Esti looked up at the fort walls with wide eyes and a flapping mouth. She wanted to form words, wanted to do something, anything, to describe what she witnessed. Nothing came to her.

The old woman, in all her years, had never seen anything like this. She had watched as Tess scaled the walls, content with the knowledge that the Lur’s sturdy walls would prevent anything from getting in. The stray child and the Jaria had pushed that notion so far into the pit of her gut Esti felt it flip. Jaria would chew through the wooden doors without issue.

The woman had readied herself to fight in that moment, vowing that if Laubat would take her, he would take the rest of the Jaria as well. Other villagers, more hopeful than Esti, had attempted to open the doors for the child, determined to prevent their death.

And then a bright light pulled Esti’s attention upward. There, right smack dab in the middle, stood Tess with her bow pulled taut. An ethereal person dressed in fur armor appeared hovering behind the woman, correcting Tess’s posture and aim. Then, the strangest thing of all happened. Smoke appeared above Tess, deep red symbols popping out of it like an actor announcing their presence. The words bounced in the air for a second before shrinking out of existence.

The ethereal person and the bright light vanished a moment later. The smell of decay and corrosion filled the air, matched with hearty cheers from the militia on the walls. Some moved to Tess, clapping her on the back while others shouted that the Jaria were dead.

“Flaming mounds,” Esti whispered. “What did I just witness?”

***

On the outskirts of the city, five adventurers jumped, twirled, and flew across the ground as swarms of Jaria rolled down the hills. The monsters traveled in pods of threes and fives, squelching along and leaving corroding trails.

“Watch those on the left!” Mirari shouted.

Another Aire Jejende raised his hand, blasting the three Jaria into a pile of five. The monsters quickly started cannibalizing each other, growing rapidly.

Mirari did the same to a group of five coming down the hill. The strategy for Jaria was rather simple. The monsters—whenever they grew in size like this—were corralled and mashed together by two who could cast wind or earth. Then when the Jaria merged and grew a Jejende that could cast fire or water would burn or drown it.

This simple process was complicated immensely by the frightening amount of Jaria coming from the forest. Mirari had never seen such a throng in his lifetime.

The adventurer raised his hand as another group of three Jaria bounced out of the treeline. His worn mind again conjured a wind spell, eating more of his mana. His spell matrix, that glowing, green spiral of a pentagon inside him flickered dangerously. Mirari grit his teeth, willing the mana inside him to rush out his hands.

Three Jaria flew off the ground, traveling in an arc to land atop the previous group of five. The monsters tore into each other, sublimating membranes and acid until they reached the size of a person. It turned toward the adventurers wobbling forward toward warm prey. The adventurer next to Mirari, a Su Jejende, wove a pattern of flame in his hand and whipped it at the monster. It struck the Jaria’s membrane, evaporating the slime coating and burning the nerves until they frayed and ripped.

The monster fell, spewing its insides onto the already muddy ground. As soon as it fell, another group of Jaria came from the trees to replace it.

“I’m running out of mana!” one of the adventurers shouted. “We need to retreat!”

“If we leave, they’ll eat the village and grow too strong,” another adventurer said as he blasted a bigger Jaria with fire. “We have to stop them here.”

“I have enough for three more firebolts,” the adventurer said. “After that, I’m spent.”

Mirari felt the same. He had maybe two good wind blasts left. The spell matrix inside him flickered relentlessly, the pentagonal spiral almost winking out of existence.

The adventurer looked back at his home. Ortzerri was a simple village, built from Aire and Su Jejende unable to find work in the larger cities. No one would care if it fell. No one except those who lived there.

Mirari imagined Esti chiding him for his next thoughts. They would need to take a gamble, or else the Jaria would overrun everything. All the work over the years, saving for a Lur to come and build a seamless wall, would be destroyed. The Jejende couldn’t let that happen.

“Combine the rest together,” Mirari said. “I’ll lead the last one away.”

“What? No!” Protested the other adventurers.

Mirari looked at his companions and smiled. “Don’t worry, I know a place in the forest where the ground drops away. I’ll lead it over the cliff.”

“We’ll come with you,” the adventurer said. He grit his teeth, blasting the engorged Jaria before it moved.”

Mirari shook his head. “You need to scour the village once I lead it away. One Jaria can quickly grow to become a threat, you know this as much as I.”

“I won’t—”

“Stop arguing!” Mirari shouted. “If we want any chance of saving the village, you have to let me do this!”

The others closed their mouths. Mirari’s eyes shone with the stubborn determination that only the selfless had.

“Get them all together,” Mirari urged. “I’ll lead them away.”

The Aire Jejende hopped back two steps, pulling an unlit torch from one of his many pouches. Jaria hunted by heat, meaning if Mirari wanted to lead this new monster he would need to be a beacon.

The other adventurers worked together, smashing the incoming Jaria together until none came from the forest.

“Get going,” Mirari said as he lit the torch. The Jaria rolled toward the group, pushing the acidic mud to the side in waves. Mirari stepped forward with the torch to draw its attention, using it to keep the Jaria from focusing on his retreating comrades.

One small grace was that large Jaria were slow, at least in a relative sense. Mirari could conserve energy by jogging, letting the monster chase him back into the forest without issue.

Now, all Mirari had to do was lead the monster to the cliff, have it crash down and die, then make it back home without something else attacking him.

Oh, and he had to make sure the Jaria didn’t eat enough to split.

“Nothing an adventurer can’t handle,” Mirari said to himself as he ran.

***

Dun-dun-dun dun-dun dun dun! That’s 70xp for defeating the oozes. Look at you go!

 

Tess frowned at the message. “Hold on, that horde was way more dangerous than the Blink Panther. Shouldn’t I be getting a lot of experience?”

Oh ho ho! Warming up to the system I see.

 

Tess’s frown deepened into a scowl. “Just answer the question.”

Alright I’ll explain. Sheesh. No need to bite my head off.

 

It’s like this. The ooze horde would have been around 1000xp, if—and only if—you fought it alone. You had an entire fortress helping out so I had to split the rewards.

 

“Sounds arbitrary,” Tess answered.

Only because you don’t like it.

 

Tess huffed and changed topics, turning to a nearby militia who was still celebrating her kill. “Will Mirari and the others need help?”

The militia shook his head. “If it gets too dangerous for the adventurers they’ll let us know. My bet is they have it covered.”

Uh-oh, that’s a flag

Tess tossed the box to the side just in time to see four adventurers rush up the lane.

“Everyone alright!” they shouted.

“Yes!” A militia answered. “You?”

“Mirari’s leading the last of them away from the village while we clean up!” the adventurer said.

“What?” Tess heard Esti shout. “Alone?”

The adventurer winced and hung his head ashamed. “He said the village was more important.”

“Typical!” Esti shrilled. There was a clattering below the walls. “Open the doors! I’m heading after him.”

Tess’s eyes widened.

“You can’t, Esti!” someone shouted. “You don’t know the woods.”

Tess started toward the stairway, slipping past the gaggle of watching militia.

“Mounds to that,” Esti answered. “If that empty-headed air-bagged idiot thinks he can sacrifice himself for me, he’s got another thing coming.”

“I’ll go!” Tess shouted.