Homesteading in a fantasy world

POV Rich

That blue-haired fucker and his shield once again blocked me, but this time I didn’t try to cut through it. Instead, I made sure that the strike would deliver as much blunt energy as possible. That pushed him back half a step, giving me a moment to look around.

They were closing in once again. There wasn't any time to do anything more to the shield user. I made energy walls and spikes blocking anyone who was approaching, which slowed them down. Then I felt and saw it: the leader was powering up for a bigger spell and pulling on those black threads.

Behind me, that sneaky spear user appeared and got a decent attack on my side, which did leave a scratch even through all my defenses. I stepped back, and the elbow to his midsection put him down for a moment.

I couldn’t finish him as I already took three more spells, and the hammer user was approaching. My shoulder still hurt from the hit he properly got on that location. I needed more time to think, so I started to make space by launching a few flying slashes.

The combination of my body’s speed and strength, and my movement ability, allowed me to stay ahead of everyone while only having to defend myself occasionally. I didn’t know what the leader was doing, but it was going to be bad.

I used my left hand to reinforce one of the spikes a bit more and was able to wound one of the moving fighters. As soon as he broke the energy spike, he received healing, but like every other time, I couldn’t see who was healing.

They were purposely keeping themselves hidden, and the energy just appeared in their body and started to heal the wound, so there wasn’t any trace. But I’ve never been able to see everyone at once, so I was down to about five people who it could be.

I believed I could still see the spike of holy power used inside the caster’s own body for healing others, but I was no longer certain of it. The shield user charged again, but this time I just let him charge with his shield and took the blow, concentrating on saving as much kinetic energy from that exchange as possible.

I wanted to charge the leader and finish him off, but that wasn't going to happen. He had planned this well. I needed to concentrate more as I almost fell into a trap if I would have dodged right. Need something to boost my thinking speed even more. If there only weren’t so many of them, I would be able to kill them all in one-on-one battles, except possibly the leader.

The way he used those black tendrils probably meant that as long as he had them, he wouldn’t run out of holy power to fuel his spells. My best chance would have been to attack early on, but he had that mass teleport available, and probably a few more trump cards that would’ve meant my death.

I didn’t feel anyone behind me, but I still turned, and for the first time, I was able to surprise the spear wielder who backed off before I got a chance to deliver a proper attack. Spells were now hitting me less frequently, but they were stronger.

I made a push for one of the weaker fighters, but the shield user was once again there, blocking my finishing attack, and then I barely got out of there, quickly making space once again as I still didn’t know what that leader of theirs was up to.

I once again saw a path to him, and I so wanted to attack him before he could use whatever spell he was planning, but I could see all those defensive spells and traps made from holy power around him, and I could feel their power; they would have torn me apart.

I needed to get him to move, but I couldn’t even kill one of the other minions he had. Many of them had died, but still, most were left. The ones who died were just too slow or weak. Now, I needed to wait for the survivors to make a mistake I could capitalize on, but it was taking time.

A blade was trying to bisect me, and it would have been really bad if I couldn’t have dodged it, but being so tall made ducking under it a real pain. I made him pay with a pommel strike to the stomach, which sent him flying a few meters away before he could stabilize his stance. Why the hell was the leader still powering that spell up? He was almost glowing with power, even without me using my vision ability.

Without them attacking so much, I had a little more time to refine the walls and spikes I am making inside my energy zone ability. There was no need to make the large walls I was making if I was able to clearly see the target.

Better to just make bars around knee height that they would fall over, taking even longer than just going around the wall, or in the case of two of the enemies, just shouldering through the walls. I continued to make space, staying as far away from the leader as possible, when I felt that he couldn’t possibly hold any more power.

The wait was nerve-wracking. I still really wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do to stop what was about to happen. I just had to hope that I could either defend against it or dodge it. The moment the spell activated, I immediately dodged, but it was so fast, that beam of light, and it felt like it was seeking destruction.

Fortunately, everyone else had gotten away from me as well, so I didn’t have to worry about other attacks, but that wasn't much of a comfort. What was comforting was the fact that I was pretty sure I was fast enough to dodge away.

The enemy was more hopeful; they probably thought that this was going to be the end, so I should have an opportunity to attack one of them. Fortunately, I didn’t take my eyes off the beam as I saw it change direction towards me.

Damn it, I shouldn’t have jumped like that; now I couldn’t change direction, it was so fast. My sword pommel was to the right of me, so I used it to push against the air, and since a lot of my kinetic energy was still in my feet, I used it to push against air as well to try to go even more movement towards right, but it didn't work so well against the air; it needed something more solid to be effective.

The attack was going to hit me, but I should probably live. But my organs would be messed up, and I would be out of the fight. Just a few milliseconds before the beam hit, I did something that I never thought I would do.

I created an energy push inside my own body to push all my necessary organs further in. It was so painful, and the next moment I felt the beam hit in slow motion. Burning every cell until they were dust, but my body was so tough it took it a moment to overcome its resilience. The pain was so great that I blacked out for a moment, but as soon as I hit the ground and started to tumble, I woke up again.

Immediately, all that I had learned about energy and how to manipulate it was used to stanch the bleeding, but it wasn't enough; I needed to make blood vessels if I wanted to keep fighting until the healing potion could do its job. When I finally stopped moving, I concentrated on it as much as possible and was surprised to find how easily energy took to my commands.

Then I felt the atmosphere change. Did they think that they had won? At the corner of my eye, I saw one of them moving towards the army. It made me mad. I exchanged my sword for a throwing dagger, put all my strength into it, and pumped it so full of energy that the metal almost screamed.

There was no need to watch the result; I already knew what was going to happen. I made my sword reappear and used energy to help me stand once again. "Our fight isn't over yet," I said to them. I activated Heroic Stand and then let go of any inhibitions.

Immediately, energy charged out of me to support my body so that I could use it even faster. I took a deep breath in and felt my body heating up. It's time to unleash the monster I keep locked. It felt so good to not give a shit about my enemy, but more importantly I hoped I could find my peace.

***

Up until now, Rich had been methodical and always calculating his next approach. It was something he learned to do because the other option was simply too brutal for most conflicts. He charged at the shield user, the best defender, yet he didn’t attack with his sword alone.

No, he was like a terrible monster, using anything and everything he had. Energy attacked the shield user from every side, trying to crush him. He kicked, punched, and slashed so fast that the shield user could barely defend. It didn't take long for others to reach the fighting duo. And while they were able to attack him, every one of them needed to take a few wounds to give him one.

Then the leader started to charge up the same spell, but Rich just continued to fight, pushing back anyone around him and not letting himself be dominated. He was fighting like a cornered animal but also someone who wanted blood.

When the spell was about half charged, Rich pushed through his encirclement. Everyone expected him to go after their leader, but instead, he charged at one of the weaker members. He was only able to get him to the ground before others once again surrounded him, trying to defend their fallen ally.

Rich simply used his greater strength and stepped through his head with almost no resistance. He almost didn't seem to notice as he continued to attack relentlessly. The energy he was burning, even with his reserves, shouldn’t last for long, but any attack made against him was made weaker by him siphoning off energy to refuel himself.

Then, finally, the moment came. The beam was once again shot, yet this time Rich rushed towards it and, at the last moment, dived underneath. While the spell could chase its target, it had its limitations and couldn’t turn around completely. The resulting blast when the beam hit the ground made a crater, and everyone could see Rich after his roll dodge stand up, while dirt showered around him.

The energy had formed a visible circle around him, constantly spinning, yet he himself was steaming from how hot his body was. Many who were in the fight or able to see it thought that Rich was just fighting like a mad beast, but that was not true. Not even a single ounce of intelligence was sacrificed; instead, all of it was turned into determination to find any way to win this fight.

Because of that, he used his command ability to give orders to the only second-rank fighter he didn't send away. Instead, he ordered him to stay stealthy and near the fight. "The healer is the energy spell user who has a red ribbon around her waist. Be ready to kill her as soon as I give the order." Rich then made his sword disappear while raising his empty hand into the air. Then he snapped his fingers, and the healer’s head dropped to the ground.

For the first time during the battle, the enemy leader screamed in rage. Not known to many, but he did have someone he loved, but now she was dead. He started to pull on the black threads, fueling his spells, and now indiscriminately launched them towards Rich.

Every single one of them could seriously hurt Rich, so now even more importantly, he needed to move. He still fought like a monster and, whenever possible, tried to make sure that the allies of his enemies would feel the leader's spells.

When the first supporter of the leader died from his own spell, he finally snapped out of it, and the fight returned to a more balanced affair. The battle continued to be brutal, but the leader could also heal, although he wasn’t as proficient at it.

Rich, during this time, had drunk quite a lot of healing and energy-restoring potions, but he was fighting an inevitable battle of attrition. To the amazement of all, he was able to keep going while accumulating more and more damage, and somehow not completely run out of energy.

An hour later, Rich was standing towards his own army, breathing hard and using energy and his sword to keep himself upright, while the enemy, about 100 meters away, was doing the same. There were only 18 of them left, and even the leader, who could pull endless amounts of holy power through the black tendrils, felt his body screaming from the overuse of power.

Like that, both sides kept watching each other while the army continued to fight. From the start of the battle, 6 hours had passed when finally, a retreat was called on both sides, and Rich watched as the enemies retreated, still being ready for anything they might do. Today's fight was over, but the war was only just beginning.