Drake quickly went to work and followed the next group of 40 Gnolls that were leaving the East, in the direction of the Mountain Outpost. He continued to follow them until around the halfway mark of the road and sprang into action. 

He casted devastating Mana Bolts from the trees with his new rings. They were a godsend, as they no longer gave the 2 second delay that had come with using anything that wasn't his staff. Allowing him to increase the speed at which he was able to cast. And with the reduction of Mana it was a sealed deal.

Drake’s Mana Bolts collided with the large group of unsuspecting Gnolls with unabated brutality, the damage output of his new weapons a marvel to behold. Taking swaths of their ranks out with each Bolt. The Gnolls may have been many, and above him in level, but his stats and new equipment more than compensated for it.

He continued to riegn down Mana Bolts until he consumed 50% of his overall Mana, then exploded forward in a kick up of dust from the forest into the remaining ranks of the Gnolls. He slammed into the nearest confused Warrior with his empowered fists, ripping through it, its shield, and its armor with one swing of his arm. 

 Moving from Gnoll to Gnoll with newly gained accuracy and swiftness after his night with the helpful Commander. Now able to better keep a more accurate view of the overall battlefield, he was able to position himself where he could fight and dodge any attacks from his peripheral.

 Drake moved like a wolf in a hen house, throwing, punching, stomping and kicking Mages, Rangers, and Warriors. Becoming an absolute torrent of carnage and destruction.

 After several minutes the fight finally came to a close and Drake was once again covered in blood. He looked around at the mess he had created with a slight forlorn look in his eyes, but quickly removed it from his mind. This was the reality in this new world, he would fight to get stronger as the system wouldn’t let him stop if he wished to protect his loved ones, and prove that he would get stronger.

 "Well outside the fact I just proved one of my titles correct and maybe turning into a truee psychopath, I am definitely a whole ass monster of a problem," he chuckled wryly.

 Drake picked up the spawning loot from the group and moved back to his position in the forest. After the last fight he had finally finished one of his remaining two quests and wanted to quickly recieve his reward.

 

 [20 of 20 Mage Gnolls [F- Rank] Subjugated. Quest Complete. Accept Rewards?]

 [Experience has been awarded]

 [Please roll for [F-Grade] Rarity Item]

 

Drake quickly brought out his black die and gently tossed it on the ground with trepidation. He knew it was unlikely but he hoped he could get the last set piece for his set, hoping it would have similar stats making him even stronger. 

 But reality hurt, as the die landed on 10. And a pair of black pants dropped out of a bead of light.

 

 [Black Silk Pants [F-Grade] [Uncommon]

 

• 26 to 30 Physical Reduction

• 22 to 27 Magic Reduction

• 1% Critical Hit Reduction

• Simple pants made from mana infused silk that offer a small amount of protection. +5% defense proficiency.

 

 

Drake wasn’t too disappointed to recieve the pair of silk pants as he knew it was unlikely to always get rare and above equipment but was still a bit sour. He bit his cheek and placed the pants in his inventory then replaced the leather pants he had been wearing with the Black Silk ones, feeling much more liberated from their constriction. In more ways than one.

 Then pulling a canteen from his inventory, he began scrubbing himself down from the blood as he waited for the next group.

 For the next five days, this was Drake’s life. He would pounce on the traveling groups of Gnolls decimating their ranks with Mana Bolts, then finishing them within a melee. Then looting before returning to the forest to clean himself off and check his gains.

 During the five days, the Gnolls had tried to catch him in the act. Sending larger parties of Gnolls to traverse the path, or staggering the groups so that they would catch him exhausted. But unfortunately for them, Drake was such a powerhouse at the moment that he didn’t even need to spend his saved Free Points or his Magic if he was honest, to defeat them.

 The highest Gnoll’s level clocked in at 18 and the lowest being 12, and with levels only that high they stood no chance.

 On the fifth day of Drake's onslaught he noticed a significant decrease in numbers. And eventually decided to check out Outpost B.

 When he arrived he saw the usual at the gate, some Gnolls above the wooden wall, lit with torches. But when he moved to get a look at the inside from the tree, what awaited his eyes was a notable change. Less than a fourth of the encampment was still erect. Most of the inside was now left bare, only a few campfires strewn about.

 "Wow, have I really killed that many?" Drake said, slightly in disbelief.

 He had without a doubt killed hundreds upon hundreds of Gnolls by this point and had grown jaded by the routine of it. 

 But this is what Drake was aiming for. He had wanted to thin out their enormous numbers so that he could take this Outpost B first, and use it to do the same for the Mountain Outpost. And now that he had he was just surprised that it had happened.

 Drake hopped down and looked over his stats a bit thinking of if he needed to use his Free Points or not, but decided against it. After all, he had gotten a new Title that helped a bit already.

 

 [Battle of Attrition]

 [Fight against 100 or more enemies at once and survive. +10 to all stats]

 

 It’s like a mini level up. Drake thought, smiling.

 Before Drake was ready to storm the keep, he made sure he had everything set. He drank some water, ate some more delish venison stew that he had become so fond of -that also happen to give some pretty good buffs- and did his business.

 He was finally all set to clear out the rest of the camp out and jumped the wall. Right into a group of Gnolls, coming down right on their campfire where they were cooking some kind of food.

 "Sorry chaps. Kitchen just closed, but I can offer some nice knuckle sandwiches." he laughed, kissing the back of his knuckle.

 The group barked and growled, alerting the rest of the camp as they drew their scattered weapons and charged in rage at Drake.

 He took no time in dispatching the small group, grabbing one Gnoll and slamming it into another. Kicking another through the chest, and sending another flying through the air with an uppercut.

Soon the rest of the camp was on him and he was back to an extended melee that he was so used to. Going from monster to monster, throwing punches and kicks that bisected multiple monsters. Chanting Mana Bolts as he went, killing groups of the Gnolls to a calamitous degree.

Until he heard a thunderous howl that sounded above the clash. And the Gnolls stopped their assault on Drake, making an opening for a much larger Squad Commander Gnoll to come through.

The Commander wore similar attire to the first Commander Gnoll Drake had faced but had Green Gemmed accessories donning its ears and hands, one in each. It was also holding glistening scimitars in each of its hands.

The Commander roared and surged forward, wasting no time in getting close.

Drake was surprised at the speed of the monster, even with what he remembered of the first Commander Gnoll, this one was leagues faster.

He put more mana into his rings, and braced for the Monster’s swing with a cross guard. But when the monster reached him, it disappeared.

Another one with a movement skill?! Drake shouted internally.

The monster reappeared behind him with a hyena-like snicker, as it tried to bring its scimitars down on Drake's head. But he had already turned and raised a black tattooed, mana-clad arm up to meet the strike, sparks of blue mana igniting from the collision. The Commander’s eyes widened for a moment in surprise but quickly began to strike with speed and ferocity, bringing down a flood of blows on Drake.

The speed at which the Commander Gnoll was attacking Drake, he was barely able to keep up. He blocked, and dodged as best he could. Thankfully his new armor kept him from taking too much damage. But he couldn’t understand how the monster was just as fast as he was, until he again spotted the shine of green attached to the Gnolls dog-like ears.

Drake needed to turn the tide, and quickly. He began chanting while blocking the blows from the Commander. And when he finished he threw his fist into the Gnolls abdomen, but hit nothing. Again the Gnoll disappeared from view and reappeared behind Drake, resulting in his Mana Bolt blowing a hole through several other monsters standing previously behind the Gnoll Commander.

"Stand still!" Drake yelled, swinging his arm in an arc behind him only to be met by two scimitars.

Again the two were held in a lock momentarily each pushing back on the other. The Commander barked a snicker again, but Drake began to win out in the contest of strength. A moment later, the Commander Gnoll disappeared before Drake could overtake it.

But this time Drake was ready for it, and immediately twisted into a roundhouse kick roaring as he did. The next moment the Gnoll reappeared behind Drake and was greeted by a steel boot to the chest. The monster flew through the camp and slammed into the wooden wall tens of feet away.

Drake looked at the wall where a small cloud of dust had kicked up from the Gnoll’s impact, and waited a moment for the dust to settle. But when it did the Gnoll was not there.

Drake turned and was met with the gleam of two scimitars once again, but was too slow to block the strikes this time as the blades crossed the right side of his face.

He recoiled in pain, his hand gripping the right side of his head, as blood leaked out from between his fingers.

He could feel the blood on his hand through the tattoos and glared at the Commander with a icy death stare, fury welling up.

But the Gnoll Commander was not left undamaged from the kick before and had a noticeable trail of blood leaking from its mouth as it grinned and barked back at him. The Gnoll brought one of its blades to its mouth as its large dog-like tongue wrapped around it, licking off the blood.

"Ugh.. bro. That’s so cliché..." Drake cringed, still holding his face. "Just for that," he said, bringing his right hand in front of him, seeing the fresh red liquid on it from his wound. "I’m going to turn that ugly excuse for a face you have, into one that even a mother wouldn’t love!"

Drake burst forward like a bullet shot from a gun, closing the distance between him and the monster in an instant, bringing his fist down with his skill like a bomb was being dropped. "Power through force! Heavy Blow!" he chanted as he slammed his fist down.

But the Gnoll had disappeared again, leaving Drake’s blow to leave a crater in the ground. 

Unfortunately Drake knew exactly where it was going to be. And quickly brought down his other fist in an overhead backhanded slam, right into the head of the scripted reappearance of the Squad Commander. The monster was brought head first to the floor like a dead weight, its head denting the ground and smashing with a crunch.

Drake followed up with a kick to its exposed head, breaking its jaw, forcing it to fly back a meter as small bits of teeth flew out of its maw while it grunted in pain. The Gnoll hit the ground and tumbled for a moment, but before it could stop. Drake was already on it, bringing down an empowered Heavy Blow fist right to its muzzle. Slamming the Commander into the ground and through it. Finally confirming the kill.

 

[You have subjugated Squad Commander Gnoll [F- Rank] Level 18] [Experience Earned, 9,000 TP awarded]

[Congratulations! You have increased to Mage x Warrior [Unique] Level 9] [28 Free Points have been awarded]

[3 of 5 Squad Commander Gnolls [F- Rank] Subjugated]

 

Drake was elated to finally get a level up again after so long, but the fight wasn’t over, as there were still well over 50 Gnolls surrounding him. Although his health was still topped off at 70%, his mana was getting dangerously low at 10% from having to empower his tattoos so much during the fight.

 I guess infusing the gauntlets really took a toll on my mana. I’ll have to find a way to regulate it better or compensate. But this leaves me with… 10 minutes left of use with my gauntlets on the lowest cost? Drake thought, as the Gnolls were hesitant to attack him, but soon many of them lunged and charged forward at him, arrows and Mana Bolts not far behind.

"10 Minutes until the end. Looks like it’s the final countdown." Drake chuckled to himself.

Drake dashed forward, slamming and throwing the charging Warriors every which way. Grabbing them and using them as shields as he began to wreak unrelenting havoc on their back line. Playing like a dog seeing snow for the first time, in their melee. Hopping from one monster to the next, a small excited upward curve of his lips creasing his face.

He jumped and hopped from Gnoll to Gnoll, every kick, punch, and throw resulting in a new notification from his devastation.

Soon the Gnolls were approaching the single digits and attempted to flee through the gates but Drake didn’t give chase. Allowing less than five of them to open and run through them. He needed them to go back to the mountain outpost and hopefully bring back the rest of the monsters.