Looking over to the twins, Lustron made a personal vow. Seeing them clustered together, waiting for the worst twisted a knife into his heart. He decided he would sacrifice anything he could to protect his little siblings, even if it cost him his life.

For the first time, he raised his mother's Gauntlets and clenched his now armored fingers into fists.

Lustron met the creatures with a rage that could only have been born in him from hearing his family scream in terror. One of the beings had gotten its sharp appendage stuck in his wooden bed, its frame made with more durable materials than the house.

In the small opening given by this, Lustron decided to greet the uninvited guest. In a flash of a memory, he remembered something. There was a wandering drunk teacher who frequented the orphanage, he always greeted the children with lessons and affection. Taking a particular interest in Lustron, he taught him some fundamental fighting forms.

The monsters threw themselves at the pitiful home with reckless abandon. Their unorganized frenzy caused more harm than good toward their acquisition of food goals. They did not anticipate any resistance from the soft wooden material barring their path.

Just as the first creature poked its round head and bulbous eyes into the tiny hut.

It saw potential prey in the forms of three beings and snapped its mandibles together quickly in delight. It knew two of those creatures would be delicious; their screams were like music to its deformed ears.

It was in a different shell in a past raid, but it would never forget the taste of those smaller prey. Renewed by the sight, it dug its claws forward, meeting a hardwood blocking its path. It tries to pull its now stuck blades from the wood, but unexpectedly its vision went dark.

Placing his right foot down, Lustron stepped forward with the left and punched his gauntleted hand through the monster's head. The thin bones, or exoskeleton of the beast, caved in as if made of thin ice. The sickening crunch went ignored by Lustron as two angry red lines of pain formed on his lower bicep near where his Gauntlets gave way to scaled flesh.

Before he could draw his arm back, the remaining two humanoid insect looking monsters gave him several slashes as a parting gift. Holding in a scream of pain, Lustron pulled back. The movement was accompanied by a sickening wet flop. The creature's remains had left a bloody mess, but the damage seemed minimal, the majority of the blood, not his own color.

His scales and what he assumed increased durability and health must have been vital factors in mitigating the damage. His new orb and gemstone were already putting in work. The remains of the bug man he just splattered gave him a slight pause, but hearing the young ones behind him whimper drove away all hesitation.

As the monster flopped toward the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, the others fell upon it, soaking their mandibles with dark blue blood. Hope bloomed in his chest as he realized he might be able to last long enough until the guard came. That hope then withered as one of the creatures screeched, alerting several others that had been slicing unsuccessfully at the large Institute gate.

The slight damages they managed to cut into the steel, or stone repairing immediately caused endless frustration to the horde of monsters.

Seeing fresh food in the form of a downed ally, and the struggle their companions were putting into entering one of the shelters attracted a large portion of them. Ten of the cursed monsters made their way over.

Lustron estimated their number based on what he could see through the spaces in the walls. He felt his heart leap into his throat.

Sparing a glance back at the twins, he could see they had shut their eyes and hugged each other. They all knew what happened to those left outside the gates when monsters came.

Revisiting his vow, Lustron would not dare give in. Even if it meant resigning to death, he would not let these creatures touch a hair on the children's heads. He felt unnaturally calm. For some reason, this battle did not feel like it was his first.

[Protect.]

Lustron felt something the size and density of a mountain brush against his mind. Whatever this entity was, it was beyond him.

Even while trying not to get distracted, he could not help but feel the immense presence that accompanied the voice. Gran had told the children nothing of mind orbs, but deep down, he knew this was related, and the being was aligned with his goal.

A thin line of fiery pain cut deep into his arm, forcing his attention back to the present.

Throwing punches at the two creatures, he clipped another in the jaw. As it fell, a large group approached and ripped it apart. Lustron almost appreciated more of them coming, because now they were tripping over themselves even more. They seemed to be simple-minded, ruled by their bloodthirst. If he could keep them coming directly at his arms, they would not be able to make it through his bed frame, and he would buy enough time.

Crowding and pushing greedily toward the entrance, the creatures hindered themselves, still slightly in their unorganized onslaught. As they became frustrated, they slashed and ripped at one another. Occasionally this infighting led to a fatal strike and caused a feeding frenzy that gave more precious time.

Lustron had the hints of a smile forming on his face, but that joy was short-lived. A crack rippled through the air, and the creatures stood up straight. Spreading out around the cabin, they seemed to lose their bloodlust and gain twisted teamwork.

To Lustron's horror, they realized their bladed hands could cut through the walls more efficiently than the bed blocking the entrance.

Initially, he prayed that the beasts might continue their self imposed bottleneck.

The cloth entrance now blocked by his hardwood bed had served its purpose for the time being, but now half of them went to either side, ignoring it altogether.

Giving up his post at the entrance, he guided the children back closer to the wall.

Their hut was built with its rear touching the kingdom walls, but the sides lacked that protection. Lustron could hear the creatures rushing into the sheds on either side of their own.

As elongated scythe-like arms slashed into the walls, Lustron did his best to beat them back and spare the barriers some integrity, but he fought a losing battle.

Pockets opened up as the creatures redoubled their efforts, knowing they were getting closer to their meal. One overpowered slash tore through a panel of wood and sunk directly into his shoulder. Adrenaline took the reigns, and he felt little pain though the blade sunk in deep. What felt like a cup of blood poured down his side out of the wound.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the weapon with his opposite hand and snapped the blade clean off of the creature. It pulled what was left of its mutilated body part out with a screech and reformed an edge. T

he Kobold man felt his stomach flip as the blade piece he was holding turned into a deformed finger.

Lustron was overwhelmed with fear, not for himself. Striking out quickly to keep back the deadly sharp attachments.

Each time he beat back one, he was given several cuts in return. Everything he did was not enough to stop their furious charge.

The horde of creatures managed to break open a hole large enough to fit through. One of them began to crawl into it as Lustron rained punches down on it, flattening its corpse to the ground with one final stomp. The monsters gained back some of their blood lust as they pulled the creature back out, and feasted on it.

Nala gathered her courage to try and calm down her brother. She decided to try and help.

Her small fingers wrapped around the only decoration they had, a painting she had made with her brother as a gift for Lustron. As she pulled it away from its hanging place, she swung it wildly at the next monster coming through.

As she did so, her foot slipped on the ever-growing pool of Lustron's blood and fell forward toward the edge of a scythe. Just as the blade cut into her, she screamed in pain as it ripped across her arm.

Lustron, hearing the wail of pain, nearly lost his sanity at the sight of his sister bleeding. Grabbing her and thrusting her back toward her brother, one of the creatures reached through and slashed him down his exposed back.

The creatures began to all reach in and take what they could of the flesh on his back and sides, but he just stared into his siblings' eyes, ignoring the pain.

The Kobold man forced himself not to wince, or react as the younger ones ran their eyes over his face.

"Everything is going to be okay," Lustron told them. His voice was soft but firm, attempting to convince them as much as himself. They both give him a nod as he looks at his sister's wound.

A blind fury warped all of Lustron's being as he turned to the creatures. With a grand sweep of his arm, he tossed two of the bug men backward through the hole they had widened.

His forehead begins to glow a delicate grey as he felt a connection from it to something inside of his chest. Power built inside of him.

Lustron filled his lungs and roared at the throng.

Feeling a resonance between his power and the metal in their bladed arms, he pushed them away with every ounce of strength.

A consciousness again brushed up against his own.

The orb on his head made his own thoughts, and existence seem comparable to how a grain of sand might feel next to a boulder.

As their emotions linked up, Lustron could tell the ancient being resting inside his orb was the same as them. Its aged mind pulsed strength, adding courage into his own. They were a shield. Meant to stand in between those who could not guard themselves.

The rage in the voice betrays the meaning of the word it says.

[PROTECT.]

Arete was working his regular post on the wall, when he saw signs of a monster horde approaching. With calm professionalism, he rang the alert bells, soon joined by the other guards spread out along the walls at their posts. The eyes of the rampart would join them, and they would shoot down the monsters. Unless they were the volatile type, their stone barricades had no chance of falling, either way, any sign of explosive mana just meant he rang a different bell.

As much as it bothered Arete, the monsters usually spent most of their time ripping apart the slums. His only grey gemstone in his right hand stood as a testament that he was in no position to make any changes. Though he did have plans for someday changing a lot of things.

Starting their sweep at the mountainside opposite of the slums, the Guards teamed up with the archers to do a slow sweep across the wall. The vast lake head that side of the kingdom was more important in the eyes of the royals than the lives of children.

The two factions of guards, the repair squad, and the snipers from above were a constant team.

A quarter of the way through the sweep, they were moving at a good pace. There were only stragglers spread out along the walls, and they fell quickly enough to a few well-placed arrows from the Red mana wielding snipers.

As he reinforced the stone wall below him, Arete was beginning to get nervous. It was as if they wanted the slums to be flattened. He watched the bulk of the monsters rush there immediately at the start of his bells. As he contemplated disobeying orders and heading there right now, a roar echoed over the kingdom. Even the walls looked as if they bent slightly away from the quadrant next to the slums.

Arete's fear ruled thoughts first went to a dragon attack, but he dismissed that foolishness quickly. His superior rushed over, his cheeks plump and red from a lifestyle containing an abundance of food and drink.

"Arete you fool. If there were explosive types, you should have rung the proper signal!" The wall captain chastised him. Arete would have rung that pattern if that was the case, but he knew better than to speak back to a superior. He would stay quiet until he could be in a position he would be able to fix this mess of a kingdom.

Feeling power rush through him, Lustron was consumed by the thoughts of protecting his family and his failure to do so, seeing his sister hurt.

After he screamed, he felt something click internally. With the feeling, he heard some sort of ping noise as if someone dropped a blade onto granite flooring.

The entity inside his mind orb shared his fear and rage, pushing him beyond what he would normally be capable of. As if guiding him, the being told him to push.

With all of his might, Lustron forced his power out.

His gauntlets responded in kind.

The metal wrapped around his arms flew up and clicked into place around his fists. His scaled and heavily muscled forearms were now exposed to the air, and his fists were each surrounded with two circular masses of metal resembling small round shields.

A wave of dust blew out in a perfect circle surrounding Lustron and his siblings as they watched in wonder. Very briefly, he felt a connection with the ground and even the Kingdom wall as his forehead lit up with the glow of grey mana, but that disappeared shortly after his drive.

For a brief moment, the creatures were frozen by the volume and force of Lustron's Roar. Staring down the dozen creatures, Lustron let out a deep growl as the dust settled.

"Well come on then," He said in a dark tone.

The creatures renewed their frenzy.

Lustron was much more capable of fending off the creatures with his new shields. He could pull them back down to the gauntlet form, and throw punches at the monsters.

Unfortunately, he was still only one inexperienced fighter versus close to ten of the raving beings.

When he would strike forward with the gauntlets in shield mode, the damage was minimal, something felt wrong. Likely due to lacking the required skillset needed for shield bashing. Though the destruction was minimal, the precious moments gained by the creatures being blown back several paces with each bash was not.

As they began to carve other holes in the wall, he could only watch with trepidation as they began to move around the sides and break through. For what felt like hours, he was able to beat them back, his arms had long gone numb from his repeated punches, and the monster's impact on his shields. A headache began to build deep behind his eyes as he activated and retracted his armored gloves repeatedly.

Not having surrender as an option, he fought.

Lustron did not give an inch to the monsters, his blood now painted both the floors and sharp arms of the creatures. Even as his breath grew ragged and his vision became spotty, he would not yield.

His siblings begged him to run and leave them. They knew he was close to death as well as he did. Just as he thought, the creatures might take him as down a cracking sound ripped through the air.

The temperature dropped, and Lustron noticed he was able to see his breath. "Gods no!" he quietly swore as he dove back and pushed the kids flat to the ground.

The bug-eyed creatures turned to see the source of the ice magic and were tossed aside by a crystalline whip. Most of them torn completely in half as the sharp razor weapon sliced through the air and sliced the entire top half of the hut to pieces.

Lustron could only watch as the laughing creature stepped before him.

The man was covered in his own blood. His veins were filled with the slushy ice of fear almost as real as the waves of cold coming from the frozen fiend in front of him. The feeling matched his numb arms as they hung helplessly exhausted at his sides.

Gran watched in horror as the monsters swarmed the hut. This was not the first time she had lost children, but Lustron had always held a special place in her heart. She kept her scarred face toward the scene, refusing to shy away from her failure to protect them.

To her surprise, something seemed to be holding the creatures at bay. "He must have used what his mother left him," Gran said in a hopeful tone to Gramp, who was having one of his light seizures next to her.

If he did not have an episode, he might have been able to run out and save the kids. This is part of his curse as a siphon. As she felt her headache grow, she knew neither of them could stand up to these creatures. Not anymore.

Gran allowed a small flow of hope to bloom in her chest. She had hoped Lustron would open his inheritance, but she was not sure if even that would be enough.

"Where the hell is that guard!" She screamed the noise washing right over her incapacitated husband. The noise of her shout was even louder than the monsters throwing themselves at the gate. Her eyes flew toward the wall, only to see not even one guard.

All of her hopes were washed away when she saw the boss monster approach and cut the monsters and anything higher than a few feet apart. As if given orders, the raging beasts stopped attacking her gate. Rushing to form a semi-circle on the boss creature only confirmed to Gran that this was a fiend.

A mutation that caused a creature to be a boss with three types of mana and the ability to be a commander of monsters.

The remnants of the hut sliced to dust in the flurry of whip strikes. Gran looked down in tears at the cabin but was overjoyed to see Lustron stand up from the wreckage and shove the twins behind him. Bravely squaring off to fight the boss. Though she knew if the guard did not arrive, he had no chance.

It took everything Lustron had to push his torn up body to his feet, blood continuing to pool on the ground below him, Quickly ushering the twins behind him he raised his shaking hands and shields before him. His eyes defiantly stared the boss down.

He heard Gran shouting something in the distance, but it was warbled in his low health state.

"Accept your class," Grans shouted, finally got the message across.

Remembering something from one of grans lessons, Lustron absently said accept and thought about his interface.

He hadn't accessed his screen in ages. Usually, it had been just a blank partition.

The last time he had seen it was when he had his sockets carved.

Congratulations! Tank class accepted. Benefits of the class applied.

Lustron couldn't be sure, but he felt what he could only describe as his health and durability double.

The scales that layed over his flesh now felt harder than armor, and he went from being lightheaded to feeling as he did at the start of the fight with the mantis creatures.

Pain rocked through him as he felt his joints begin to lock up.

Warning. Stat requirements not met. Durability has breached Centurion. Strength is not at 50.

Severe damage is likely.

The monster stopped laughing and quirked its head to the side. It raised its whip-like arm and smiled maliciously.

In the brief second he had, Lustron made a decision. He turned around and forced his limbs to move. Literally creaking with the strain, he wrapped the twins in a hug. The mass of his body completely covered them.

Pointing one of his shields backward, his knuckles faced the creature in one last act of defiance, he kept the other near the kids. With the movement, he felt something crack, but he held the position as his body hardened into place still as a statue.

The creature began laughing as it unleashed a torrent of whip strikes. Although his shields blocked the front and back, there was still plenty of exposed flesh for the spiked whips to bite into. The result was the fiend painting the Kingdom wall and everything surrounding the three victims with Lustron's blood.

At the sight of the monster attacking, Gran held her vow to not turn away. Even as tears filled her eyes, she watched as the boss monster laid into Lustron's back.

What felt like hours later, the Guard finally appeared. They rained arrows down and made quick work of the lesser monsters. After a few volleys, the boss monster fled into the jungle it came from, calling the remaining shapeshifters with it.

Hopping from the second floor despite the protest of her old knees and, flinging the metal doors open at the first sign of safety, Gran ran with reckless abandon toward the three orphans. Begging the gods to not be late, she whipped a criminally expensive healing potion out of her inventory.

The amount of blood left by the whipping of the Icy fiend would have made most pass out from the sight of it. A metallic smell assaulted the woman on her approach. The children were screaming and crying while holding on to Lustron's hand. He heaved out massive death rattled breaths.

He was using all of his remaining energy to smile at the children. Between ragged breaths and coughing up blood, he was whispering the same four words to them. "It will be okay."

Gran pushed them aside with her small, but thick arms, and pried his jaw open. She then thrust the potion past his sharp teeth, and down his throat.

She knew that he needed to allocate his stats or face dire consequences, but he needed to live for that to be necessary. She prayed that he would survive, she needed him to survive. He had just gained a class, and if he lived, he could become a real adventurer. Perhaps he would have a chance at actually changing this shitty kingdom.