We start preparing in earnest, passing each day in cycles of training to the point of exhaustion, defending our home as needed, and sleeping. The resource blocks I collected from the corpse pile contained huge amounts of wood, stone, and even a sizable quantity of iron, which took almost all necessity out of gathering materials. With no real reason to leave The Barrows, few teams did. Amy’s team still goes on excursions, on occasion, because they miss out on the nightly Power gains by nature of sleeping through them, but Marie sits out most of them anyway due to her distaste for violence. Her time is better spent making use of our prodigious resources: increasing our defences, and providing custom crafting materials to those that needed them. I train incessantly to hone my skills with the greatsword, though I still resist the ever-present Greatsword Proficiency. The system must have offered it a hundred times at this point, and it likely will a hundred more, but I’m improving without it. Maybe if we really start to get into dire straits, like if the monsters actually find our sanctuary, then I will. I can always unlearn it later… as much as that would suck.

I at least want to figure out that final part of my Swordsman of the Great River skills. River’s End. Or, at least, that’s what I thought it would be called at the time… but now I’m not so sure. Yes, a river has an end, but it doesn’t evoke anything other than finality. I can imagine a pooling lake, but that implies stagnation afterwards. Once you reach the end, you’re in a lake. Not the best thing for a combat skill. Something like River’s Rapids would make more sense, because it’s sudden violence interrupting the flow, but then it lacks finality. Rapids are dangerous, but you can usually see the river continuing afterwards. At the very least, the rapids are never an ending point for the river, nor are they even possible to view as such.

A waterfall… might work. It looks like an end, not just of the river, but of the world. Going over a waterfall keeps the extreme violence of the rapids, but as you look down, you’ll clearly see an end, either your own or that of the river. Interesting. But what would that look like? A flurry of blows to represent the pounding destruction at the bottom? Or the overwhelming strength of the water as it takes you and forces you down? A strike so sure and powerful that it will not be denied, and any that fall in its path will be swept along with it, straight to the ground. But… how would a sword accomplish that? It usually cuts through, and to do otherwise would limit its effectiveness.

A combination then. The strike snakes out, grabbing something but not cutting it, then forces it to an area more optimal for striking and…

The thunderous cascade of water destroys it. It’s a strike with a lot more finesse than just raw strength, so Zathis will be little help in training it, but I think I have a clear idea. Back to training.

The cycles continue, three days, then four. I manage to accumulate a sizable amount of Power and skill levels over the days of arduous practice: Natural armor +2, Alchemy +2, Blunt Weapons Proficiency +1, Summoner +1, Cold Resistance +1 (apparently my sword is cold enough to trigger this sometimes), Combat Proficiency +1, Energy Manipulation +1, Energy Combustion +2, River’s Flow +5, Imbue Energy +2, and Transfuse Energy +5. I finish off the Energy Combustion Trait at the end of the fourth day, excited to try out my greatly increased max burn rate. The remaining two trait points don’t go into anything, for now. I can’t take them out, so… waiting is smart.

But, on the fifth day, a shout wakes me from my sleep. Too early. “Kill it quickly! No!” I can barely hear the words, but I already know what’s happening. Without stopping even to grab my sword, I hurtle from my bed into the hall, burning Energy at full bore to get every bit of extra speed. I fly over the barricades at the entrance, but see no one around. Shouting nearby. I kick off, heading in that direction. “Predator! I am not with you!” “No time.” I find Lorian, Seth, and Tom all giving chase to several Carnines and a Lieutenant. Suspicion confirmed, but they’re far already, and the Lieutenant has sent its subordinates to stall the other so it can escape. Clods of dirt and grass dislodge from the ground under the force of my feet, but I can immediately tell that I’m not going to make it. The monster camp is only a few miles away, and, with the massive head start the Lieutenant has, even my ridiculous speed won’t be enough to catch it before it gets back there. Shit. SHIT. The Carnines are already dead by the time I reach the others, having posed no threat but still managed to tangle them up enough that they couldn’t give proper chase. Even then, they’d probably be too slow without Energy burning to augment them, and I don’t think Lorian can do that. Damn it all.

“Get back to camp, we need the fortifications ready and everyone on alert. This is it. This is where we make our stand.”

“I’m sorry lad, they took us by surprise and ran immediately, we had no-”

“It’s fine. We knew it was going to happen. We still need to move, now.”

Of course, this had to happen in the morning.

---

I burst into the training room, disrupting a training bout and what looks like Samuel taking on a modified version of the arrow training I have to deal with, but where he has to block everything with his giant shield.

“Guys, we’ve been found out, get ready and come out front. No clue how long we have.”

“Shit.” Amy spits the word, and runs past me, followed closely by Samuel, who nods as he passes me. Marie looks worriedly at me. “If there are any last minute changes to the defences you need to do, do them. I expect we won’t be leaving here for a while, so anything you can do to make the defences semi-permanent, do them.”

She nods, swallowing heavily. “Are… we going to be ok?”

I smile broadly, even though I don’t feel it. “Of course. This is why we’re here, after all. We’ll hold them back for as long as it takes.”

“Y-yeah.” She runs for the door, leaving me facing the increasingly concerned giant.

“If… you need to fall back, you may fall back here. I am forbidden from taking a life, and doing so will… likely kill me as well, but I may offer you a last defence.”

“That’s… more than enough. I sincerely hope we won’t need it, but… also, thank you. Really. For everything. I don’t know what your actual job is from the system’s perspective, but I’m almost positive that it isn’t to sit here and train us all day, but that alone will probably make the difference in our survival. We wouldn’t be nearly as sharp right now if it wasn’t for you.”

“Do not thank me as though you do not plan to return.”

I smile again, but this time, I mean it. “Goodbye, Zathis.”

“Good luck, Anthony.”

Over my shoulder, as I exit, I call back: “It’s… Amadeus. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Then good luck, Amadeus. May we meet again.”