Sadly for the ghouls, their banter has little effect on the party. Instead, they double down on their defensive and wait for the undead to attack. The ghoul at the back clicks its tongue and joins the other two in attacking.

Jason swings around to the side as it joins the skirmish. He faints an elbow blow to the head and the ghoul wants none of that, practically falling backwards to get out of the way.

Jason however continues his rotation, ducks down, and with the much longer reach of his foot slams a kick into its side. Already off balance, the ghoul is unable to stay standing.

Rosha swings her bladed staff over Jason’s back as he goes into a roll to meet the other ghouls. With her staff picking up speed she turns the sideways rotation into an overhead swing. Her hands slide back to one end of her weapon and the other side falls down on the ghoul.

The attack comes too fast. Unable to react, the ghoul’s head is split down the middle. Behind her Courtney under the Systems control casts out a small puff of black holy flame which sets the now dead ghoul on fire.

Jason has finished his roll and ended up between the other two ghouls on his feet. They both go at him. Though instead of dodging the attacks, he focuses on the one to the left. His left hand darts out barely touching the ghoul's arm and in a snakelike motion wraps its right arm up. The other ghoul lands a harsh strike to his undefended side.

-8

But still Jason ignores that. The other ghouls claw has passed over his shoulder and he tightens down on it. Then with a twist of his arm and a palm thrust from his other hand, he slams the ghoul onto the ground. The other ghoul still ignored at this point attacks again.

-3

This time though Jason’s movement brings him away from the attack so it only grazes his back. Then from behind that ghoul Rosha lines up her attack. With one strong thrust she rams the point of her spear right through the ghoul's head.

Courtney off to the side finishes a spell and Jason’s back glows black for a moment as the bigger wound seals, the smaller wound having already clotted.

+4

Jason smirks down at the ghoul on the floor. “Did you really think you would win after your whole group didn’t manage earlier?” And his heel smashes into the ghoul's face before it can respond. He rolls his shoulders as another heal lands on him, this one a more efficient over time spell.

+2

“Welp”, Jason sighs, “not that I wasn’t expecting this. Night and the undead do sort of go together. But really, maybe I should have let him answer my question? They didn’t even stand a chance against us. Hell, just the two of us could have taken them.”

+2

Rosha shrugs, “Even the sapient undead aren’t exactly known for their intelligence unless they are a lich or some such. Anyway, it looks like the System has gotten Courtney back into bed and I think I will get back to sleep as well. Wake me when it’s my turn.” And she joins Courtney on the sleeping rolls.

+2

With a sigh and a shake of his head Jason heads back over to his watch post. The fire is warm, but not the best for night vision.

+1

“Oh, there’s the last of the damage healed. Though dang it, I need new gear. This stuff is the best you can get as a newbie but I’m not exactly one anymore am I?” He sighs again.

As luck would have it, the rest of his watch is peaceful. Though once the alarm he set for his watch goes off, he is well and ready to be done. Sure he will not get to actually sleep but his nightly training will let him work out the stress.

When it comes time to switch, Rosha is less than appreciative of being awake. But otherwise, they trade off just fine. Then Jason’s head hits his pillow and he wakes up in the training room.

The trainer is standing at the front of the room as always, though tonight she sports a frown. “What is your progress on war stomp?”

Jason pulls up the skill and is slightly shocked. He had gained a few levels since the last time he checked. “War Stomp is novice level nine with 18 and some change percent progress.”

The trainer nods and sighs, “That means tonight is likely our last. Once you hit initiate rank, the System will consider you to have fully learned the skill. Honestly, our time has extended well beyond what is normal but all things will end, eventually.”

“Now for higher ranks you might bottleneck but going from novice to initiate is just a confirmation you’ve trained enough. That means we need to make the best use of our remaining time. Specifically, while you stomp on those dummies, I will lecture you.”

Jason does as ordered and practices the skill. The trainer uses the time to go over a number of subjects. Some of them weren’t anything new to him. For instance, she explained some nuances of the Adventurers Guild. Locals might not know all the twists and turns, she explains, but players had figured out and shared most of it already. The modern world’s interconnectivity once again showing off. What does catch his attention is when she starts talking about item quality.

“So you have a lot of first break items. Even your skeleton is one which is honestly a nice head start. However you’ve passed through the second bottleneck so should start trying to get second break items. You know this already. What is important is you understand exactly what higher break items mean. Once you hit level ten, the only limits on what you can use are practical. An ogre for instance would have a hard time using armor that was sized for a halfling.”

“Now some items will have recommendations such as the mentioned armor stating its sizes. However there is nothing to stop you from using a fourth break item before you even hit the third bottleneck. My advice? Don’t do it. Each bottleneck will cause a change to your core being, and items of higher breaks depend on those changes to work. This is why your armor has sufficed till now. Better defense doesn’t really depend on your own body.”

“Though I guess you are uniquely suited to break these rules? One of the classic changes that makes an item sixth break is to connect to a core which you already have. But yeah, there is other stuff. Having the good stuff might seem nice but it just makes you a target for those who can actually use it properly and you might even hurt yourself by using it.”

“There aren’t many but an acquaintance of mine managed to get their hands on a ninth break pill. It wasn’t even a good quality, just low normal. I don’t know what change happens after the ninth bottleneck. If I did then I bloody well wouldn’t be here now would I? But whatever it is it must do something with how you can handle power. That fool took it himself to try and breakthrough to level five hundred. Instead, he broke his own body. There was a horrible build up of energy before he exploded.”

“Good thing he did it over one of the bigger seas or the casualties would have been horrendous. As it is if you ever see a map where the sea seems a little too circular, well now you might just know why. Now that is an extreme example as you aren’t exactly eating a sword and level five hundred is literally out of this world but still. Limit yourself because it took me way too long to find a potential inheritor.”