Memory # 7,776,012

Entity. Calm. Entity. Safe.

Sometimes fear.

Mostly Safe.

Noise attracts other entities.

Other entity provide... Safe, feeling.

Other entity. Provide food. Comfort.

Food provider entity is current priority. Must stay close. Most familiar smell, warmth, noise.

Entity... hears noises from bigger-familiar-safe-other-entity... Memory..exhausting..process. Soon must rest.

But first...

Food.

...

..

.

"Hey treasured Team, hey beautiful and respected babe, I'm home!" I sheepishly called out as I entered our... hmm still feels a bit awkward calling it our house.. We were still living with little Lyra, Erza and Sylvie, but since the rapid fall of civilisation, we had formed a close bond.

Our survival depends on one another, after all.

"Hmph! don't try to to sweet talk us after your little stunt mister! We want a full debrief A.S.A.P! Kitchen please! Maybe we'll spare a few scraps of dinner."

Shit. Speaking of survival...

Marri's stern voice was pitched slightly higher, and I faintly heard Lyra giggling like a little witch, practically cackling!!

All coming from the kitchen.

"Uuuuuuuff..." I sighed quietly, closing my eyes and blowing air out between my lips; mentally preparing for the grilling I was clearly about to receive.

"Okay dear! Be there in a moment!" I smiled a defeated smile to myself; she hates being called dear. Probably shouldn't have poked the angry dragon, though... oh well. I'll never go down without a fight.

More stiffled giggles and... was that Sylvie snorting?!

I'd already eaten a single meal in the past several days; it's actually weirder to think back to times where I'd need 2-3 meals a day, but I always felt a larger pang of hunger when I was ready to grow in strength. Notably, others had reported the same thing, so it was clear that nourishment was needed when levelling.

And right now I'm feeling rather ravenous.

I put my pack on the hook in the hallway and slinked into the deliciously smelling kitchen like a timid cat.

Inside was Sylvie, Lyra, Erza and... Marri, with the most terrible fake frowny face; there was real concern and worry hidden behind it however, making my insides twang with guilt.

As I locked eyes with hers, my face fell into a woeful, apologetic expression.

"Okay before we start, can I just say I'm sorry for making rash decisions but being honest... it's all Catara's fault."

A muslin cloth flashed faster than light itself, through the air and hit me directly in the face.

"Ugh! I've been hit! causing severe fractures to my skull and attacking my energy, health and Majik! I cannot continue on, farewell o'cruel world!" I died. Falling onto the floor, clutching at a giggling, squealing Lyra.

"You must save yourself young child!! Run!"

Sadly, my play-dead tactics failed and after a quick bite to eat, oh my word tinned curry, what a luxury!! I started detailing out what happened but spared any gory details until Lyra went off to go play in the living room.

Starting from the beginning, I talked about the journey through the forest and our encounters with the mutated fauna, going into detail about the seemingly non-hostile Ex-Squirrels, or Scrats, a name I came up with on the fly. Detailing the encounter with Terin and his story; they gasped in horror at the poor lads terrible experiences revolving around his family being enslaved and then their escape and ultimate sad demise.

Covering the remainder of the story, ensuring I didn't get explicit, I simply explained about the task and that the gang had been inflicting the most disgusting and vile abuse onto others.

Curses rolled around the table at the inhuman acts that had been occurring barely 30 minutes away from our community.

My throat went a bit sticky as I reached the part where the freed captives had mobbed Ivil. The imagery of people so young acting so violent and brutal, was still uncomfortable.

Even after I'd witnessed intense gore from my own hands multiple times.

After Ivil had been reduced to a mess of gushing wounds and broken bones, the slightly sickly red looking EXP had started to form around his corpse.

The group at that point had been panting; some were quietly sobbing, either in manic joy or trauma. But I had made it very clear to them that it was a huge risk to take, and we immediately made a move, grabbing as many supplies as people could carry.

Our journey back was swift, with a few Notpidgy's being spotted but otherwise steering clear of our large group. On the way, Ven had let me know that everyone had completed the task and had been rewarded with a significant amount of EXP, along with a very surprising bonus of the [Nullify_EXP_Corruption I] skill.

When we made it back to the gates, we'd been let in and Catara said she'd lead everyone to the infirmary area where people would get checked and that it was my job to report this to the 'Grown-Ups'.

On cue Marri smirked at me knowingly and I quietly groaned.

My wife was considered one of those grown-ups. Which is funny, since I know her childish side... and she knew that was what I was thinking and revelled in it.

But they had created a truly impressive team with the community, and they had worked miracles, turning this new build estate into something that was resembling a proper safe zone.

The usual scoldings and cautions about my reckless actions followed. But it was short-lived, ending with warm-hearted words of praise and pats on the back for doing the right thing.

Lyra pulled me aside after our kitchen meeting was adjourned, the nods from Sylvie and a somewhat subtle look of worry on Marri's face didn't go unnoticed. But in the end, she just wanted to check on my psyche after I had... well, put simply, murdered other people.

"Being completely honest, I do feel shame." I told her. "Shame that they didn't use their abilities for the better and shame that I chose to commit such violence..but I don't feel guilt. There's no excuse to target children like they did. They had tons of food and were relatively secure and they chose to abuse others that were weaker than them." Partly a white lie, of course. I did feel sick in the pit of my stomach when I thought back to snuffing out a person's life with my own hands, their shocked glazed eyes, their screams, and then silence.

But all I had to do was imagine if Marri and Lone had been captured, and my rage simply vapourised any other feelings.

Erza gazed at me studiously, almost like she was searching my soul before her face softened into a smile.

"That is a big relief to hear but please do come to me if you want to talk. I know you have your dear lovely wife Marri, but we tend to shield the ones we love the most from our burdens..." she paused for a moment, and I couldn't help but think back to when she was trapped in the hospital.

Surrounded by infant eating monsters.

Trying to protect little Lyra.

Not knowing if her close sister Sylvie, who is Lyra's MUM, was dead or alive.

For Several Days.

With no skills or weapons.

Not sure if they teach counselling methods to deal with that kind of bullshit, but she's a good soul, this one.

"I also happen to be trained in counseling so there are methods that can help should you need them." she patted me on the arm and I pulled her into a quick bear hug.

"uhh-oh oof. Uhhff right. Yup! Okay. That'll do you big softy! urrk!" I grinned as I released her from my squeeze.

The rest of the evening went in the same usual routine we'd gotten into the past few weeks. Talking about future plans, spending time with Lone and Marri, taking a walk around the green area, meeting up with Steve in the makeshift Tavern to discuss various 'physics' of this new world, and then finally the part I always looked forward to...

Bedtime.

Amusingly, I still slept on the landing, guarding the girls that all slept on the top floor in the same room. Partly because it had become a sort of tradition, but also because it felt safer, like I was guarding the entrance to a cave in the stone age.

Marri had pressed that she really wanted to make sure I got the best quality of sleep; she could handle being sleep deprived if Lone was having a fussy night, but if I was sleep deprived, it could be the difference between life and death outside the walls.

My hearing could pick up the soul soothing voices telling bedtime stories and the very faint cooing of Lone falling asleep coming from above, reminding me that even in the landscape of horror and nightmares, we were managing to survive.

A smile crept onto my face as I slipped into the sweet endless black...

...

...

Hmmmhmhmhmhmm iiiiiii-caaaaan't-telllllllll-youuuuu-whhyyyyy-

After an unknown amount of time, I could hear a heavenly voice humming and singing, getting louder and clearer.

All-I-know-is-that-I-know I. feel. it .deep. inside.

I couldn't shake this even-if-I-tried.

It was Her.

iiiiiii-caaaaan't-telllllllll-youuuuu-howw-

Shivered into existence, I emerged at my Garden of Growth entrance area and smiled at the sight. She was jumping on the galaxy bed singing and dancing to a song that was... hmm familiar but I can't remember from where... Not wanting to disturb, I plopped my ethereal butt down onto my custom thought-designed floating-sun-lounger and felt my mind relax as I let the divine melodies and sounds massage my very soul.

Some-thing's-tellllling-me that if-we'd-walk-away right-now.

We-may nevvvver-know what luuurrvvve is-allllll-aaabout.

GODU!!

She jumped off the bed and blinked out of existence, shortly appearing above me and ending with her crash landing onto me.

TEEHEEEEEE! WEEE!

"Woaa Gaaah!! OOF!"

She gave me an intense cuddle, humming happily as she landed a massive peck on my cheek.

Jeez, you're rather excited tonight!

Oh-hoh! Wait until you see what I've got in STORE for you tonight! O' brave, strong and dashingly handsome hero!

With a wink she popped out of existence again with a sparkle of pink and gold lights. She reappeared next to the maelstrom and waved me over.

Oooo wait! wait! You gotta' practise your jumps! We completely forgot to do it the other night!

Ahh right, okay, urm... I focused on the spot next to Her and imagined an imaginary me standing in the spot where I wanted to be.

Virtual! that cracks me up considering I'm already in a dream.

Foooocuus!

Ah right sorry! sorry...

Continuing, I visualised myself pulling my other virtual self rapidly towards me but with the caveat that it was rooted in place; so the consequence was that the space between us would have to fold and shrink until all I had to do was step forward, and...

*KssshhhhhHHHHHHHWMMMM*

With a completely simulated air rushing noise, I warped myself forward!

Even though it prob' would have been quicker to walk.. Bah! minor details! I still did it!

A gleeful giggle and a round of light applause showered upon me.

Amazing! you're getting soooo good at this now! Oh I cannot wait until you gain access to that ability!

Extremely pleased with myself, even though yeah, sure, it was in a dreamspace, I thought back to some of the things that had occurred in the past few months.

Skipping the literal nightmares, fighting and scavenging, I had barely rested, in the truest sense. I would devote huge amounts of my sleeping time to training and trying out new things.

An insatiable desire to learn and a neverending curiosity to learn about the world and how it works meant that we had figured out a few pretty cool things.

Firstly, Majik wasn't limited to being some kind of energy or power, it could process things, it could create and destroy, it could be used as sensors, it could be used to communicate, it could even store information.

In a way, it was programmable energy and it was a bit confusing, but EXP was the stem-cell like state of Majik but based on our experienced the two states could be traversed multiple times. EXP could become Majik and Majik could become EXP.

So we explored this and started testing ideas; Hers being more focused on what secrets she could uncover, and mine were more focused on what degree of control I had over the Garden and ultimately, my own progression.

We found out that she could peek at fragmented information about abilities that I was not yet able to access, an absolutely stunning revelation, which is what uncovered the theory for Majik or EXP storing information, since she could perceive this information. Fragments of it were found in each tiny piece of EXP.

We pretty much assumed that Majik could process information since it could be used to heal and rather than give everyone cancerous tumours, it healed with beyond surgical precision, ergo, it must be analysing damaged cells and collectively communicating to achieve a goal.

Sure. It could just be plain sorcery; but in order for there to be order, there must be laws. And laws have rules that must be followed.

Even sorcery needs information and knowledge to function; else it would just be chaos and dissonance.

The grand finale, the ultimate victory from all this discovery and theory crafting was that... cue epic music... I could practise using skills in the Garden that I didn't have access to yet, which brought them closer to being unlocked, significantly.

I'd found an exploit.

Sort of.

Currently the information that we could get was very fragmented.

Like whispers and flashes of the previous all-nighter, cramming before you had an exam.

We could currently get fragments of the title, the rank of the skill and snippets about what the skill did, but nothing about what MAGN level it would be available or other details.

It wasn't strictly confirmed... yet. And maybe it we were wasting our time... but it was on our list of things to observe. Along with 100 other things.

Come on hero! I can sense something completely new and exotic! Take a look!

Smirking at that comment, I touched the maelstrom; my progression materialised, and...

GODUYNE

STRY.KYR - MAGN.22.508

HP 273 / 275

MP 286 / 297

EP 100%

DS 100%

SWRD 25

SHLD 24

FTHR 29

GLYP 30

12 Attribute Points Available.

12 Skill Points Available.

Shitting hell! That's a big jump! A few tweaks to the script I see.

But an increase from 15 -> 22 from a single day? The rewards for completing tasks were clearly not to be waved off.

Tap, tap and tap. I quickly made my choices based on simple instincts. I want to be faster whilst keeping my Majik potential at its highest.

SWRD 25

SHLD 25

FTHR 35

GLYP 35

There was a sharp burst of feel-good sensations before a titantic wall of agony washed through my body, slapping the grin off my face. I'd grown used to pain over the past few months, so it was bearable, only falling to my hands and knees, cursing into the ground instead of curling up into a whimpering ball of sobs. Impossible to describe, the closest thing to what it felt like was if you

After an unknown amount of time weathering the storm of pain, I got back to my feet with a groan and didn't delay any further, pressing my hand against the maelstrom to upgrade my skills. My mind felt fuzzy and exhaustion was weighing very heavy on me. I desperately needed actual rest.

Evolution pending.

I Pecho Tech -> II ANALYSE

A sliver of my mind noticed that Her presence had suddenly vanished.

II ANALYSE

Let's be honest: nobody reads these and nobody cares about the Science behind Majik..boring!

You look. You Analyse. You learn stuff.

ENJOY.

Passive. Affects: Objects, Entities and abilities within range.

New Skill unlocked.

I NEC

Grants immunity to EXP dissidence caused by killing and absorbing EXP from same species type. Negative Karma gains and social consequences still apply.

..

.

II Shoulder Rush -> III Shoulder Rush

[3] KE is infused with MJK to guarantee stun. Successful hits will return 99% of energy and MJK cost.

II SMDS - Majiglyph -> III SMDS - Majiglyph

[3] Greatly increases speed and defence. Basic Shield reconfiguration options (SRO) unlocked.

II OMDC -> III OMDC

[6] (3+3) Nervous System (NS) long latency reduced by maximum amount. Near zero-latency reaction speeds.

II ANALYSE -> III ANALYSE

[50] Vastly expands data retrievable.

I NEC -> II -> III NEC

[5] You can share this skill with others. Note: They will need to expend SP to enable. Skill will be Tier I. Choose wisely.

New EXP Well [1]

New Slave Brand [1]

New Blade Data [1]

New Phase Dash [1]

New Crossbow Data [1]

New Slipfold [1]

If I wasn't so close to passing out, I would have remarked at the sassy note of the analyse skill, AND the insane cost of upgrading it.

But I was mentally shutting down fast, so I just grunted and focused on the new skills to decide if I wanted to unlock any.

EXP Well - Create and place a maximum of [1] ambient EXP collection devices, from which you can retrieve collected EXP from.

Slave Brand - Place a mark on a willing entity to gain overriding authority over their body. If they disobey, they will pay.

Blade Data - The first step in mastering blade weapons.

Phase Dash - Rapid movement skill.

Projectile Data - The first step in mastering projectile weapons.

Slipfold - Place a spatial anchor marker down. Use case: Paired Extent Collapse..aka..Slipfolding. CAUTION. UNATHORIZED ACCESS ELEVATION. EXPECTED: MAGN.80. RECIEVED: MAGN.22. CAUTION. UNSTABLE.

I was practically drunk at this point as the sensible tiny voice in the back of my mind that had been screaming at me to take careful measured choices, finally got snuffed out.

Groggily, I squinted at Slipfold and somewhat defiantly selected it.

I Slipfold [1]

"No ffffuckers guna tell me what axxxxiisss' I can authoooriiisingly ele-eleevi-elevvinginate." Why are my words slurred? Who's spiked my drink!

I slapped a few more tablets, ones that looked pretty. I didn't care what they did really, big buttons are...fun to...press..

I Phase Dash [1]

I EXP Well [1]

III SMDS [3]

III Shoulder Rush [3]

Dassit..I'm out..Peez-

Not caring that I hadn't finished using my points, everything went black.

...

..

.

My dreams were feverish and painful.

There were white padded walls and this incredibly slow darkness creeping into everything. My only option was for me to jump through the walls if I wanted to survive. Faceless people would come in and try to stop me and stab me with sharp things, telling me to cease my behaviour.

But I was no fool. I COULD jump through the wall. I MUST jump through the wall. I WILL jump through the wall.

Years went by of me just trying this same thing, each day, repeating the same process. Wake up, jump, stab, eat, sleep. All the while the black was creeping in more and more.

The final day came, where the black had crept until there was only a keyhole-sized point of light left, and yet I did not falter. I simply tried again and felt the wall stand aside, acknowledging my authority.

I'd done it. Finally! But the darkness was still there, shrinking even more rapidly.

What had I done wrong? that was supposed to save me!

....

Oh.

I think I understand...

My mistake..yes.

My final thought as everything went to black nothingness was..

I should have made the wall pass through me instead.

...

..

.

I bolted upright with a gasp as a distant high pitched scream pierced through the air. Fucking hell, that was a weird dream.

There was also a clanging like a bell... until I realised it was a bell.

The wall! It's the final warning! Somethings wrong!

The girls upstairs were thudding about and looking out the window; it was still dark, but the stars and moon were extremely bright, casting a white glow on everything.

"MARRI? GUYS? ARE YOU OK?" I shouted out, reaching the stairs way faster than I had expected. Woa-a, shit. Huge increase to speed. Need to be careful until I get used to that.

"GODU! YES ALL GOOD! GETTING DRESSED THEN WE'LL HEAD TO THE TUNNEL!" Marri called out.

Shit. Fuck. Okay. Stay calm. Get dressed. Then go see what's going on. I skipped back over and grabbed my gear and speedily threw it all on. My breastplate leather bandolier, my combat trousers, long sleeve shirt, gauntlets and my trainers.

The bell was basically the safe zones 5 minute warning. Either the walls were under heavy attack or something much worse was happening.

But either way, if the bell rang, people were to head to the escape tunnel that led out to the road, and from there... well. We weren't really sure where to go.

"I'M GOING TO GO SEE HOW BAD IT IS! I'LL MEET YOU ALL THERE!" I called out.

"PLEASE BE CAREFUL! PLEASE!" Marri's voice was full of fear, but this was life now. The community had agreed that those able to defend it would do so in this kind of emergency.

I didn't try to think about what would happen if I died.. I just wouldn't allow that to happen.

But I had to look out for others as our best chance was to stick together. To Fight together. So that we wouldn't die alone.

I made it down the stairs in 3 jumps and flew out the door.

Outside in the moonlight I could see people running around and I could hear screaming and shouting everywhere.

"What's going on!" I bellowed at people as I ran past, mainly the children and a few adults that were looking after them.

"I don't know!" "There's Monsters at the gate!" "I don't want to die!" "They're breaking through!" "There's too many!"

Their responses made my insides go cold, but I kept running and burst forward into a spring towards the gates.

It was less than 15 seconds more before I turned the corner to the main entrance road, and it was... bad. The road led straight to the gates, maybe 200 metres long, but as I turned the corner I could make out people on the ground being mauled by large human-sized insects.

What the fuck is that!

A twang of pain shot from my head and my vision went haywire, causing me to wince. But as quickly as it came it stopped, and as I looked up again, information started to flood into my void-like thought space.

Label: Organ Locust

MAGN: 25

HP : 258/270

MP: -

EP: Low

Notes: Mandibles on a human/Locust hybrid head. Carapace-armoured oval body. Four chitinous legs that end with 2 curved talons. Single wing on the back for short bursts of speed. Observations: energy capacity is low, weak in prolonged combat. Possible weak spot: large eyes, blunt trauma under chin.

They only appear to be eating organs.

Ugh! My head!

The flow of information was overwhelming, and it took me quite a lot of effort to ignore it as I burst towards the nearest Organ Locust with a noticeably faster and stronger shoulder charge. I experienced tunnel vision from the speed and as I connected, a very strong mist of azure slammed into the Locust and I could hear a sizzle as the tremendous friction heat generated charred the thing. A surge of blue and black pooled back up into me and I felt energized as if I hadn't used the skill, the skill upgrade!

The monster was forceably toppled onto its side and left twitching, off of the person it had been mutilating.

You hit Organ Locust with [III Shoulder Charge] for 68 damage and inflict stun for 3 seconds.

Label: Organ Locust

MAGN: 25

HP : 190/270

Label: Terry ??

MAGN: 11

HP : 10/150

MP: Average for level

EP: Average for level

Notes: Resident of safe zone. Critically wounded.

The guy was in terrible shape with a hole in his back... but he was still alive. Without thinking on it too much, I grabbed my tonic and poured some on his wound and rolling him over, I shoved some into his mouth. Even if it went into his lungs, it didn't matter.

Label: Terry ??

MAGN: 11

HP : 25/150 ++

MP: Average for level

EP: Average for level

Notes: Resident of safe zone. Recovering: approx 100 HP.

He was going to be okay.

Movement caught my attention and I snapped my head up to see the Locust swinging down towards my head with a red hued claw. Without thinking, I lurched my left arm up to defend, and the claw dug deep into my forearm, cutting straight into bone, causing me to roar in pain and anger. My body further reacted by itself and I rationally shoulder-charged, wrenching the claw out of my flesh and barging into the face of the Locust, slamming it into an ironwrought fence bending the bars heavily. Blue shimmer gracefully sailed through the air and faded into my chest.

You have been critically hit for 60 damage and have been inflicted with moderate bleeding.

You hit Organ Locust with [III Shoulder Charge] for 68 damage and inflict stun for 3 seconds. Resources returned.

Label: Organ Locust

MAGN: 25

HP : 120/270

Three seconds went by in a flash and the creature shook itself and screeched a challenge into my face. The screeching sent rage coursing through my mind and body, and I roared as I landed a heavy punch where its chin would be if it were a human.

You hit Organ Locust with [III OMDC] for 20 damage.

Label: Organ Locust

MAGN: 25

HP : 100/270

Its claw highlighted red, warning me of its intention to attack, and so I snapped back, dodging a vicious swipe past my face and retaliating by headbutting it right in its saucer-sized eye, rupturing it.

It squealed which drove me mad, I FUCKING HATE THAT NOISE! so I grabbed one of its claws and savagely slammed into the joint with a downward elbow, once, twice, and on the third it snapped off.

You hit Organ Locust with [III OMDC] combo for 10,15,50! damage! Mass Drain effect absorbs 50 HP! Moderate bleeding removed.

Label: Organ Locust

MAGN: 25

HP : 25/270

If it was squealing before, it was going apeshit now, so I rammed the claw up under its chin and felt zero resistance.

You hit Organ Locust with..[Organ Locust] for 270 damage. It has died.

The skill was giving me somewhat useful information, but fuck me, does it need to spam??!! My mind couldn't take much more, so I took a desperate moment to focus on the skill and, surprisingly I was rewarded with.. an understanding of how to handle the skill.

A few mental tweaks later made sure that only new or important items would be brought to my attention for now.

All this happened in the spam of a few seconds and I was already moving towards my next target.

It had its face half buried in the abdomen of a young teenager who was sadly dead, and it was making squelching noises, munching away as I stomped towards it and shoulder-charged, using my knee as the focal point. I struck its plated neck and it was flipped over, stunned before I ended it with several stomps and kicks into the red-hued chin and neck area, signalling it as a vulnerable area.

Up ahead I could now see torches and skills flashing off as more people were now joining the fight. There was now enough light to see the gate being raised just enough for dozens of those monsters to crawl under, only a few at a time but it was increasing rapidly, enough to overwhelm the 20 ish people I could see.

Hesitating, I weighed up if this was it, game over, but then I saw Steve Triya and Catara dive into the fight and my feet started moving by themselves.

I sprinted towards the breach, towards my friends.

Drill spear

Hammer crush

Break the wound

Healing touch

Core burst

AMP it up

Skills being used started pouring in as information, arghh!! I quickly focused and set it so only skills that were aimed at me or my current focus would be analysed.

"We need to get that pissing gate down!"

"Kill this fucker! Get it off me argghhhh!!"

"Get out of the way! Move! no!"

People were starting to panic, but my body's fight response was kicking into overdrive and my abilities started hurtling strategies and ideas into my head.

"STEVE! TRIYA! FOCUS ON MY TARGETS! WEAK SPOT UNDER THEIR CHIN! CATARA! STICK CLOSE AND WATCH MY BACK! I'M ON YOUR RIGHT" I bellowed out and shoulder charged into the side of one Organ Locust that was pinning down a guy with a sledgehammer. It was sent sprawling off and was stunned, and after two very long seconds I saw a rock tendril with a sharp tip stab under the chin, ichor gushed out as the creature died.

Steve hit Organ Locust with [III Golemic] for 270 damage. It has died.

"IT WORKS! MOVE! MOVE! AGAIN! ARGH! HELP!" Steve screeched, fear evident in his voice. He had a snake golem curled around his arm that he was using as a weapon, and it was whipping all over the place pushing back three Locust that had rushed him.

Shoulder charge! Shoulder charge! Shoulder charge!!

I chained three casts and stunned all three, crashing them into the floor. Xno burst past in a flash and bellowed out a synthetic chord as it pulsed a heavy shot point blank into one of the downed Locust.

[III Daemon - Xno] hit Organ Locust with [Heavy Config] for 270 damage. It has died.

Yes nice one!!! But I didn't have time to stand around and watch, because with a horrible grinding noise, the gate was forced further up, meaning more insects were flooding in.

Within seconds, I was surrounded and claws were slashing into my back, arms and legs.

"ARGH! AGHH! UGHH! FUCK THIS!"

The noise of metallic rain on glass sung in the air as my shields formed and spread out, violently, bashing back 4 Locust away from my sides and back.

"GET. THE. FUCK. OFF. ME!" With every word, I shoulder charged into a Locust and swiped at their heads with my shields. My shields were like vipers, snapping forward over and around my shoulders, mechanically piercing their eyes and brutally bashing heads.

A blue honeycomb wall blasted into the necks of several I'd just smacked down, followed by a feminine roar and Catara stomped into view.

Catara hit Organ Locust with [Fractal Shield] for 270 damage. It has died.

"SO! YOU COME HERE OFTEN PRETTY BOY?" She had an insane grin on her blood-stained face.

She's seriously got issues. For a spit second I just stood there, confusion plastered on my face, before I felt an aggressive urge to cause violence well up. I grinned back.

I've seriously got issues.

"IT AIN'T MY FIRST TIME THAT'S FOR SURE!" I yelled back and charged another, knocking it down and not even bothering to wait before charging into the next.

"PAHAHA!" Was all I heard as a few more thuds indicated some more deaths of the invaders.

Fear was being replaced with dangerous arrogance, but at this point I didn't care. If it's war these bastards want, then fucking war it shall be.

On that thought, a prone monster grabbed my leg, piercing my flesh, and proceeded to bite a chunk out of my calf, even scraping against bone. I screamed out curses and drove both Shields down, severing its head and triggering mass drain. Whimpering as it fully healed the damage.

The searing pain was insane, and it drove me into a new level of fury. Primitive instincts mingled with the bizarre Majik and abilities, sounds started to seem muffled and a simple action became my prime directive.

Brawl them all. Smash them all. Hit them all. Crush them ALL.

My breathing elevated to hyperventilation levels as I pulled my shields to my upper arms like pauldrons and with a roar I let loose, thrashing about the area with my shoulder charge, faster and faster, the most consecutive times I'd ever used it.

Charge, hit, screech, shut up. Charge, hit, screech, shut up! Charge, hit, screech, SHUT UP!! Charge, hit, screech, SHUT YOUR GODDAM SENSELESS NOISE UP!!!

I crashed into one and scrambled back up and crashed into another. I could hear voices and shouts behind me, telling me to come back, but I wasn't really listening and I was fed up anyways. So sick and tired of these monsters bullying and hurting others for no reason. I carved a path into the centre and from there I became a human ping pong ball, smashing around in a blur of azure blue, spraying black ichor and occasionally red blood. Any time I would receive a wound, my shields would slice or pincer a claw or gouge an eye out, apparently both satisfying the requirement for mass drain to take effect and healing me.

Time lost all meaning as my head reeled from the rapid movement, mixed in with shimmering EXP wisps sporadically splashing into my face and hands, things became even more discombobulating.

And yet, this tactic was working incredibly well. Bowling over the creatures and stunning them in quick succession meant that others could jump in and reap them like crops.

My body felt barely any exhaustion at first. The new skill upgrade, meant that energy used with shoulder charge was returned to me upon successful hits, but eventually my reserves started to dwindle as that 1% use started to buildup.

I don't know how long it had been, but my energy and mana were both running on fumes at around 3%. The sky started to brighten into a dark blue when I heard a booming crash and the creatures rapidly started to thin out.

Heaving one last very weak charge, I collapsed, gulping down huge breaths. I.. can't.. do.. any.. more.. I frantically looked around but only saw people running around insect corpses before my eyes spotted a glorious sight. The gates! The gates are closed!

People covered in cuts, blood, dark ichor were all cheering, sobbing or shouting as more people rushed in to tend to the wounded or climb the walls, shooting or stabbing down at things. I dragged myself over to lean against a fence and tried to control my muscle spasms.

There may have been more outside, but aside from killing quite a few of them, we had the advantage of our sturdy reinforced walls.

We'd done it.

I threw up bile and fluids and grinned, letting a raspy mad laugh escape.

We'd bloody did it.