The army had gathered themselves and had gotten into formations. None of which Mash understood. And Jorg was back up and was marching towards him too. He also seemed to have a plethora of buffing skills on him. He lit up the night sky like a lamp with how much magic covered his skin. Would Jorg stop if he knew of the situation? The set expression on the commander’s face told him that there was no way out of this other than a fight. He gave it a thought and asked Priscilla another question.

[How long till those other people come? And what’s their level like?]

Priscilla didn’t have an immediate answer, but she could hopefully get one. Even if it wasn’t exact, it was important. Mash had to win this fight, and still, have enough strength for whatever came. The soldier that had been launched into the air only just landed. The snow cushioned his fall, but Mash still winced. The man had been weaker than Mash’s estimation. He was missing something about this army. He was certain of that. Lisa had said that this army dealt with the monsters around the area, which meant that they should be a lot stronger. Mash took a breath as ideas began popping into his head. Nothing was particularly complex, but it felt like his mind was finally working properly.

There were too many things to deal with, and he just had to ignore them for the moment. His first target was the army before him. He didn’t need to beat them. Only stop them, and that was a much more achievable goal. The army was obviously centered around Jorg. If he fell the army would cluster to help him recover. It would slow them, hopefully, long enough for the assassins to get here. He hoped that Jorg actually seeing them would stop him. Or at least it would call for a temporary ceasefire.

Mash opened his storage and grabbed a staff. Jorg was marching in a very organized manner. There was probably a reason for it, but it did give Mash some time to work with. The staff was good for this, but the real reason he opened the storage was the other thing he had stored in there. After talking about the plan, Mash had spent most of his energy making wooden clones before sleeping last night. And now he decided to make that a daily routine. At least until it was full. He couldn’t store an army, but he could fit more than the paltry five that walked out. Though each was considerably more durable than the average creation. He had sacrificed a good amount of his health when he made them, and they were stronger for it.

They stepped around Mash, and he gave them a simple command. None of them looked exactly like him, especially now with the fur surrounding his body, but they could follow some instructions.

[Don’t kill anyone. Knock them out or restrain them.]

That should be just enough to avoid the worst. The wooden replicas started forward at a sprint. Mash joined them and matched his speed with them. They weren’t as strong or fast as any of his transformations, but they had access to some of his magics and could do a lot of damage with just that. He remembered one last thing and sent them another command.

[No lighting magics.]

Forgetting that would’ve been bad. Jorg stopped his march, and the shoulders directly to his left and right pulled out glowing shields. They were identical. Then the shields seemed to meld together until a uniform wall had grown across them. Army skills were annoying, as their strength relied on the relative power of the army that used them. This army was smaller than most with only a few thousand soldiers. However, they had levels, and that improved the durability of the wall significantly. His creations wouldn’t be able to get through. But Mash still could.

He slowed as he closed the remaining distance. Once he got in range, he let his knees bend more than normal, and jumped at the wall. He had transformed a single arm into his dragon form, and he struck the wall with the clawed hand. The wall shook and Mash managed to push the army back for a second, as cracks spread from where he had struck. The claws had actually managed to pierce the shield. Mash tried to draw his arm back to swing again when Jorg himself plowed through the wall.

The skill obviously hadn’t been reinforced on both sides, and the commander shattered it. He full body tackled Mash. Jorg was massive and his shoulder tackle was more than enough to carry Mash away. If that had been all, Mash could’ve braced himself. But there was a second burst of power as the shield itself broke with Jorg’s attack. The shield burst like a bubble, and it exploded. And with enough force to push Jorg forward with even more speed. The combination rattled Mash’s brain a little, making his concentration slip.

The commander carried from the ground and into the nearest set of trees. Mash had barely noticed the slight forest behind. Now he got a good look as he was slammed repeatedly into trees. He barely felt that, but his body still hurt from the shield’s explosion. On top of the raw force it had expelled, the barrier seemed to have targeted Mash’s insides somehow. There was some internal damage, and there was only so much healing that he could do without any corpses to consume. It wasn't zero healing though. He still had the necklace, and Priscilla could help speed it up by focusing on it more.

Wood grew from Mash’s back and shot into the ground. Other strands reached out and wrapped around trees. At first, it did nothing to stop Jorg from charging, but eventually, there were too many and the man slowed. Mash felt his feet touch the ground and he swung quickly. His hand tore into Jorg’s chest. His hand was no longer that of his dragon form, but even his wolf form had claws. The claws were strong too, and they easily cut through the man’s skin. The wounds didn’t feel deep though. Jorg’s growth had changed his body fundamentally to support the additional height and weight. Which seemed to include excessively dense muscles. Jorg stumbled back, and Mash shouted at him.

“The other kingdoms are sending high-level people after me!”

Jorg didn’t respond in a human way. He growled and swung his hammer one-handed. Mash easily dodged it by stepping backward. What kind of kingdom appointed a berserker as a commander? It made no sense. And why did he claim that he was a Beastmaster? Mash was still waiting for when the man summoned a creature or called a monster upon them. After Jorg missed with the swing, he just threw the hammer at Mash.

[They will be here in half an hour. The highest leveled among them are estimated to be below 200. Both are just rough estimates.]

Priscilla's message was concerning. Mash would need definitely need to go all out against anyone over 150. Plus, he should use his free stats before they arrive. He messaged Priscilla back as he sidestepped the hammer.

[You take over. Don’t kill anyone.]

The hammer missed and flew past Mash. He thought little of it, until he felt the mana around his body shift against him. His whole body felt squished as raw force pushed him back. His mind understood what had happened even if his body didn’t. Jorg had a sure hit skill, but the damage wasn’t really significant. Although it wasn’t that hard to actually move him when he wasn’t using his dragon form. The blow sent him tumbling backward, and his head smashed through the snow to strike the ground. Mash felt the blow and turned it into a backward roll.

He popped to his feet and gave up control of his body to Priscilla to adjust his status. It would take a few seconds, but he needed to do it. Jorg was dangerous, but in a way, he was the least of Mash’s worries. The man probably wouldn’t kill him even if he had the chance, and he was lower level than Mash. There were people over 150 who were coming. They would be the most dangerous.

He didn’t need to think long about his adjustments to his status. He knew what would be most important in a fight where he was at a disadvantage.

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Chimeric Vagabond

Level: 121 → 131

Health: 3109 / 3330

Energy: 3799 / 4590

Fortitude: 333 → +67 → 400

Endurance: 229

Strength: 278 → + 63 → 341

Agility: 279 → +100 → 379

Intelligence: 230

Wisdom: 130

Charisma: 110

Free Stats: 230 → 0

Skills: Hunt, Magical Layered Wood, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Wooden Birth, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, Harbinger of Nothing, Golden Body

It really had only taken him a few seconds to get everything done. He needed to be durable enough to take a hit, and he needed to be fast enough to respond to them. Those were his biggest concerns. With his forms, he had thought he had enough power to hurt them maybe even kill them if he could hit something vital.

Mash took control of his body back and caught Jorg’s punch with an open palm. Priscilla and he shared her experience, for the most part, and Mash could see what she had done. She had changed his arms to the dragon form but had kept his body the same. With the scales reinforcing his arms he could block most hits and could still use his staff to actually strike the man. It was a simple enough application, and Mash really should’ve thought of it sooner. Well, the fight only started a few minutes ago so he wouldn’t beat himself too much about it.

The bonus stats made themselves known immediately as the hammer stopped against Mash’s hand. His arm didn’t even buckle. Even enraged, Jorg seemed to realize something had changed. The very visible muscles on Jorg’s body rippled as Mash struck with a kick. The force dissipated through the man’s body as if Mash had just struck the ocean. Jorg reeled back with ripple and threw his arms out wide. He brought them back together as his body seemed to redirect the force back forward. The whole thing made for a very strange sight.

Mash’s instincts told him blocking wasn’t a good option, but he couldn’t dodge with that sure-hit skill either. He settled on hitting back instead. Mash threw a very careful punch, trying to aim to just strike the man’s arms. Jorg losing an arm might end the fight, and Luke could heal it easily too. Although, Mash had to do an awkward strike to match Jorg. His staff wouldn't be able to stop this, so he dropped his staff and threw both of his fists forward in a strange double punch.

Their fists met and Mash’s ears were filled with a terrible crunching sound. A sound that he only had a moment to comprehend before he was carried off his feet. His legs were not in the dragon form and couldn’t brace his body properly. Now it was Mash’s turn to get thrown like a rock. He crashed through trees and rocks leaving a trail of destruction as he tumbled out of the forest. Snow and dirt chased him as he moved. He regained some semblance of balance and drove his hands into the ground. They clawed through the dirt, and he realized that his arms were fine. He glanced back up to see the trail of destruction he had left.--