Elsewhere

They emerged onto a flat and dusty area. There was light coming from an indistinct source, but it was enough to see by. The first thing that they noticed besides the dimness of the light was that everything looked to be in darker tones. There were occasional rocky outcroppings dotting the landscape and they appeared to be on some sort of rise, the end of a valley as it turned out. They could see for quite a distance and for all that they could see it appeared to be a twilight desert. A bit more than a hundred meters below them, the rock outcroppings nearly blocked off the valley, leaving a three-meter-wide passage into the wider valley.

Baslin was the first to speak. “Umbral light.”

“Like those Umbral Goblins from the forest?” Duke asked.

“Yes, but it would appear that we are on their side of the gate this time.” Baslin clarified.

“That’s great and all, but what is the challenge? What do we have to fight?” Grat asked.

The other three turned to look at him fiercely. “What?” He asked. The stares turned fiercer when the system notice appeared.

*** You have two paths. One, you can return here and escape the level. Two, you can extinguish the beacon and finish the level. ***

When they finished reading the prompt, a crimson beam lanced up from the landscape ahead. It appeared to be kilometers away from them and shadows could be seen crossing in front of it in the air.

“This will be easy. I’ll just TELEPORT over and snuff out the beacon. No worries.” Duke offered.

“Do you really think it will be that easy?” Grat asked.

“It won’t.” Baslin offered. “But if Duke wants to TELEPORT there and back quickly, it would give us an idea of what we are facing.”

He had barely finished speaking when Duke disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later. He was holding a skeletal arm that was draped across his back. He quickly tossed it away with a small yelp.

“Undead, I assume?” Baslin surmised.

“Lots of them. Like thousands of them.” Duke agreed.

“OK, are they coming from the beacon or heading towards it?” Baslin asked for clarification.

“I couldn’t tell. They were swarming all over the area. There was definitely a mass of undead all over the beacon area and there were more headed in its direction so it might be a bit of both.” Duke related.

“I expect they are all going to swarm the beacon until something takes command of the horde. Are you all ready for this?” Baslin looked each member of the group in the eye. “We don’t have to do this.”

“I’m doing this.” Duke responded firmly.

“Duke’s cause is our cause. We continue.” Elaine added.

Grat nodded along. “It’s just some undead. Don’t let them swarm us and we’ll be able to handle it.”

With nods all around, they waited for Baslin to set up a beacon of his own to lead them back if things really went sideways. Then they proceeded down into the dark desert valley, hunting undead.

The terrain wasn’t difficult to walk on. The ground, although littered with dark rocks and boulders, was solid underfoot and crunched slightly with each step. Stealth would not be their strategy. Especially when undead started stumbling out of the valley towards them. The undead mostly consisted of skeletons and zombies. Since they shambled so slowly, Duke took a moment to IDENTIFY one to see what they were up against.

*** You have encountered an Umbral Zombie

Level: 213

Health: 12,162

***

Duke blinked at the information, stunned by the numbers. “We have a problem. That simple zombie is level 213 with over 12,000 Health.”

“By the silent god, that’s…that’s impossible.” Grat responded.

“How do we fight something like that – like all of them?” Elaine added.

“They are slow and probably don’t hit hard for their level, but still, their level is a significant concern. We will need to conserve resources. If we are to survive this, we are in for a long slog. If things get to be too much, we will retreat to the entrance and see if we can figure a plan out.” Duke felt his voice of command slipping out and taking over. It’s what always happened in a dogfight and had become something his squadron had counted on. Clear commands delivered without hesitation made for rapid response to unfolding situations – and higher pilot survival rates.

Baslin began casting a Spell and judging by the amount of lag, it was going to be a big one. Duke continued taking over the lead. “I will handle the front-line fighting. Grat and Elaine you keep them from flanking me but don’t engage deeply into their numbers. Baslin, I hope that is some massive buff you are working on there.”

Baslin smiled in response while Duke charged forward, his hands glowing with bright white LIGHT. He could channel enormous amounts of Mana into his hands without releasing it. He was not sure how it worked, but it added damage and effects to his strikes without using much Mana. Right now, he was channeling 150 Mana a second which was just below his regen rate. He sincerely hoped it would be enough.

Duke didn’t hesitate to lay into the first undead that he reached – a skeleton in this case. He punched it right in the skull, wondering how hard he hit now. There was a bright flash when he struck that radiated down the entire skeleton. In an instant, the dark bones charred over, becoming even darker and brittle. Yet, still, the skeleton attacked, unperturbed. Duke blocked the skeleton’s sword blow at the wrist, noting how little power the blow had behind it. He was unsure whether his own Ability had weakened it or if this was its normal strength. Either way, he smashed his other fist into its ribcage, shattering the bones there with another flash. The skeleton collapsed into ash.

He had little time to celebrate his victory as the bulk of the approaching group was now upon him. They shuffled forward almost as a single mass of limbs and bodies, uncoordinated but with a single will focused on reaching Duke and tearing him apart. Duke, of course, did not agree with their plans. Instead, he tore into the undead attempting to surround him with Grat and Ealine adding their own efforts to fight back the horde.

It was taking Duke two empowered blows to take out each of the undead and it was taking longer for even Elaine to tear through them. They were being pressed back and the injuries, although minor, were starting to add up. Duke was considering unleashing a LIGHT blast with his latest backstep when Baslin finally finished casting his Spell.

*** You have been affected by Supreme Light Infusion. You will have the following affects for the next two hours:

All damage to dark-or death-aligned or undead creatures is increased by 100%

All damage received from dark-or death-aligned or undead creatures is reduced by 50%

All healing is twice as effective on you.

You are surrounded by a Life Aura. Contact with your aura by dark or death-aligned creatures will harm them.

***

“Hells yeah! Nice one Baslin. Time to cut through the horde!” Duke matched his enthusiasm with renewed attacks on the undead around them. With the Life Aura, Duke was able to one-shot the skeletons and zombies while the aura itself made them shy away from the group. “Come to us, Baslin. We are going to push our way through the horde. I’m not standing here and waiting for something nastier to show up. We have a beacon to destroy!”

Duke surged forward, slamming his glowing fists into the teeming horde. Each strike sent an undead flying as it burnt to ash from the LIGHT and Life Infusion. The group moved with him. Grat had taken position behind and slightly to the left of Duke’s shoulder while Elaine had taken position behind and slightly to the right. Baslin took up the rear. Each was using their Life Infusion differently, but all were tearing their way through the undead. Zombies and skeletons were destroyed by the score, but there were always more.

Slowly, they pushed their way through the skeletons and zombies. As they continued, a pattern in their fighting emerged. Duke would push the group forward with blows knocking the undead back allowing them to step into the gap he made while Grat and Elaine did their best to keep the horde from pressuring their flanks too badly. Baslin would send out jets of white fire to the sides and rear to clear as many as he could with lower Mana expenditure. When the pressure became too great either Duke, Baslin, or more frequently both would clear their immediate surroundings with strong bursts of magic.

As they advanced with agonizing slowness, it became clear that they were outclassed by the sheer number and individual toughness of the horde. Duke voiced his concern. “These are the trash mobs and we are hard-pressed already with the sheer volume of them. Individually, they are not that tough, but as a whole there’s just too many of them to handle.”

“Do you have another plan?” Grat asked, panting from his sustained efforts to keep the undead off of their flank.

“Not a good one.” Duke admitted.

“Should we turn back?” Elanie growled.

“That might be wise.” Baslin agreed.

“I don’t want to go back if we won’t be able to get back in here. Sam, can you tell us if we can return to this level if we take the exit back to safety?” Duke didn’t want to leave, but he could tell that both Grat and Elaine were flagging and Baslin’s spells seemed either too slow to cast which left him vulnerable for too long or were low-level which were effective but in a far more limited scope.

To the entire group’s delight, Sam answered. “I can tell you this: You may exit and return to this level as many times as it takes for you to finish it. But each time you leave, the level will increase its difficulty.”

“For fuck’s sake, you gotta be kidding me.” Duke cursed the situation.

“I assure you, there is no jest involved.” Sam replied. “This level has not been completed in the last ninety-four attempts. You do not want to see what happens when the attempt counter hits one hundred.”

“How do you want to handle it, Duke? I can clear the field with some large spells but they are slow to cast and I get the impression there are more undead being generated continuously.” Baslin asked.

“Shit. That didn’t even occur to me. OK, here’s what we’re going to do. Baslin, clear the undead out behind us and then we’ll head back to the entrance. Once there, we’ll hold them off for as long as we reasonably can before another field-clearing spell and then exit. Elaine, cover Baslin while he prepares his spell. Grat, kick off the mass vine crowd-control spell to keep them off her flank.” Duke laid the plan out. The rest executed without hesitation.

Elaine covered the rear while Baslin cast his spell. It took him a full minute to cast but once cast, a roiling cloud of burning ash erupted from his hands, flowing over the undead and burning them to cinders. The cloud spread out, away from the group and encompassed the entire area back to the entrance and then continued to expand out to the sides. Before the cloud had finished, it had killed hundreds of the undead.

As the crowd ran back towards then entrance Grat asked, “Couldn’t you have opened with that spell?”

“That’s a Tier Seven Spell. I can only cast it once a day. I didn’t want to use it too early if we needed it later.” Baslin relied calmly.

“But still…damn.” Grat responded.

“Agreed.” Duke added. “Now, we hold them off as long as we can. Can you renew the Light buff, Baslin?”

“I can. It will take another half-minute but sure thing.” Baslin began casting.

“Why are we still standing here waiting for the horde to come at us again?” Elaine asked having taken her human form to rest and recover.

“These things are somewhere around level 170. I can’t calculate the amount of experience we’re going to get from them but it’s going to be an awful lot. With that experience, comes levels. I am hoping it’s going to be enough to get me at least close to Tier 3. You both should hit Tier 2 at least. Baslin, well, you might even get a level. I really don’t know what Tier you are, but it’s got to be up there.” Duke explained.

“So, we come back stronger. Excellent premise, Duke. I am a Tier 8, if it really matters that much to you.” Baslin smirked at the looks of wonder he received at that revelation. “Grand Archmage, remember?”

“Why don’t you just kill the entire level then?” Elaine asked.

“Academic Grand Archmage.” Baslin responded more chagrined. He finished casting his buff spell shortly before more skeletons and zombies began to choke the passage below.

Duke TELEPORTED forward to keep them contained with Grat and Elaine trailing on foot. With the blessing renewed, he was able to fight the horde to a standstill. A moment of distraction when the couple arrived cost him a nasty gash on his right arm, rending a sizable tear in his armor and slowing down his strikes as the torn pieces kept getting caught on everything. His REGENERATION quickly went to work healing him as it had done countless times today, but his arm kept getting tangled up. He was slowing down.

In frustration at the nonsensical situation, he activated RESTORE to repair his armor and regain his mobility. The Ability flashed over his immediate area, covering a 5-meter radius around him. His armor was restored, Grat’s gear was similarly restored. What Duke had not expected was for his Ability to work on the undead around him. In an instant, tattered clothes, fragments of armor, pitted and rusted weapons, and undead flesh all repaired themselves. Where scraps of tattered mail shirts had been, now shining full shirts of mail were in place. Dented and rusted shields were now whole and wielded by strong arms. Several gleaming swords now flashed in the dim light of the Umbra.

Muscles and skin nearly instantly restored themselves, covering the skeletons anew. Likewise, the zombies’ decay vanished. He was left facing well-equipped and restored soldiers. The horde of undead even paused, confused as the new soldiers saluted Duke with their weapons and turned on the undead horde, joining the fight on Duke’s side. Duke and his companions stepped back, amazed at the sight.

“That’s not how that Ability is supposed to work.” Duke remarked in wonder.

“That changes things.” Baslin added.

“Quite literally.” Elaine quipped.

“How long do you think they will last?” Grat asked, still watching the fight.

The new soldiers tore into the undead without hesitation, cutting them down with gleaming blades and absorbing blows with polished shields and armor. They fought furiously but it was a matter of a minute before the soldiers were overwhelmed by the horde and collapsed under their weight.

“Long enough. Duke, do it again!” Elaine implored.

Duke obliged, activating his Master-ranked Ability yet again. Zombies and skeletons returned to living soldiers all around them. Like the last bunch, they turned on the undead attacking fiercely. Duke stepped up, right behind his new front line and activated RESTORE again. His forces grew. His companions cheered.

“That is a creative solution, if I ever saw one.” Baslin smiled as he joined up with the group in the growing pocket of soldiers taking the brunt of the undead assault. “I really thought exiting and coming back was our best choice, but this might just work. How Mana-intensive is that Ability, Duke?

“It costs a bit over 200 Mana at baseline. I regen about 160 a second so I can keep using it for an awfully long time.” Duke smiled at the thought. “I wonder what would happen if I pour more Mana into it.”

“Be careful, Duke. Right now, it’s working well. The soldiers on our side are growing more numerous faster than the undead can take them down. But don’t expect that to last. We should still keep the escape contingency ready if things go wrong.” Baslin admonished.

They pressed on, growing their army as they collectively pushed deeper and deeper into undead territory. Eventually, the group of soldiers, now in the hundreds, were forming actual ranks with a gap between them to allow Duke access to the front line and more undead to convert.

Duke was surprised when he was struck by a javelin that he did not see coming. It penetrated straight through his armor, his chest, out the back of his armor, and pinned him to the ground behind him. The pain flashed throughout his body as the javelin twisted from his bodyweight. Duke reflexively TELEPORTED it out of his body and painfully climbed back to his feet to see a four-meter tall skeleton pulling another javelin from a quiver of sorts. Duke activated IDENTIFY.

***You have encountered a Skeleton Javelineer. This creature is an officer within the undead army and is quite capable of independent thought and action. Other undead are bolstered in its presence.

Level: 220

Health: 20,455

***

Duke pushed forward, past his line of soldiers and activated his RESTORE ability with an extra 500 Mana. The radius of converted undead changed from 5 meters to a full 25 meters. This was enough to catch the Javelineer in the radius.

The results didn’t disappoint. The officer, now restored to his half-giant form saluted Duke with a javelin and started shouting orders to the soldiers around him. “Form ranks! Shields! Now press!” The soldiers responded and seemed to fight even harder than they had before.

Once the troops had engaged the undead, the Javelineer moved through the troops and came up to Duke. “Greetings, my Lord. Captain Slevin reporting for duty.” Duke stared back, dumbfounded for a moment.

“He’s no Lord, that’s Duke.” Elaine interrupted, barely suppressing a grin.

“Your Grace, I meant no offense. I simply did not know. We are yours to command. I have our men engaging the undead, but is there aught more that we should be driving towards?” His voice was clear but seemed to be too small and child-like for his size. Duke suppressed a chuckle.

“Our goal is to seize and destroy the giant red beacon.” Duke pointed the way. The half-giant nodded and urged the soldiers forward. The undead were unbowed and continued to press from all directions. Duke repeatedly used RESTORE to bolster their ranks, but the undead horde seemed endless. They were still able to press their way through the horde, but the pressure was mounting despite Duke adding more soldiers regularly.

“Why aren’t we making any headway?” Grat asked.

“I’m converting soldiers as fast as I can without spending tons of Mana.” Duke replied.

“We are gaining soldiers faster than we are losing them.” Baslin observed. “That’s not the issue.”

“Then what is it?” Elaine responded as she reached over a soldier’s head to slap a zombie away that had climbed onto the back of another. The group looked at each other but no one had a suggestion.

“They must be spawning faster than we can convert or kill them.” Baslin posited. “I can pull out some more big spells, but most are once-a-day so it would leave us no route to retreat through.”

“Yeah, let’s not do that.” Duke replied. “Can you all hold the undead back for a few minutes? I’d like to get some aerial reconnaissance in.”

“We’ll handle it. Go find out what’s going on.” Elaine answered as she moved closer to the front line to support the soldiers.

Duke unleashed a massive RESTORE and then took to the air.