Ultimate Level 1

The hardest part about the horde was the scream that came from somewhere off to the left.

Zombies had run their course, countless numbers had been destroyed, and after them came another wall, this time of skeletons. They carried swords, clubs, shields, and a few even used a bow.

The groups struggled to pull back if someone got injured or when their healer had no more mana.

The once regular rest now only came when they fled back, putting distance between them and the skeletons who attacked the closest living thing.

Tanila had displayed her true power, casting a wall of fire that did damage to the skeletons who walked through it. None of the ones they faced seemed to care about the magical heat that drained their life.

Batrire was their lookout. She called out which direction to shift, and she was also responsible for deciding when to retreat.

But that scream. It was so awful, so gut-wrenching, that Max couldn’t help but look in the direction it had come from.

He couldn’t see over the horde or the other groups from where he was at.

“FALL BACK! BOSS!”

Max slashed once more, letting the tip of his spear shatter the skull of the skeleton he had just engaged.

As he ran toward Batrire, he heard Fowl cursing and noticed other groups also moving back.

They ran for about a hundred yards before Batrire led them in the direction of the scream.

“That’s bad, real bad.”

Max saw what Fowl was talking about but he had no idea what it was other than a skeleton almost twice the size of the others, wielding a massive sword that had to be at least six feet if he had to guess from this distance.

“We have to help,” Batrire said, motioning for the group to keep moving. “If we don't, they may die, and then we will still have to deal with that.”

Fowl just grunted, banging his hammer against his shield once as he ran toward the boss and the other two groups that were engaged with it.

Looking behind them, Max saw another group coming, but it looked like they were not excited to join the fight. There were only three of them, and all of them looked like casters.

Letting the others get ahead just slightly, Max cast his enchantment, knowing that the extra percentage of damage would be worth the possible risk of someone behind him wondering why his spear had glowed. Hopefully they would just think it was exhaustion from the two hours of fighting.

“SHIFT!”

Max and Fowl moved left, avoiding the leg that tried to kick at them. Its moves were well-telegraphed but he had already seen what happened when someone didn’t dodge it. That warrior had flown ten feet at least before crashing into the ground.

“Watch the horde!”

He glanced behind him and saw the wall of skeletons pressing toward them. The four warriors who had engaged them struggled to handle the constant stream of undead.

The boss shimmered red and Max heard the sound of its sword slamming into the ground, shockwaves rolling out from where it had barely missed the warrior who currently had the creature's attention. The man stumbled as he tried to remain standing, the ground having gained a two-foot-deep furrow.

He got his shield up in time, receiving a downward strike, and the sound of the sword against his shield, followed by a scream, told Max exactly what had happened.

The human warrior glowed green as he stumbled backward, getting a little bit of space as the boss took a step forward, bringing its sword around again.

Max could see it. That swing would send the man rolling if it hit his shield or probably cut the warrior in half if he didn’t get it up in time.

The countless chips on the boss's legs where he, Fowl, and others had struck at it had done nothing.

“Slam it!” Max shouted, driving his shield into the giant leg before him and seeing Fowl hit the other leg at the same time.

The boss shifted just enough as they drove into it, causing the sword’s arc to change, slicing less than a foot over the warrior's head.

Both of them backed up, attacking the same spot each of them had focused on this entire fight.

Twenty minutes later, the boss lay dead. A weak cheer had risen, but the cost had been high. Two tanks had died. The worst part was that the line of skeletons had changed from mindless ones to ones who actually picked targets and attacked with skill.

“Eighteen!”

Max risked a glance at Fowl and then focused on the skeleton he was fighting. He blocked its strike and thrust his spear at its hip joint, breaking it and sending the skeleton to the ground. His spear wasn’t great, but he had learned where to strike and could now disable them easily and finish them off much quicker.

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“What do you mean?” he asked, driving his spear into the skeleton’s skull as it tried to rise up from where it had fallen.

“Level eighteen! The experience is getting better!”

“Because we might die!” Max responded, moving to Fowl to assist with a skeleton that was about to attack his side.

Fowl laughed. Somehow, in the face of death, the dwarf roared in laughter.

“BEASTS!”

There had been a little over five minutes with nothing since the last skeleton near them was taken down.

Parties were reforming, adding members, or packing it up, unable to continue.

Tanila and Batrire both looked worn out. They were always running out of mana, even with as few scrapes and cuts as Max and Fowl received. They tried to help those nearby anytime they could.

Max turned, looking in the direction where he saw movement.

“Beasts?”

Fowl and Batrire both spat at the same time, shaking their heads in unison.

“This is bad. Real bad.” Fowl replied. “We need to move back and regroup.”

Batrire looked around and saw what Fowl had noticed. Coming were packs of undead wolves. Their bodies looked gaunt, bones jutting from the rotting flesh and patches of fur were missing all over.

Their eyes glowed yellow as they moved forward, teeth bared.

“Packs! We need to fall back and regroup!”

Their group had started to move toward the left, where a few other groups were gathering, trying to form some kind of defense, when a cry to the right and up ahead caught their attention.

Max spun and almost tripped.

“They need help!” he shouted, getting his feet under him as he ran toward the three he had seen in robes, a pack of four wolves tearing into them.

“Seth, wait!” Batrire yelled, but Max was already committed to his path.

“Go!” Fowl ordered as he took off after Max.

Max saw a man with two wolves dragging him along the ground, each one with a different leg in its mouth. He screamed louder, and Max realized what was about to happen as both wolves changed how they pulled and shifted to the opposite direction of the other.

One man in a green robe began to cast, fire starting to form in his hands as the third caster held his staff out, trying to fight off the wolf that had bit down on it.

A ripping sound filled Max’s ears, and the man’s scream confirmed his fear.

Both wolves ran off with a leg, shaking it side to side in their jaws.

The fire bolt flew across the field, striking the wolf that was attacking the mage with the staff in its side, causing it to lose its grip on the staff as it staggered back a few steps.

Choosing to target the wolf closest to him, Max dashed toward the one on fire, grateful for the distraction the flames provided, and thrust his spear into its side.

The wolf yelped and turned, trying to bite at Max.

“The head! Go for their heads!”

Yanking his spear free, Max dodged the wolf’s attack and sent the tip of his spear toward its skull. The crunch of bones shattering as his spear went through both sides of its head brought a slight smile to Max’s lips.

“Grant!”

Turning, he saw the man with the staff turn and began casting a heal spell.

Fowl had already made it to the injured man he assumed was Grant and had one wolf about to engage him.

Firebolts came from Tanila and the other mage, striking the wolf that had begun to bite down on the wounded man.

Max missed his first thrust at the wolf’s head, catching it in its neck and creating a hole in a throat he doubted it used. The second attack hit home, killing the wolf.

“Heal him please!”

Fowl shouted, and Max saw he had just bludgeoned the wolf in the skull, killing it and giving them maybe a minute before more arrived.

“He’s too far gone!” Batrire informed the two men who ran to try and help their fallen friend.

Max saw the man, blood pouring out of the wounds he had where his legs had been torn off. He was turning white like snow as his life leaked out.

“We can try!” the healer pleaded, preparing to cast a heal again.

“Let it go, Fenton. She’s right. We don’t have time.”

The healer ignored the mage and finished casting his heal, watching his fallen teammate groan as the heal infused him with energy and life before the gaping wounds ran red again.

“He’s suffering,” Fowl said, his eyes darting between the fallen man and the beasts that were making their way toward them. “We need to go or we will be like him.”

“What about Grant? We can’t leave him like this!”

Max looked at Grant’s group members and saw the looks on their faces.

He felt their pain and then he felt a hunger. His soul seemed to sense the possibility and an idea formed in his head.

Kill him and grow stronger.

That’s wrong! I shouldn’t even consider this.

“Seth! We need to go,” Batrire said, snapping him out of his dazed state. “We helped but we need to go.” She turned and looked at both the men and pointed in the direction of the other groups. “You need to go or you will be like your friend.”

The one man grabbed his teammate’s arm and pulled him. “Fenton, we need to go…”

“But he is suffering!”

The hunger and desire were overwhelming as Max saw the life of Grant fading fast and knew there was little time to claim what he could.

“I can help,” Max heard himself say. “I can end his pain. One strike. Then we can run.”

Both of the men looked at Max for a moment, confused and shocked. Two heartbeats later, the healer nodded and turned.

Max moved to stand next to Grant, seeing the man barely able to lock his eyes on him. There was a slight nod and the man closed his eyes.

Max bent down and put his knife in the man’s hand.

“Stick me, quickly.”

His arm struggled to move, yet the man managed to slash Max’s hand, flashing red for a second.

“Forgive me,” Max whispered after standing up and thrusting his spear into the man’s heart.

Grant jerked once and went still.

The flood of cold washed over him and Max almost lost the grip on his spear’s shaft.

[ 2 Intelligence Consumed ]

[ 2 Wisdom Consumed ]

[ 3 Hit points Consumed ]

[Consume has successfully Consumed a skill]

[Would you like to learn [Fire Magic]?]

[ Yes / No]

Choosing yes, Max felt knowledge flood his mind just like it had when he had acquired Ice Magic. A new aspect of magic seemed so easy to understand now.

“Seth, we need to move!”

Fowl’s shout made him look away from the information that had flooded his brain, and he nodded, pulling his spear free and moving toward his team that had started running.

What have I done?

No voice replied back.

Max wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.