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EV B2 Chapter 13:
🕑 Added 2024-11-23 20:00:06 +0000 UTCWith that, I put my plan into action. We dumped the barricade from the doors. It hadn't been all that useful, and we had no trouble getting through the piles of junk we'd placed to stop the horses. I had a sack slung across my shoulders with a few things inside as I stepped out first, quickly followed by the raiders in a steady stream.
The second I cracked the door open, arrows rained down from the top of the wall, plunging into the back of the horsemen's formation. Astrid shot noticeably faster than the others, and her arrows had more of an impact—several exploded in small bursts, startling the horses. Still, there was a reason why I had them aim for the back of the formation. It was counterintuitive, but it worked. I had all my stats this time.
This wasn't like back in the other world when I'd been too slow to save Alana. No, I was here, fully leveled, with all my stats intact. That made me pause briefly to make a mental note: I needed to help Astra class up soon. Maybe that'd be an excuse to introduce her to Loki. Sure, I got my class faster, but a few more achievements for her couldn't hurt.
Dashing toward the formation, I angled slightly as the horsemen readied their lances to charge. I aimed carefully, running in a slight arc and pushing hard to the left until I was just outside the far edge of their first rank of five men. Then, I cut in sharply, leaping into the fray with a dancer's precision, using a Jester's Leap powered by my Fool's Constitution spell. I flung myself shield-first into the leftmost rider, knocking him off his horse and into the man beside him. His neighbor's horse panicked and veered sharply to the right, toward the cliff.
I doubted any horse would actually go off the edge; there were still a dozen paces of grass between the road and the drop-off. But I landed on the back of the riderless horse, just as I had planned. With my speed and focus so high, I had no trouble keeping my balance. I had more than four times the strength I'd had when I first joined this world.
It didn't quite make me superhuman in any one specific way. If I could bench press 200 pounds back when I'd first reverted to my 25-year-old body, I could now bench press 800. Of course, there were people who could actually bench press 800 pounds—I was pretty sure—but they were usually built like refrigerators, not a lean 170 pounds like me. They also couldn't move nearly as fast.
I might not have been superhuman in raw strength, but my speed? That was another story. When you paired my speed with my nearly superhuman strength and the two spells I knew inside and out, no group of underfed, middle-aged cavalrymen stood a chance against me. Not alone, maybe—but I wasn't alone.
Only seconds after I disrupted the entire first line, sending the formation into chaos, the raiders slammed into the fray. Swords and hand axes flashed as they fell upon the struggling horsemen, who were still trying to keep their mounts steady. The raiders cut them down with ease.
I didn't linger. Leaping further into the formation, I skipped over the second rank entirely. I kicked the head of a rider in the third rank, using the force of the impact to push myself upward, stepping off his falling shoulder and vaulting further to the right. I didn't bother finishing many of them off—just unseating them and sending their horses scattering.
Astrid, on the other hand, had already killed at least half a dozen men. The other archers were doing their part as well, peppering the back ranks with arrows. Some of Astrid's elemental arrows sent loud explosions echoing through the formation, causing the horses to rear and panic. Several of the horsemen broke formation entirely, fleeing the battlefield.
They'd only managed a few scattered shots at us before we were all out of the gates, but it was enough. Initially, I had planned for us to push past the horses, but I quickly realized that would've been a stupid move. They could've easily run us down from behind. But as it turned out, we didn't need to push through.
The men and horses were already fleeing, completely unprepared for such a shocking assault—especially one led by someone like me. I knew I shouldn't exist, not the way I was now. I wasn't just some level 17 warrior. Astrid technically outranked me in level, but with the extra stat points from my class, I was practically three times as strong as anyone at my level had any right to be. Normally, people around level 80 would've had a class for some time, so it wasn't a fair comparison. Still, it left me wondering how Astrid's party of five—people just as powerful as her—had struggled with this scenario. For me, the only challenge had been that it was literally impossible to do alone.
Gathering the raiders, we began to move out. We left behind a few of our fallen, but soon enough, we headed down the long stairs toward our boats.
I stood at the top of the stairs, ushering the raiders down and keeping an eye on everyone who was still fighting. My main focus, though, was on making sure Astrid made it through the chaos. As I stood there, many of the raiders gave me a wide berth, flashing nervous glances as they ran past. Even the few soldiers on horseback who had lingered near the edge of the fight—possibly to attack our rear—saw me standing there and backed off.
I wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it was good—obviously, I was strong enough now to protect people. But there was something bittersweet about it, too. Growling softly in frustration, I pulled myself out of my wandering thoughts and focused on the present.
Eventually, I was the last one down. I counted as many as I could, and I thought everyone had made it. If there were more left behind, well, it was too late now.
"All right, let's go," I said, my voice steady.
Astrid nodded, and we started moving down the stairs as fast as we could without knocking over the raiders in front of us.
"You…" Astrid said, her voice catching slightly. She sounded almost accusatory. "Improved."
"What?" I glanced over at her.
"I didn't get a full chance to see it before, but you don't fight like you used to. Not at all."
I frowned. "How so? I've still got all the same skills as before, back when we fought together in the challenge."
"There's a wildness to it now. Risk-taking. You never would have done half of that before."
I considered her words for a moment. Was what I'd done really risky? It didn't seem like it to me.
"Maybe it's just confidence," she shrugged, but her tone didn't sound convinced. "Maybe. But Miles, I'm at a higher level than you, and I wouldn't dream of doing what you just did. That wasn't just… That wasn't just ridiculous."
She hesitated, then finished, "That was superhuman."
I glanced at her, a faint grin tugging at the corner of my lips. "Sort of," I admitted. "I'm probably only four times as strong as a regular human."
Astrid shook her head firmly. "I don't think that's right. What's your strength stat at?"
I frowned for a second, then told her.
She scoffed. "No, no. You're not four times as strong as an average human. You're probably five times as strong as some of the strongest humans."
"Maybe," I said, unsure how to feel about that. "What about you?"
"Well, strength isn't really a stat I'd compare myself with," Astrid said thoughtfully. "I don't really invest in it."
"Fair," I replied, choosing not to push her further. We could talk about that later when we had more time. For now, we were nearing the beach.
Suddenly, Astrid froze, stopping so abruptly that I nearly crashed into her back.
"What?" I asked sharply, glancing around.
"There," she said, pointing toward the edge of the cliff. "See that?"
I squinted, scanning the area. All I saw were shadows against the rocks. "No. I don't see anything."
"In the shadows," she clarified, her voice tense. "Pressed up against the wall. I saw something darting. There are people waiting for us down there."
"Shit!" I cursed under my breath.
But it was already too late.
The first raiders had begun streaming across the beach toward the boats when the trap was sprung. At least fifty men, armed with shields and wearing armor, surged out from behind the rocks where they'd been hiding. They slammed into the side of the raiders, catching them completely off guard.
"Fuck!" I growled, watching as chaos erupted.
Astrid immediately pulled out her bow and began loosing arrows from where we stood halfway down the cliffs. I looked below, my stomach twisting at the sight of the long line of raiders still trying to funnel down the stairs. At least ten of them stood between me and the shore, blocking my path.
On the beach, fifteen or more of our raiders were already engaged, being swarmed by the enemy. Half of them had fallen in the opening moments, and the others wouldn't last long.
I couldn't waste any more time.
Taking a step back, I gathered myself, then ran forward and leaped. My spells propelled me forward as I flashed through the air, reinforcing my body just before I hit the sand. The impact jarred my shoulder slightly, but I tucked into a roll and came up on my feet, sword and shield ready.
Without hesitation, I barreled into the fight once more.
