“Shapeshift,” I yelled as I got into position on our left flank. I hadn’t transformed in the fight with the ice serpents since the attack had been a surprise and even after much practice, it took a minute for me to shapeshift. Since I had the time, I chose to fight in my murlimp form. Frankly, I preferred fighting as the murlimp. I was bigger, stronger, faster, possessed an almost armor-like skin, and although Low Temperature Resistance was disabled while in murlimp form, these benefits far outweigh the cost so long as I kept the duration of my transformation short.
I was the only one to shapeshift. Since we were being swarmed by many enemies, we had to be clustered up in defense and in such a circumstance, the finesse of a human form was better than the brute strength and speed of a beast.
“Inventory.” Once I finished transforming, I summoned the screen and selected a couple pieces of equipment I forged specifically for this form.
†Steel Halberd with Oversized Head†
Damage: 400-500
Durability: 1000/1200
Requirements: 70+ Strength
Description: A rather strange halberd. The majority of it is made out of steel, but the handle as well as a central core that runs the halberd’s entire length is made out of silver. The halberd also sports an enormous axe head, which is nearly one quarter of the halberd’s length.
A halberd is like a spear except it has an axe at its end in addition to a spear point. When I set about making it, I meant it to be an axe but added a spike at the end to make thrusting attacks a viable option. The interface took this design and the weapon’s overall size, built for my murlimp form, and inferred it was a halberd with an oversized head.
The design itself was rather plain and straightforward. Because of the intense heat my body radiated, I knew the halberd would always be hot so I couldn’t add any sigils and make it into an artifact. Artifacts were made with overlapping layers of different metals arranged into just the right shapes and under temperature changes, different metals expand and contract at different rates, ruining those shapes.
The first version of the halberd was made out of solid steel, but I found that after long use a massive amount of heat would build up where I was holding it. It wasn’t enough to melt the steel but softened it to the point where the metal bent when I hit anything. The silver handle and inner core worked to correct this. The melting point of silver was actually lower than that of steel, but its thermal conductivity was ten times greater. This allowed the heat from the handle to quickly spread out and dissipate across the halberd’s entire length, reducing the temperature the handle reached.
I almost would have preferred making the halberd all out of silver, it would have radiated heat even better, removed issues with temperature and layering metals, and made the halberd heavier and more powerful, but the cost would have been too high, so I had to use mostly steel. I also would have preferred to use a refractory metal, a metal that could take extreme temperatures, like tungsten. That way I would never have to worry about accidently melting it, but such metals were rare. This world had yet to discover them, and my limited knowledge of metallurgy was insufficient to acquire it by myself.
I made two halberds, one for each hand. They made the sum total of the armaments I’d prepared for my beastform. My murlimp skin was almost as hard as any shield or armor I could produce, making such implements unnecessary. I would have liked to make a projectile weapon like a bow, I could imagine firing 100-pound steel arrows that could pierce anything, but I knew of nothing I could use as a drawstring.
‘Incoming,’ Mai announced. ‘The nearest New Fallen is 250 meters away and quickly approaching. At its current pace it’ll be here in just under a minute.’
“How many are there?” I asked. Rose overheard me and thought I was speaking to her.
“How would I know? You’re the one who’s a giant. You can see better than everyone,” said Rose.
‘I’m tracking 57 of them,’ said Mai. ‘But something is strange about one of them. He isn’t moving the same as the rest.’
“What do you mean?” I whispered, being more careful this time so as not to be overheard.
‘Not sure,’ said Mai.
“Keep an eye on it, I’m afraid I’m busy at the moment,” I said as a wave of skeletal figures broke through the rows of dead trees. Like I expected my boney countrymen were fast and numerous, but lacked coordination with one another.
We tightened up and drew as close to each other as possible. We were outnumbered and no one, no matter how capable, can defend against attacks from all directions at once. Our only hope was to rely on each other.
Of course, that didn’t quite apply to me. My murlimp form was a nice heat source if you were nearby, but if you pressed up against me, you’d burn, so I kept myself a bit separated from the rest of our group. I was close enough to help defend them but not so close that the enemy couldn’t surround me. I wasn’t concerned though, my murlimp skin was tough enough that I doubted the zombie freaks could pierce through and besides if they touched me, they’d burn like everything else.
As the first couple skeletons reached us, they went straight for me. I don’t know if it was because I was a bit separated from the rest and consequently looked like an easier target or because I was the biggest hunk of meat, but that’s what they did.
I swung my right halberd horizontally, cleaving the first New Fallen in two, then stepped forward and thrust with my left halberd, impaling a second one.
You gained 912 EXP
You gained 891 EXP
There was no continued pursuit by the top half of a body or by an individual with a mutilated torso. As much as they looked or even acted like zombies, they weren’t. Any injury that’d be fatal to a person was fatal to them.
More New Fallen swarmed me. I took out a few early with my long reach, but eventually a few got past and were capable of directly attacking me. It was as I’d thought. They burned on contact with my skin. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for them to learn better. Soon all the New Fallen stayed clear of me and pursued riper targets in my companions.
Desiccated bodies slammed against the Othan line as Rose and Zelus rained fireballs down from above. It was hard to hit the New Fallen when you were expending so much effort on defense, but there was nothing else to be done. These enemies were insane. They couldn’t be scared and intimidated. All they did was attack. If you did the same, there was sure to be deaths on both sides and the New Fallen could afford such losses far more readily than we could.
While most of the group focused on defense, I went on the attack. I couldn’t take out the row of New Fallen pressing up against my companions for worry that I may do more harm than good. Instead, I moved further out and focused on taking out New Fallen before they got even close to the others. My strikes were fierce and deadly, it seemed that almost every one of my swings killed or dismembered someone.
You gained 947 EXP
You gained 798 EXP
…
…
You gained 807 EXP
My enemies didn’t even try to dodge, it was as if they didn’t even care that I was there. All they cared about was the mound of tasty flesh behind me. It was like a round of whack-a-mole, Like the game, the only issue was that sometimes too many came at once. A few still got by and attacked the group, but all in all, I was doing more than my part, scoring almost half of the kills by myself.
Bearballs saw this and, in a supremely foolish display of machismo, charged out from his position at the head of the group and, like me, started taking the New Fallen by himself.
“Bearballs, get back into formation,” Izusa barked.
“Come on. There aren’t as many of them now. I can handle a few of these dumb things on my own,” Bearballs roared back.
Titania filled the hole Bearballs left, getting the chance to display her prowess before everyone. She was as good as any Othan. The fight continued and more and more New Fallen fell until only a handful remained. It looked like we were a
ll going to make it.
It is said that it is when a beast is in its death throes that it is most dangerous. Usually people think that’s because it is then that the beast lets go of its restraint and gives its all. But, does that really make sense? At the end of a fight, it’s wounded and exhausted. If it had extra strength or some trick in its arsenal, it would have used it before that point. It’s only the most dangerous at the end because it is then that you are arrogant. It is then that you make mistakes.
A New Fallen rushed past Bearballs as he was busy dealing with another.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Bearballs roared as he decapitated one New Fallen and at the same time kicked the falling head like a soccer ball. The head flew a dozen feet into the leg of the New Fallen who’d just run past. The New Fallen tripped on the head and stumbled to the ground. Still, the New Fallen continued to crawl towards its target.
“Ha ha, did any of you see that?” said Bearballs, proud of the skill he displayed. Bearballs turned to track down the crawling New Fallen. That was his mistake.
“Watch out,” Titania yelled, spotting what Bearballs had missed. She knew almost the same moment she uttered it that her warning wasn’t in time. That by the time Bearballs processed it, it’d be too late. Titania did the only thing she was capable of doing, she threw her massive sword straight at Bearballs.
Bearballs might not have been able to use Titania’s warning to realize what was behind him in time, but he was able to detect the 6 feet of spinning steel flying straight at him. Bearballs quickly ducked to the side, dodging Titania’s blade. He would have voiced a complaint probably something that would have mocked Titania’s Fallen status, but before he could, something shrieked behind him.
Bearballs turned. He had missed a New Fallen. Titania’s sword was rammed into its chest. If it weren’t for her, Bearballs would’ve been in serious trouble. Even after all the guff Bearballs had given her, the pathetic Fallen girl had saved him. Something changed in both Bearballs and Titania in that instant, both saw Titania in a new light, though it wouldn’t be clear until later after things settled down. At that time, things were still far from over. Bearballs was still in trouble, two other New Fallen rapidly approached his backside.
Titania left the protection of the group and charged towards Bearballs. On the way, she drew her spare blade and used it to finish off the crawling New Fallen quickly. One of the New Fallen pounced on Bearballs before he could properly defend himself. He fell on his back and used all his strength to keep the New Fallen’s snapping jaws from biting his face.
Bearballs glanced to the side and saw the second New Fallen circle around, looking for an opening. Bearballs had nothing else to give. This was how he was going to die. The second New Fallen bent low, its fingers raked across Bearballs’ face.
Titania reached Bearballs. She decapitated the second New Fallen before carefully piercing the first one through its back. The New Fallen collapsed onto Bearballs who quickly tossed it aside. Titania held off another New Fallen that arrived on the scene as Bearballs returned to his feet then ushered him back into the protection of the group. No one commented on Bearballs’ blunder, they were too busy maintaining their defense.
The rest of the battle went smoothly. Bearballs stayed back, not making the same mistake again, and helped defend while the mages burned up the attacking New Fallen. I stayed out front, taking whatever New Fallen I could, gobbling up the little packages of EXP and gaining another level. Levels were getting harder to come by, so although I felt a bit bad about killing my fellow Earthlings after they suffered so much, I took advantage of the situation as best I could.
Eventually, the last New Fallen died and everyone relaxed. One good thing about the New Fallen was that they were loud so it was obvious that they were all gone. A joyous atmosphere filled the air, as any battle without loss or injury would.
“Those are some mighty fine axes,” Wy-2 remarked to me.
“I’d be lost without them, I’d much prefer having you’re fighting skills,” I replied.
‘Isaac,’ Mai appeared and tried to get my attention.
“That hammer of yours was impressive as well,” I told Wy-2.
‘Isaac,’ Mai tried again.
“I hate to have to admit it, but thank you for saving me,” Bearballs said to Titania. It was nice to see them making nice.
“Gratitude is not necessary,” said Titania in her normal stern voice. “But it is appreciated.”
‘Isaac, you know it’s rude to ignore someone you asked a favor of before even hearing the results,’ said Mai. This time she dimmed my hearing so I couldn’t hear anything but her.
“What?” I whispered. It wasn’t like I was somewhere good to have a conversation with myself.
‘Have you forgotten? You asked me to keep an eye on someone,’ said Mai.
I thought back and remembered that just before the battle started, Mai mentioned spotting one of the New Fallen behaving strangely. The New Fallen were generally predictable, they charged straight towards whatever could relieve their insatiable appetites.
“I assume since you’re bringing it up the individual in question is still out there,” I said, though I didn’t really put it past Mai to bring this whole thing up so that she could tell me that her earlier report was in error and the subject’s behavior returned to normal and was slaughtered with the rest. Mai liked attention and she did have a bit of a sour streak.
‘Of course it’s still out there,’ said Mai.
“Where is it now?” I asked.
‘220 yards away and increasing on your one o’clock,’ Mai pointed.
I repeated the gesture. “Wait I see something over there,” I said loudly as I arched my head upwards as if trying to peer over the hills beyond. In my murlimp form, I was the tallest one present so I used it to pretend that I could see something everyone else couldn’t.
“It looks like there’s one more of them, but it’s running away,” I explained.
“I got it.” Wy-2 bolted out in the direction I pointed before anyone could react.
“Well what are you waiting for? Let us take a look,” said Izusa. Everyone followed.
It wasn’t long before Wy-2 yelled back. “I found it, another one of them.”
“Don’t kill it,” I suggested. “We still don’t know why it’s behaving differently compared to the others.”
“No problem. These things are so weak I’ll-.” Wy-2’s voice suddenly cut off. I passed through another line of dead trees and found the scene.
Wy-2 was on his back. A jagged dagger was plunged into his chest. It was a cruel reminder that as much as it felt like it, this world was not a video game. It wasn’t somewhere that an enemy had to bash you dozens of times before you were finally worn down and met your maker. It was a real world where the exact placement of blows mattered and one wrong move could mean death.
Standing over Wy-2 was what outwardly appeared to be a New Fallen man. His skin was white and from what parts of him I could see through his ragged clothing, he was extremely boney. It was only then I realized something strange. All the other New Fallen had been completely naked. When someone from my world died in Tautellus, they revived a week later with absolutely nothing, not even a video game character’s obligatory underwear. The New Fallen continued in that state because they were crazy and only had one thing on their minds. The fact that this one was wearing anything indicated that this New Fallen hadn’t entirely lost his mind.
Of course, there was another piece of evidence that proved this. This New Fallen had just stabbed Wy-2 in the chest with a dagger. New Fallen didn’t wield weapons and they didn’t know to target vital points. I suppose I should have realized these points first. But nudity trumps everything else. I blame the priorities of society and the brainwashing effects it has on us all.
I dropped my halberds and charged ahead, my massive murlimp stride carrying me faster than everyone else especially without the extra weight, allowing me to make it to
Wy-2 and the strange New Fallen first.
I grabbed the New Fallen in my fist. The second I touched it, the New Fallen started to shriek. Like me, the New Fallen had developed Low Temperature Resistance to withstand the cold. It didn’t provide any protection from the intense heat of my murlimp form.
I didn’t want to kill the New Fallen so I quickly tossed him to the ground. Then I reached down, overturned a few handfuls of dirt, and buried the New Fallen, leaving nothing but its head exposed.
It was about this time that everyone else caught up. Izusa immediately rushed to Wy-2’s side. Talia closely followed. Experts of the battlefield, all Othans also had rudimentary medical training. Talia knelt down beside Wy-2 and after a quick check for a pulse, shook her head.
“He’s already gone. Looks like the dagger took him straight in the heart. At least it was quick,” said Talia.
“Damn, you monster,” Wy-1 roared in anguish. He’d lost his home, his clan, and now his brother. Wy-1 charged towards the trapped New Fallen, levying his giant hammer towards the creatures exposed head.
It wasn’t surprising, was even forgivable, given the situation, but the whole process from the search for the final New Fallen, to its capture, to the proclamation of Wy-2’s death. No one was prepared. Wy-1 was a step ahead and no one was in a position to hold him back. Wy-1 raised his hammer over his head and started to bring it down.
“No please. Don’t send James back. Don’t kill James. Afraid turn… them.”
Ch. 22: Trouble
Thud.
Wy-1’s hammer smacked against the ground a few inches short of its original target. I’m not sure if the miss was because of what the New Fallen said or that it was capable of a relatively understandable outburst at all.
The Ice Lands Page 31