Izuku woke up to the sound of rain pelting his [Earthspike] shelter, the wind blowing loudly.
He lowered the ‘walls’ he had made, and instantly regretted it, having harsh winds and almost horizontal rain slam into him at full force, almost blowing him over. Stumbling to his feet, he pulled his [Ratleather Cloak] up over his face, reaching into his pocket.
He found his [Message Bead] and instantly focused on Rumi.
>Rumi! What’s going on? Why did the weather get so bad? Is the [Pinnacle] monster here?!<
There was silence for a good minute, and Izuku was getting a little worried as he pushed through the sudden rainstorm, moving across the town square and towards the front gate.
>Rumi?<
He heard a BANG from the front of the town, and the air itself shook violently as something screeched.
>I’M A BIT BUSY! TALK TO ME LATER! THE BIG FUCKER HAS ARRIVED! SORRY I DIDN’T LET YOU COME WATCH LIKE I SAID I WOULD, BUT YOU WERE SLEEPING!<
Izuku’s heart jumped up to his throat and tried to look up towards the front gate, but the rainstorm blocked his vision any further than a few meters. He was about to push forward more when suddenly there was a loud ‘SQUEAK!’ from below him.
As Izuku yelled in surprise, Sir Ratsudon burst out of the ground in front of him. The spirit rat’s teeth glowed bright green and it snapped its jaw shut, and Izuku stumbled back as he saw that Sir Ratsudon had stopped an arm from stabbing him with a small dagger.
Sir Ratsudon dragged the new monster to the ground, and with another burst of light, killed whatever had tried to stab him. Izuku crouched down, patting the spirit rat on the head as he checked the body.
“Identify!”
Target is [Dead]
>There are monsters getting through, Rumi!<
As he sent the message to Rumi, Izuku paused for a moment, staring at the body. He… he didn’t know that you couldn’t [Identify] things that were dead. How had he not known that? Surely he had used the ability on something dead before…
He… couldn’t actually remember ever doing so, however.
Sir Ratsudon squeaked softly, tugging on Izuku’s glove, presumably back towards the doorway of the Dungeon Hall. Izuku stood up and allowed himself to be dragged forward, as Sir Ratsudon seemed to be able to sense where he was going much better than Izuku could in the rainstorm.
As the staircase came into sight, Izuku nodded to himself. He huddled into his cloak some more and pulled up his menu, just checking his various pools.
HP: 100/100 | Mana: 69/70 | Stamina: 110/110
Nodding to himself, he took a deep breath, ignoring how the cold winds chilled his lungs. He had enough Mana for 6 [Earthspike]s, at 10 Mana each. Looking out towards the direction that the wind and rain were coming from, Izuku took a step away from the front of the Dungeon Hall and placed his hands on the ground.
Using his first [Earthspike], he made it as thick as he possibly could, making the top as flat as he could to make it a uniform pillar instead of a ‘spike’. It rose up slowly, about ‘him-and-a-half’ wide, with a flat top.
It gave a small respite from the wind, but it wasn’t enough. Taking a step to the side, Izuku put his hands on the ground again, creating an identical pillar so close that the stone actually melded together with the previous spike.
With 20 Mana gone, he had a wall about 3 ‘Izukus’ wide, and twice his height, to hide from the wind and rain. He did it two more times, creating a sizeable safe zone for himself, draining his Mana down to 29. It was a little worrying for him to be so low and still need to fight, but he had been fighting for years without [Earthspike], he could go a day unable to use it.
He leaned against his wall and pulled out his [Ratbone Dagger]. He didn’t trust his ability to wield the heavier [Steelbringer] while his hands were wet and slippery, and he did not want to accidentally lose it halfway through a fight.
There was a squeal from his right and Izuku immediately stabbed out with his dagger, feeling it sink into flesh as something screamed.
Critical Hit!
[65] Damage Given!
Izuku cursed as another small, humanoid monster dropped to the ground, unable to be [Identify]’d. With the clearer air of his ‘safe zone,’ he could see that the monster was about half his height, with large wings protruding out of its back.
The creepiest part was their complete lack of any details, with no faces, hair, or anything else, only shiny grey skin that looked like the wind around him.
It cemented Izuku’s unfortunate theory. The [Air Incursion] had started already, overlapping with the last day of the [Water Incursion], and had caused the rainstorm.
He gripped his dagger tighter, taking a few deep breaths, this was bad, but if the levels of the [Air] monsters started at 1 again, then he could manage until Rumi got back.
Hearing another BOOM from the front gate area, he wondered how Rumi was doing…
Rumi howled with laughter as her [Dragontooth Katars] was stabbed elbow deep into the Leviathans eye.
This was literally the best case scenario! The [Air Incursion] starting meant that the other defenders were forced to fight the smaller [Air] monsters, just basic Sylphs and shit, which left the [Pinnacle] monster to the two highest levelled people around.
David Shield, and herself.
>Usagiyama! That was a good hit!<
She grinned as she heard Shield’s voice in her head from his own [Message Bead], and ripped her [Dragontooth Katars] out of the Leviathan. It came away with a splash of bright blue blood, almost glowing with [Water] mana.
>Watch out! Tail Incoming!<
Rumi let out a ‘WOOOO!’ as she pushed off the Leviathan, narrowly dodging its attempt to swat her off with its tail and landed on the ground next to Shield.
“Mana Beam!”
Rumi watched as rainbow energy pooled on Shield’s hand, before firing off like a laser beam at the Leviathan, hitting it dead on. The smell of burnt fish wafted over the entire field, and Rumi shook her head in disgust.
“Hmm, that one had a bit more [Fire] Mana than I intended. I guess I’m subconsciously affecting the spell? Might need to practise more often…”
Rumi ignored David’s self-reflection bullshit and sprinted forward again at her full speed, the solid ground, hidden under a layer of mud, cratering as she launched herself at the Leviathan again.
“PUNCTURE!”
[157] Damage Given!
Wind trailed behind her arm as she thrust both of her [Dragontooth Katars]’s into the flank of the Leviathan, puncturing deep enough into the thick skin to reach her wrists. Smirking as she heard it screech, she planted her feet on it and pushed her arms outward.
Her Level 59 strength scores made throwing her arms to the side easy, even while wrist deep in this massive monster, and a giant gash exploded open up in the Leviathan as her arms came free, a burst of the monster’s blood covering her.
[272] Damage Given!
She threw herself back down to Shield, who held his palm up to her, a blue rune appearing over his hand. She looked down at herself and saw all the monster blood on her fading away as if it was never even there.
>Don’t waste your Mana, old man!<
He grinned at her, shaking his head, patting the expensive-looking, multi-coloured bag on his hip. Looking down at the bag, she realised that it was a high-quality magic bag. ‘Damn, he probably has hundreds of potions in that thing…’
“Mana Barrier!”
Rumi shook her head and refocused as she saw more rainbow light appear in Shield’s hands, forming a small dome over the two of them. The Leviathan’s tail slammed into the dome, and Rumi was shocked to see Shield actually wince at the impact.
>Shield! How much HP does it have left?<
She saw his mouth move, and a rainbow-edged menu appeared next to his head. One hand went to his bead, and she heard his message.
>We’ve got just over 30% left to go if we keep up this pace, but we need to make sure that the other defenders are taking care of the [Common] [Air] monsters! If I clear the air can you check on them for me?<
She nodded to him, and shook her legs out, getting ready to jump as high as she could. She wasn’t looking at him, but she could feel the [Water] and [Air] Mana pooling in his hands, before a beam of blue and white shot skyward.
“Dispel Magic!”
Rumi rocketed up right alongside the beam and shivered as the anti-magic pulse detonated about 50 meters up in the air. As it did so, the weather seemed to stutter, the air in front of Mustafa clearing completely for a few moments.
It was shit like that, crazy, nature defying stuff, that made her contemplate getting a spellcasting class as her next one. She reached the apex of her jump soon after the sky cleared, and she noted how the defenders were doing while she dropped back down to the ground.
[3] [Falling] damage taken!
Her ankles barely even felt the impact, so she brushed away the practically meaningless damage menu and jumped over to where Shield was still firing blast after blast at the Leviathan.
>Most of the wall is fine, but it looks like the Leviathan caved in one part. There are defenders there as a stopgap, but some are slipping through towards Izuku and the Dungeon Hall.<
She saw him swear to himself, erecting another barrier as the Leviathans tail slammed down once again. He reached for his [Message Bead] and Rumi heard him again.
>That’s bad. Do you think he can handle the numbers getting through? Or do you need to go help?<
Rumi scoffed. If he couldn’t fight some low levelled [Air Sylphs] by himself, then her opinion of him would be wrong. And she was the ‘Beast of Caerbannog!’ She was never wrong!
>He’s awake and he sent me a message earlier saying that he was aware of monsters getting through and was fighting! The kids got balls and he’s stronger than he seems, so he’ll be fine!<
David just nodded, turning back the Leviathan, and Rumi could tell that it had been affected far worse by the [Dispel Magic] than she had been. Checking its stats, she grinned.
Level 60 Leviathan
[Water Incursion Pinnacle Creature]
HP: 1800/6000 | Mana: 340/600 | Stamina: 450/3000
>Shield! Keep it up! We should be able to end it quickly if we burn the last of its health down!<
She knew that Shield had heard her when another beam of rainbow light was fired from his hands, this time impacting the Leviathan itself. It screeched, and its tail slammed into the ground near the two of them, mud being thrown into the air all around them.
>Rumi! I have a plan to finish this! Just give me one moment!<
Rumi covered her eyes to keep the wave of mud and water out of them and could see Shield doing the same. After a moment, the wave passed by them. Another rune appeared over Shield’s hand, and Rumi felt the mud flake off her again.
She was about to jump at the Leviathan again when his hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked at him, and then down to the small orb of red and purple Mana he had in his hand, contained in what looked like a glass ball.
>Ok, Usagiyama, are you ready? I need you to take this [Contained Spell]... and let the Leviathan ‘eat’ you. Well, not actually eat you, you just need to be in its mouth.<
Rumi did a double-take, but nodded, grabbing the glass ball out of his hands. She had done crazier things for people she trusted a lot less. A grin on her face, she sheathed one of her Katars.
>You’re one crazy motherfucker. What does the spell do?<
Shield threw his hands up into the air and created another Mana barrier-dome thing, and he winced as the Leviathans tail slammed into it again. The small circle of solid ground they were standing on actually sunk into the mud slightly, and Rumi had to grab him to keep him upright, the sudden sinking almost messing up his balance.
> It’s a mix of the Parasitic nature of [Dark] magic, and the Consuming nature of [Fire] magic! Essentially, instead of the [Dark] spell leeching HP to the caster, it’s going to mix with the [Fire] to make it so the [Fire] will burn inside the Leviathan for as long as the Leviathan can be burnt by leeching the energy of the Leviathan itself as fuel!
>I call it “David Shield’s [Independent Flame]!”<
Rumi paused for a moment, trying to wrap her head around it, before shaking it wildly, and jumping at the Leviathan. It saw her jumping, and threw its head forward, intent on snapping its jaws shut around her.
>God, I am surrounded by fucking nerds!<
She would usually dodge this with ease, but this time, the Leviathan would get its wish. She let out a yell of excitement as the world suddenly went dark, the [Contained Spell] in her hands the only light in the Leviathans closed mouth.
It was fairly quiet in the Leviathan’s mouth, actually, its thick, rubbery skin doing a great job at stopping the sounds of rain and thunder from reaching her. Stabbing into its tongue with the Katar she was still holding, she hung over the entrance to the Leviathan’s stupidly long neck.
As she threw the [Contained Spell] down the Leviathans throat, Rumi pulled herself up with her other hand, a feral smirk on her face as she felt the Leviathan roar with pain and anger, the contents of its stomach being ignited by the [Independent Flame].
The Leviathans mouth had opened when it roared, and Rumi used her Katar to dig into its tongue one last time, throwing herself out of the Leviathan and back towards Shield. She had apparently overshot, though, and was on track to hit the outer wall of Mustafu.
She put her feet out forward and braced for impact, only to have a bright grey rune appear before her. The second she passed through it, her momentum seemed to change completely, and she was suddenly heading straight down.
She landed hard, stone and mud flying everywhere as she cratered the ground, and cheered loudly, her excitement getting the better of her. She could see the Leviathan thrashing around wildly, red and purple light shining through its skin every now and then.
Checking back over with Shield, she could see a bunch of damage menus appearing next to him, almost as fast as he could dismiss them. It was only moments later that the last of the menus appeared, and were swiped away by Shield, and the Leviathan seemed to freeze up.
A burst of [Water] mana exploded out of the Leviathan, making Rumi shiver as it passed over her, her body suddenly even more aware of how drenched her hair and clothing was.
It was unbalanced and was heading directly towards the wall. The wall they still needed for the [Air Incursion] that had already started. Shield was too busy downing a larger [Mana Potion] to do anything about it, though. ‘His [Independent Flame] must have been more expensive than I thought…’
She shook herself off as the body of the Leviathan fell towards her and the wall of Mustafu, before squatting. If she was ever thankful for anything regarding her species, being a Demi-Rabbit gave her one hell of a kick.
“Leap! Lunge!”
The ground underneath her cracked even further as she shot up into the air as fast as she could, the raindrops almost slowing down to her as she rocked upwards. The body of the Leviathan suddenly encompassed the entirety of her vision, and a grin grew on her face.
“Double Strike! Dropkick! PowerUp!”
Her legs shimmered as she reached the Leviathan, with 2 transparent copies of them hovering next to them, glowing a vibrant silver. She kicked out at the Leviathan just as they were about to connect, and the air shook at the impact.
There was a single moment where the silver glow of her attack blinded even herself, and a BOOM so loud her ears folded themselves in half to block some of it out. When her vision finally cleared, she saw the crater that she had created in the body of the Leviathan as its motion completely reversed, collapsing away from the wall.
She was tumbling through the air, again, her legs still feeling a little numb from the sheer amount of force she had put through them. She saw the same rune as before show up behind her, and she was suddenly falling straight down into the arms of what looked like a… water spirit?
>A [Water Elemental], actually, but the principle is the same. Why on earth didn’t you do a move like that earlier?<
As the [Water Elemental] put Rumi down on the ground and subsequently vanished as Shield un-summoned it, she raised her eyebrow at him, waving at her legs, which were only just starting to get feeling back into them again.
>Why do you think, smart guy? Can’t be useless like this during the fight itself, even if it's only like, 20 seconds. And besides, that was a lot of [Stamina] I just used. Even someone like me is gonna feel a little tired after something as cool as that!<
Shield help up his hands in surrender, a grin on his face as he gave her a nod. >Great work, Usagiyama. Now you should probably hurry back to Izuku now that the [Water Incursion] is… over? Wait, what?<
It didn’t take long for Rumi to realise what he was talking about. The [Water Incursions] [Pinnacle] monster was dead. That was supposed to be the end. It was the end of an [Incursion].
So why wasn’t the fucking rain stopping already?
