The walls didn’t hold back the Orc raiding party for long. The Orcs first tried a few volleys of javelins. A warding circle stopped them. The Priestess had it in place for that exact purpose. The Ward prevented any missile or ranged attack from getting past the walls, but it didn’t stop physical bodies from moving through. I would have to remember to asker her about that for when I set up my settlement.

After all the javelins failed to breach the barrier, the Shaman tried launching a black and purple bolt at us. The magic attack failed as well. With all their ranged options exhausted, the Orc Chief bellowed the charge and as a mob, they ran at us with all the speed they could muster.

Luckily for us, the wards were one way only. While they could not hit us at a distance, that didn’t stop us from hitting them. While I took control of the Mana Cannon in front of me, Cody was imbuing arrows with holy energy using the Radiant Bow we looted what seemed like years ago. He wasn’t the greatest or the fastest shot, but with the numbers charging at us, he didn’t have to have perfect aim. Each arrow found a target. If only he could get more than a few shots off.

I tried to target the Orc Shaman with the Mana Cannon, but before the Bluish-white bolt of energy could reach it, a translucent barrier erupted in front of the Shaman and the Chief. It looked like a clear pane of glass, but the Mana Bolt splashed off of it. The barrier rippled over its ten-by-ten-foot area but held, even after two more mana bolts hit it. The remaining two Mana Cannon Operators, seeing the ineffectiveness of the others, instead made their shots count by taking down one of the charging Barbarians.

Rowan was launching Arcane missiles through his focusing wand, empowering each shot to do maximum damage. He didn’t bother trying to target the Chief or the Shaman though, not after seeing the massive cannons not do a thing against the barrier. Instead, I saw him send Sparks and Ember out to fly wide and circle around the battlefield. It was a good idea, try to get them from behind while they focused on us.

Kiara managed to spear a couple Orcs in the legs using her new Root Spear spell she picked up. It didn’t kill any of them, but it slowed those down and with their massive hit points, any damage was better than nothing.

Rock spikes erupted from the ground, fire flew through the air and many other magic spells and divine abilities went off. Even in the bright morning light, the pyrotechnics dazzled my eyes, and I had to call up my Ki goggles in order to see. Through it all, the Orcs kept coming.

Even Stephanie, the Alchemist, was on the wall. She had sphere shaped glass vials about the size of a ping-pong ball that she was lobbing out at the Orcs with a slingshot. Each vial exploded on impact and caused a variety of effects. Some detonated with a kinetic blast, some with gouts of fire, others with a spray of Ice. There even seemed to be a greenish cloud that both poisoned and caused corrosive damage to the Orcs that charged through it.

I tried to fire off another shot with the Mana Cannon but got an error message.

[Error]

Mana Bolt Cannon (Blessed) cannot be fired

Recharging from Village Essence Pool

Duration 23/30 seconds

“Fuck,” I said. Before it could fully recharge, the Orcs were upon us.

The Orcs were strong enough to leap over the ten-foot-tall barrier and crash right into the defenders. Not all the Orcs made it over the wall in the first wave. Magnus blocked one with a shield bash and he knocked a second back with his hammer.

Jerome, the Village Guardian, in his Power Armor, blue lights emanated waves of energy from the soles of his feet hovered above the wall. He conjured barrier after barrier to block as many Orcs as possible from making it over the wall.

Adam the Elementalist swung his staff around, causing gusts of wind with hurricane force to knock the Orcs back while they were in the air, following up with gouts of fire or bolts of lightning.

Each and every original member of the Coven was pulling out every trick they had to keep the Orcs out. But even with the awesome suite of abilities and combat skills they were all showing, they couldn’t stop them all. There were just too many Orcs.

Rukia teamed up with the resident pets to help take on the Orcs that made it over the walls. She had her Arctic Flowing River technique activated along with her Ice fang and worked tirelessly to get around behind the seven-foot- tall Orcs to attack their hamstrings. The Marble Rhino Beetle joined her. It would charge down the hamstrung barbarians with its massive horn. Slate did his best to check the charge of the Orcs, using his size and bulk along with his ability to create earthen walls. There was even a Pegasus owned by Brian, the Ranger that swooped in and stomped on the Orcs heads.

Across the battlefield, the damage to the Orcs was piling up. One cluster in particular was looking worse for the wear after dealing with the acidic poison cloud Stephanie subjected them to. I was pretty sure they were going to die in the next attack, that is, until they pulled out a small wooden carving with an animal skull attached to the top of it. It glowed a vibrant green just before a wave of green light rippled out from it extending a full twenty feet in all directions before it faded out.

The Orc Chief called his Orcs back just out of range of most of our attacks to regroup.

I pulled up Identify on one orc and watched as every second its health ticked up by thirteen points every second. The sores on their skill visibly closed and their speed picked back up.

Orc Barbarian

Level 10 Barbarian

HP: 73/234

Stam: 302/360

Mana: 120/120

Defense: 25

Status Effect: Healing Totem

I took a second, to see the effects of Healing Totem.

Healing Totem: Shamanic Totem Spell

Heals all targets in 20 ft radius for 13 Hp per Second for 30 Seconds.

Two other groups of Orcs triggered a healing totem, covering the majority or Orcs on their side of the wall. Each Orc in that area would regain almost four hundred hit points in only half a minute. That kind of healing speed and quantity baffled me.

Once the Orcs grouped back up, they all started chanting. I couldn’t make out what they said, but it culminated in all the Orcs roaring in unison. Their bodies swelled with muscle and they even grew several inches as a bloody aura enveloped them. I felt a strange echo resonate within me. I felt my bloodline quiver in response, like it wanted to rise up and show these Orcs what true power felt like.

Pushing the bloodline ability back down, I pulled up the Barbarian’s stats and saw the new status effect they were under.

Orc Barbarian

Level 10 Barbarian

HP: 324/324

Stam: 440/540

Mana: 20/120

Defense: 45

Status Effect: Healing Totem, Enrage

Enrage: Barbarian Class ability

Uses: 1/Day

Upon Activation: +10 Strength, +10 Constitution, +10 Agility, +10 Endurance, +20 Defense

Duration: 30 seconds per point of adjusted Constitution (18 minutes)

Penalties: -10 Strength, -10 Constitution, -10 Agility, -10 Endurance for 1 hr.

The Enrage ability wasn’t bad, but it didn’t hold a candle to my Berserk bloodline ability. Mine gave two points each per body cultivation rank. With all eight Meridians now open, grants me sixteen points per attribute, on top of my increased stamina regeneration, rapid healing and everything else. But their penalties for using the class ability were also a lot lower. I really hoped that after accessing my Middle Dantian, the penalties for my bloodline would be drastically reduced.

As soon as the Orcs were foaming at the mouth, two more totems activated, encompassing the grouped-up Barbarians. An Orange energy wave rippled over them right before they burst forward at an insane speed. Their bodies seemed to blur and distort as they covered ground faster than even their increase in stats would account for. Their glowing red eyes focused on the gate into the compound, and as one, they charged at it like the offensive line of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Their healing totem still had a few seconds left, and it helped counter the Barrage of attacks launched to slow them down and stop them. They ignored them all and charged straight through without missing a step. They even shattered a barrier set up by Jerome as a last-minute attempt to stop them from hitting the gate.

The Orcs dropped their shoulders, tucked in their heads, and the wooden gates exploded from the force of the impact. Wooden shards shot through the air like shrapnel, and then the Orcs were inside the Village.

The orcs instantly spread out as soon as they were through. Half charged at the wall defenders while the other half went to rampage through the village. The earth shook as four large mounds of earth rose out of the ground. The mounds vibrated as four large piles of rock shook the dirt off. As they stood up, they took on a humanoid appearance. They were only five feet tall, but they were almost as wide. They stood in the path of the rampaging Orcs, one decked an Orc so hard, he flew fifteen feet to the side.

I leapt off of the walkway, Ki enhancing the sharpness of my spear and Dragon’s Fang, Grace in Combat, was already on its second stage. I hadn’t been able to do much in the fight yet. Pure Ki blasts at range were a huge drain on my Ki Pool. It was far more efficient at my cultivation rank to go in for melee combat, where I could use less Ki to enhance my weapons and deal more damage.

I lead with my spear. It pierced into the back of an Orc and let the spear shaft work as a pivot and swung around and slashed through its throat. Its flesh crisped and blackened as the red-hot blade seared as it cut. I could hear the sizzle of blood as I slashed through an artery. The Barbarian’s scream in anger and pain changed to a gurgle as my blade made it through the windpipe and it filled with blood.

I finished my spin around the Orc, riding it to the ground as I wrenched my spear out of its back and moved on to my next target, ignoring the new prompts that briefly appeared before minimizing into a blinking square in the corner of my vision.

The battle went on for hours, it seemed, but it was closer to twenty minutes in actual time after the Orcs broke through the gate. All the fighting seemed to blur together, only a few moments standing out in stark detail.

Jerome’s Power armor was a wonder to behold. It perfectly synergized with his warrior based advanced class, enhancing his strength, agility, defense and accuracy. It provided him with ranged options, and even came with a Mana Blade that extended over his hand from the base of the wrist. It looked almost exactly like a Light saber from Star Wars, but without the separate hilt. He fought with the Mana Blade coming out of his right arm, and his soul bound Wood Axe in his left. He was a merciless killing machine, cutting through Orc flesh like it was butter. No matter how much blood sprayed over him, though, it all ran right off and dripped to the ground, leaving his armor pristine.

One archer, Emily, put Legolas to shame. She was a faithful of Artemis and she gave off an aura of savage beauty. She shot silver streaks of light from her soul bound bow and summoned a trio of silver Epirus Mastiffs. These massive dogs helped her take down Orc after Orc. They would harry the Orcs from different directions while she filled them with arrows, until they could bring the barbarians down and tear them to shreds.

The fight moved deeper into the village despite our best efforts. I was getting low on stamina and Ki, already having drunk two stamina potions and a healing potion to keep up. There were plenty of heals going around, but those fuckers were strong. The only one able to go toe to toe with the monsters and almost match them in strength was Magnus, with his Steel Titan Technique active. He was almost as tall as the orcs, with that ability active. The Enraged Orcs were still stronger than him, but it wasn’t as overwhelming.

Throughout the fight, I had to not only fight the invading monsters, but I had to fight myself at the same time. The Enraged Barbarians all around us agitated and harmonized in turn with my blood line ability. It took all my will to keep it from overwhelming me and giving into the power the blind rage offered. I was afraid of what it could do to me, what I might to do my friends and the villagers. I kept fighting it down… until I couldn’t.

Somehow, one of the few village children didn’t make it into the secured basement. The little girl, no older than six or seven, had hidden in a greenhouse. Three of the Orcs broke free of the scrum and smashed through the greenhouse. I heard the little girl scream in absolute terror and the Orcs roared in pleasure. In that brief moment, everything went still. I turned to run towards the Orcs, but I wasn’t fast enough. The Orc picked up the little girl by the throat and shook her. The other two Orcs circled around their buddy until they held the girl between them all.

Each Orc took one of the girl’s arms and legs and pulled. I launched a Ki Projectile through my spear at the closest orc, hoping to distract them and let her go, or at least give me enough time to cover the hundred yards between us.

Through the din of battle, I could still hear the little girl scream in pain as one of her shoulders popped out of its socket. In that moment, I gave in. A red tide rose around me and crashed down with the force of a tsunami.

The tide of power tried to sweep over me and drag me into its depths. I felt my muscles swell, my stride lengthen, and the world blurred around me as everything took on a red haze. It felt like I was drowning in the power. As if I was in the middle of an ocean and the undercurrent dragged me down into its depths. The deeper I fell, the darker the red haze grew.

As I was drifting away, my body moved of its own accord. I distantly heard the scream of a child, and I saw Drake. He was laid out on the ground, blood poured from his stomach around a chitinous claw. I heard the scream again. I surged forward; I would not let myself drown while my son was in danger.

The deep crimson haze lightened around me; I could make out my surroundings as I savagely tore Dragon’s fang through the arm of one Orc as my spear pierced through the eye of another.

I could feel my body again as I ripped the spear out and thrust it through the neck of the third Orc, while finishing the beheading of the first. The little girl fell to the ground, unconscious. I wanted to help her, but the fury had me in its grip. I spun away and with immense force; I launched myself out of the greenhouse and literally flew across the ground, and impaled another of the Orcs.

I couldn’t exactly control my body, but with effort, I could guide it. It was like driving a truck when the power steering went out. I could feel the weight of the entire tractor trailer combo. I couldn’t do any fine maneuvers, but fighting hard, I could keep myself from going off the edge of the cliff and down into the abyss.

It was terrifying, but intoxicating at the same time. If I didn’t guide the power well enough, it would turn to the nearest opponent, Orc or human. But the power that coursed through me, the boundless well of energy, the vitality pumping through my veins, the power thrumming in every fiber of muscle. It felt boundless, like I could keep going forever. It was euphoric, and I never wanted it to end.

Fighting for every ounce of control was also exhausting. Never did a five-minute timer feel so long. With just a couple minutes left on my Berserk ability, the Chief and the Shaman strolled into the village like they owned the place. The immediate area around me was clear of the grunts, and I was struggling to turn my body to Orcs on the other side of a line of humans.

I feared that if I passed through them, my body would engage them from behind, so I was hesitating, fighting harder with each second that passed when I saw them. There were no humans between myself and the Chief and Shaman. It would be easier to turn and fight them than to try to get through the line of defenders.

My body eagerly launched itself at the new targets. It could feel the power radiating from them and needed to pit itself against something worthy. The Shaman didn’t fail to notice my approach. Hell, a blind man would have noticed me. I was as subtle as a bull in a china shop. Before I could reach them, the Shaman launched another bolt of that black and purple energy and I felt it strike me directly in the chest.

The energy plowed through me and tried to kill every cell in my body that it touched.

-13

+1

-13

+1

-13

+1

It was draining thirteen health every second, by body struggled to repair itself, regaining one per second. My body didn’t stop though, it didn’t even lose a step in its charge. I could feel a savage grin stretch across my face. It was the grin of a battle hungry madman, and I was fully in its grip.

Just a few seconds from the impact, my body managed to muster its vitality and shoved the deathly energy out and stopped the rampant necrosis spreading through me. Each second after, my health rose by a single point.

The Shaman tried to bring up another barrier to stop me, but my body simply spun around it and met the Chief axe to axe, spear to club.