Sion’s face was immediately guarded, not trusting the grin on Richter’s face, “What is it?”
Richter chuckled slightly, then immediately felt bad as he caught sight of the bodies of his dead guards. He had successfully distracted himself from that reality for a moment, but seeing the mist workers carrying the remains of his fallen soldiers sobered him. Sion’s face became inquisitive. Richter shook his head, “I’m fine, my friend.” He forced a weak smile back onto his face. “You have earned this. Thank you for fighting by my side.”
The chaos seed wasn’t sure exactly how to give the field advancement so he just reached out a hand and laid it on the sprite’s shoulder, hoping for the best. He wasn’t disappointed.
Greetings War Leader! Do you wish to bestow the Field Advancement: Bathe in Black Blood I on your Companion Sion? Yes or No?
Pleased that it was so easy, Richter mentally selected, “Yes.”
Sion’s eyes widened in surprise, then his old, vicious smile came on his face. “Thank you my friend. I will put this to good use very soon.”
Richter looked at the bodies again, “I think you will get a chance soon enough.” He started walking towards Caulder to hand out the other promotion, but one of the party’s forward scouts started screaming.
CHAPTER 6 – Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
The entire war party surged forward. Luckily, Caulder had had the presence of mind to order three of the fighters to guard their rear. Richter took a moment and silently thanked his lucky stars for being blessed with such a competent sergeant, and then he focused on sprinting towards the screams. They had been traveling through a small dell that ended in a steep hill. The forward scout had already climbed out and so Richter had no idea what was happening. The screams continued though, so he pushed himself to move as fast as possible. When the chaos seed finally crested the slope of the hill, what he saw made him cry out in anger.
A grey thing had caught ahold of his guard. It was five and a half feet tall and roughly humanoid in shape. The creature was skinless and was comprised of grey muscle that stood out like tightly wound wire. Each elongated arm ended in three six-inch claws. Two of those claws were currently embedded in the shoulder of his screaming elf guard.
The man had been forced to his knees by the monster. While being impaled by the claws must have been horribly painful, that was not what causing the elf to scream in agony and horror. The creature lacked a head. Instead, a vertical mouth was in the center of its abdomen. Long, sharp teeth lined both sides of the orifice, and it was in the process of feeding the guard’s non-impaled arm into its maw. The orifice closed and Richter heard the crunch of shattering bone.
The chaos seed’s shout did nothing to distract the monster from its meal, but the guard looked over pleadingly at his liege. The elf’s screams didn’t stop. The pain and horror of being eaten alive competed to shatter the man’s mind, but enough of him remained that his eyes beseeched his lord for aid. Richter sped up and drew his blade, letting that be his answer. Help had come.
Still twenty feet away, he cocked one arm back and threw his Elementum Short Sword of Freezing overhand at the monster. As the blade flew end over end towards the grotesque thing, he used Analyze.
Name: Lugash Disposition: Hatred
A Lugash is a fiendish undead known for its horrible hunger and massive strength. These creatures possess an all-consuming hatred for the living matched only by their insatiable need to consume. Its thick skin is resistant to damage from baser metals.
Level: 14
Health: 420 Mana: 80 Stamina: 360
Strength: 34
Agility: 24
Dexterity: 23
Constitution: 42
Endurance: 36
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 2
Luck: 11
Richter’s blade flew true. The edge of clear green elementum of the blade struck the lugash in the side, sinking in. Unfortunately, the enchantment didn’t trigger, but the creature was still wounded. The mouth in the monster’s abdomen opened in a blood curdling scream and it turned quickly towards its attacker. Yanking its arm free of the guard’s shoulder, the elf’s other arm fell out of its mouth. The elf fell to the ground weeping and cradling his mangled hand. The monster knocked the blade free of its side and a black ichor began to ooze from the wound. The undead gave a shrill screech of defiance and rushed at Richter, claws outstretched.
Richter drew his other blade, but didn’t rush to meet it. He heard more of the distinctive screeches behind him. Praying that his people’s enchanted weapons were up to the task of killing the creatures, he cast Weak Life Aura on himself and ordered his shale adder to attack one of the monsters behind him. A golden glow sprung into life around him. The battle was joined! The lugash swiped at him with one hand, its claws blurring in the air. The speed of the monster was frightening. Or it would have been, if Richter wasn’t faster still.
The chaos seed raised his Sonic Elementum Short Sword. With all of the attack speed afforded by his thirty-eight points of Dexterity, coupled with the 24% boost to attack speed from his twelve skill levels in Small Blades, Richter swung his green blade. The weapons whistled while it cut the air. His sword met the claws of the monster, stopping the attack cold. It shrieked when the green blade scored deeply against its talons. The reinforced nails were too strong for him to cut all the way through, but Richter was still able to push the claw back.
Without even seeing the monster’s second attack, Richter immediately swung his sword in a backhand to block the other claw he knew had to be coming. His daily training paid off. While he was blocking the first two strikes with his blade, his free hand twisted into a spell form, and he shouted, “IGNI!”
A gout of orange-yellow flame shot from his hand. Richter aimed it at the monster’s yawning maw. The damage from the low level spell was not enough to take off an appreciable amount of the creature’s health, but the lugash shared the near universal aversion that all undead had for fire. It reared back, screaming. Richter pressed his attack.