dog-like ogres.

The first challenger for the title of alpha came that night. The Ogrog was tall and strong, even by Ogrog standards, though not nearly as much as the previous alpha. The other knights interposed themselves between Zhaire and the challenger, despite many of them still nearly exhausted to the point they could barely stand, let alone fight.

“Let it through,” Zhaire said as he got to his feet and grabbed his weapons. There was a chorus of protests, but Zhaire just repeated his words, this time making it clear it was an order.

His challenger lunged forward, claws extended, in an attempt to rend Zhaire’s flesh. Zhaire just smiled, easily dodging the seemingly slow and clumsy attack. After that, Zhaire knew he was faster. He could dance around the creature and slowly dismantle it with precise and calculated strikes.

Instead, Zhaire dropped his glaive and charged the larger creature head-on. He slammed into it with enough force that he was able to lift the creature several inches off the ground before slamming it down. All of Zhaire’s weight landed on top of the surprised Ogrog with enough force to knock the wind out of its lungs. Before it could recover, Zhaire drew his dagger and raked it across the Ogrog’s throat. Blood poured like a damaged fire hydrant, the brief panic in the creature’s eyes shifting to lifelessness in a moment.

Zhaire stood and glared at the other Ogrog, inviting another challenger. It wasn’t just bravado, as each opponent made him stronger. This particular opponent had been his fuel to reach level 26. Unfortunately, none of them accepted his challenge, and Zhaire returned to his tent, still covered in blood.