by Sarah Lin
"His name is Khassfhit." It was the short, armored woman. She huffed as she carried her over-sized shield, but she managed to give him a broad smile. "Hello! I'm Danniah."
"I'm Raigar." As much as her cheerfulness irritated him, she might be his best source of information for now. "So you're a newly formed group of adventurers?"
"That's right! Rhil'lahan is our leader because he has the most experience - he's the one with the two swords. He's really fast! I already told you the grumpy mage is Khassfhit - I don't know every much about him because he won't talk to me either. Our healer is named Herena and she's from a really noble family here in Cresthaven. I'm afraid she doesn't like me very much, but she heals me, so I like her! Did I tell you my name was Danniah? My job is to protect everyone else, but it's pretty hard. I'm still learning to..."
Dark gods of the underworld, the woman could talk. If she babbled like this all the time, no wonder the others didn't like her. But as much as Bloodwraith wanted to punch her in the face, or at least escape her vocal range, she was spilling more information than anyone else.
When her rambling moved away from the subject of the adventurers and Cresthaven into less relevant subjects, Bloodwraith began to ignore her and examine the group instead. Their strength could tell him something about Cresthaven, as well as his own progress. But he needed to examine them carefully, because at least some of them were still suspicious of them. Keeping his eyes low, he analyzed the group surreptitiously...
At which point an avalanche of boxes flooded his vision.
[Name: Rhil'lahan
Race: Elf
Class: Swordsman
Health: 143/143
Mana: 5/5
Stamina: 129/129
Level: 8
EXP: ???
Statistics:
Might: 19
Vitality: 15
Quickness: 26
Intellect: 13
Charisma: 14
Willpower: 12
Wisdom: 16
Luck: 10
Piety: 11
Skills: Unknown
Proficiencies: Unknown
Inventory: Unknown]
[Name: Khassfhit
Race: Drakekin
Class: Mage
Health: 82/82
Mana: 55/55
Stamina: 96/96
Level: 7
EXP: ???
Statistics:
Might: 7
Vitality: 11
Quickness: 14
Intellect: 23
Charisma: 9
Willpower: 21
Wisdom: 17
Luck: 12
Piety: 13
Skills: Unknown
Proficiencies: Unknown
Inventory: Unknown]
[Name: Herena Cresthall
Race: Human
Class: Cleric
Health: 108/108
Mana: 37/37
Stamina: 122/122
Level: 6
EXP: ???
Statistics:
Might: 11
Vitality: 13
Quickness: 12
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 11
Willpower: 15
Wisdom: 14
Luck: 10
Piety: 19
Skills: Unknown
Proficiencies: Unknown
Inventory: Unknown]
[Name: Danniah
Race: ???
Class: Warrior
Health: 188/188
Mana: 0/0
Stamina: 153/153
Level: 7
EXP: ???
Statistics:
Might: 18
Vitality: 29
Quickness: 13
Intellect: 8
Charisma: 14
Willpower: 17
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 10
Piety: 12
Skills: Unknown
Proficiencies: Unknown
Inventory: Unknown]
"Away, damned boxes!" Why would they spring up at him and vomit out so much information? Did elves actually spell their names with pretentious accent marks like that? Bloodwraith realized that he could probably discern some information from the numbers, but...
But he realized that everyone else was now looking at him suspiciously. Unsurprisingly, given that he'd just been shouting nonsense and flailing at the air. Bloodwraith paused with a flat smile on his face, trying to think how to defuse the situation.
Fortunately, at that point he spotted the bandits lying in wait. "I'm saying there's an ambush, you fools!" He pointed over their heads to the rocky crags that held them, immediately drawing away everyone's attention.
Some of the bandits emerging from hiding had been completely hidden to him, their rough clothing blending with the rocks, sand, and small plants of the area. He had only spotted them because a few were still moving. Judging from their poor positioning, he thought that they had only moved to this new position recently. Presumably their initial ambush attempt had been ruined when he killed the first three, forcing them to take a less advantageous position.
Having a lot of men rushing them from all around was a pretty good advantage, though.
The adventurers responded by pulling together, forming a tight fighting formation prepared for the assault. Most of the peasants retreated to the wagons, the mother grabbing one of the children. Since the bandits needed to take out their entire group, they would ignore the peasants for now. It was a good enough beginning.
After that, everything went to hell.
Rhil'lahan rushed forward, his blades flashing in the sun as he cut down bandits. It looked very fancy and he was very fast, but it took him away from the tight formation of the others. The charging bandits immediately moved to encircle him.
Not being fools, they all tried to stab him at once. Despite his elaborate dashing flips, he would have died if Danniah hadn't thrown herself after him. The bandits' weapons clattered off her armor, but she grunted in pain and fell to the ground as she tried to fend off their assault.
Worse, the mage and the healer were left undefended. Bandits coming from other directions rushed on them, forcing Khassfhit to abandon his spells. Herena met one of them with her staff, but she obviously had limited skill in hand to hand combat.
Bloodwraith should have moved immediately, but he wasted a moment staring. He was used to parties of adventurers who were not only skilled, but worked smoothly as a team. But of course, only talented adventurers would ever have reached him. Now that his sample size had increased, he found himself even more disgusted with their kind.
He had to pretend to be one of them now, though, so he swept into battle.
An idiot like Raigar would have attacked the bandits nearest him, but his only chance of victory lay in assisting the others. So he simply rushed away from his attackers, closing on the other adventurers as he swung his sword in a vicious arc.
His blow cleaved through two of the bandits who had their backs to him, sending them to the ground in pieces. When he reversed his grip and swung in the other direction, the bandits dodged back. Stupid sword... it had power, but it would be easy to dodge if they saw it coming. Now that he wasn't fighting suicidal wolves, it would be a real liability.
Fortunately, the mage finally gained enough concentration to act, sending out tongues of flame. They kept the nearby bandits at bay, which was good enough. Ignoring them, Bloodwraith focused on the bandits surrounding the other two and let out a roar as he released his only spell.
The burst of force knocked almost all of them off their feet. Danniah managed to weather it, but Rhil'lahan was flipped into the air and only barely managed to land properly. He scowled at Bloodwraith, while Danniah looked around in confusion before seeing him and smiling.
"Don't stand there, idiots!" Bloodwraith could only shout that much before he had to raise his sword to defend against more bandits. "Group together or they'll kill us!"
"You can't order us, stranger!" Rhil'lahan scowled as
he flipped back to his feet. "All of you, to me! We fight together!"
Which was exactly the same thing. Bloodwraith felt a moment of rage before realizing that he was being just as arrogant as the elf. All that mattered was that they came together and worked as a group, not who issued the command.
He stuck close to Herena and Khassfhit as they started to move in... or at least they should have. Too late, Bloodwraith's dim senses realized how much mana was moving. Khassfhit raised his hands, reptilian eyes glowing, and released his spell.
The sphere of fire struck the heart of the bandit group... and exploded in all directions, sending the mage's own companions flying as well. Idiot! Khassfhit only smirked as he saw the bandit bodies, but Herena began yelling at him. Which was just as stupid, because there were more bandits who hadn't died in the fireball.
One of them wore heavier armor that had weathered the attack. Bloodwraith moved toward him, lifting his sword overhead in a foolishly large swing. The bandit leader grinned and rushed in, his blades flying to cut through his neck before Bloodwraith could bring his sword down.
Except for the Fist of Rage that struck him directly in the chest.
When the bandit staggered backward, Bloodwraith finally let his blow fall. It managed to break through the gap in the bandit's armor above the shoulder and cut deep... but not deep enough. The bandit lashed out with his good hand and Bloodwraith staggered backward, pain blossoming across his chest.
He regained control and tugged his greatsword from the bandit's shoulder, but he was too late. His movement caused more blood loss, but the bandit wasn't going down that easily. Now that the distance was closed, Bloodwraith was out of advantages.
When he started to raise his fist, the bandit reacted faster, bracing himself. Trying to use another Fist of Rage would be less effective, especially against such a dangerous opponent. What a stupid name...
That was it.
When the bandit rushed forward again, Bloodwraith stopped retreating. Instead he lashed out with one foot, channeling his rage down it. The explosive force emerged from his leg instead of his fist, sweeping the bandit's legs out from under him.
Even before the bandit hit the ground, Bloodwraith was bringing his sword to bear again. The bandit leader managed to block his first blow, but lost his blade - the second blow took out his arm, and the third finally ended his life.
Bloodwraith stood, panting for breath, and realized that he'd been a fool to ignore the rest of the battle. Why wasn't he dead, stabbed from behind?
His answer came when he saw Danniah behind him, using her over-sized shield to fend off three more bandits. She also tried to strike at them with her mace, but not very effectively. When she noticed him watching, she grinned and waved her mace cheerfully at him.
Muttering curses under his breath, Bloodwraith moved to join the frustratingly cheerful woman. With her defending his flank, it would be easier to defeat the bandits. They looked anxious, but in the narrow space they'd chosen for the ambush, they didn't have many places to run. And he didn't want them to, because he needed to harvest their deaths.
As he slowly hemmed in the bandits, Bloodwraith looked to the rest of the battlefield. Rhil'lahan was currently cutting down some of the bandits who were trying to run. Which left Herena undefended, desperately fending off several.
Though the tactical choice would have been to help her, that wasn't an option given the distance and his mana exhaustion. Where the hell was the mage? He should have been able to...
Oh, there he was. Standing atop one of the crags. Preparing another fireball.
"Don't throw that down here, idiot!" Bloodwraith roared. But Khassfhit was clearly not listening, the sphere of flame growing between his hands as he bared his teeth.
"I'll protect you!" Danniah jumped in front of Bloodwraith, burying her shield in the ground to brace herself. The force from the fire would knock her right off her feet and then she'd be no good to him at all.
"No! You can't take the force head on, you need to deflect it!" But it was too late, Khassfhit was releasing his sphere. As it plummeted to the ground, all Bloodwraith could do was move forward and hope he could use Danniah's body as a shield.
But just before the sphere struck, she dropped to one knee and ducked low, putting her shield at an angle. Bloodwraith ducked as well, barely catching a glimpse of the flames expanding. A moment later he felt the wall of fire rush over his head.
She had actually listened to him? Yes, judging from her grin, she had understood. Instead of trying to take the flames head on, she had moved at an angle that shunted the force upward. That massive shield was good for something after all.
"We are victorious!" Rhil'lahan raised one sword over his head. "These bandits should have known better than to mess with the likes of us!"
Except that there had been no declaration of victory from the boxes. Bloodwraith growled at the box gods, wondering if they would deny him the power that he deserved. Could it be because he had worked together with a group? If so, that would be-
At that point, one of the bandits lurched upward and stabbed Rhil'lahan in the thigh. The elf gave a shout of pain and instantly stabbed down into the bandit. It took several blows to end his life - these bandits weren't as weak as they appeared. How many of the other bodies might be still alive? Bloodwraith began to analyze all of them carefully.
Before he could make meaningful progress, Khassfhit walked from around the crag with a scowl on his face. "All of you got in the way! I could have ended the battle sooner, but you brutes..."
As he spoke, one of the bandits rose to his feet behind him. Examining all the bodies, Bloodwraith was too off guard to act. Fortunately, Danniah wasn't, bodily throwing herself in the way of the attack. She took the blow on her shoulder and fell with a grunt. Khassfhit stared down at her, only now realizing how close he had come to being cut down from behind.
The bandit didn't last long with Rhil'lahan going after him, but Bloodwraith ignored it. What mattered now was ensuring that there were no more such surprises.
Looking over the field of bodies at first produced an utterly useless array of boxes. Sometimes too much information about their armor, sometimes boxes about random rocks and plants, sometimes no boxes at all. Eventually he managed to summon only the boxes he wanted, listing the amount of health the bandits had.
All of them displayed zero... but he remembered that some information had been missing when he looked at the adventurers. Were these boxes truly a unique ability, or a distortion of his natural powers of observation?
Bloodwraith looked more carefully, this time seeking to observe life and death. After a moment, some of the boxes began to blur, displaying different numbers. Some of the bandits had only a few points of "Health" but others had 10-20. He moved to one of them and stabbed down.
Sure enough, the bandit struggled with surprising strength before expiring. Bloodwraith moved to the next, trying to see the hints of his life aside from the boxes. Yes, there were a few clues, but he would have missed them normally. Perhaps these boxes could help him better use warrior's instincts that he had never developed in his past life.
The adventurers bickered with one another while Bloodwraith ended things. When at last the final bandit was dead, then Bloodwraith finally felt it...
[Victory! You received 653 EXP and...]
The box went on to list a great many useless items, but they didn't matter. All he cared about was the rush of power that the victory brought. Just one little bandit massacre and he had gained significant "points," enough for the boxes to grant him more raw power. Along with an obnoxious musical tune, but he could suffer through that.
[Congratulations! You gained a level!
Current Level: 6
Current EXP: 205/3200
Unassigned Stat Points: 5]
Bloodwraith let himself grin as the new strength flowed through him. He took a deep breath and drank in the power of their deaths...
"You look happy to be doing the dirt
y work." Khassfhit stood not far away, giving him a strange look. Bloodwraith struggled to twist his grin into a more adventurous smile.
"I'm just happy that we defended those helpless peasants! It always feels good to do a good deed!"
The mage stared at him, then moved away, shaking his head and muttering something derogatory. Bloodwraith didn't really care, not with more raw power at his fingertips.
He didn't concern himself with the boxes for the moment, however, instead getting his bearings. Though the battle was clearly over, that didn't mean everything was resolved. He'd entirely forgotten about the peasants until he'd used them as an excuse. They had been unharmed by the bandits, though they were now desperately trying to put out fires in their crops.
Meanwhile, the adventurers clustered in a small group. Herena had gathered healing mana, but didn't use it, instead lecturing Danniah. "How could you just run off from me? I'm the backbone of this team, and if you can't protect me, what good are you?"
"Sorry, sorry..." Danniah winced and lowered her head. She was wincing from more than shame, though - many of the blows she had defended against had managed to make it through her armor and she bled from numerous minor wounds. But Rhil'lahan moved in first, demanding that Herena heal him before anyone else.
As Bloodwraith watched them, the pleasant taste of death faded in his mouth. These adventurers were useless fools. Danniah was the only one who had done her best to fulfill her role. Thinking back to the numbers that the boxes had declared defined her, Bloodwraith decided that they were wrong. As much power as the alien entities possessed, they couldn't truly define a person in a bunch of numbers.
Seeing her receive no praise irritated him, however. Good servants deserved to be rewarded, and he had always kept out an eye for talent among the undead. But clearly these adventurers were more concerned with their own glory.