Seeds of Hope

"Sergeant! We meet again!" Roman called out as they climbed to the top of the walls. All around them, soldiers moved frantically, hurling rocks and cauldrons of boiling oil onto the creatures below, while archers launched a volley of arrows, trying in vain to pierce the thick armor of the monstrous horde.

The Sergeant turned, his grizzled face cracking into a brief smile. "Roman. Welcome back to the party." He nodded toward the chaos below. "Honestly, I was just thinking how useful it would’ve been if you'd stuck around. These arrows aren't doing a damn thing to those armored bastards."

"Aww, you missed me!" Roman replied with a broad grin. "Well, don't worry. I'm here now, and I brought some friends." He gestured to the others, who stood ready by his side.

"Good to see you all again," Smithson nodded toward the group, his eyes lingering on Seth for a second.

Jessika stepped forward, frowning. " Good to see you too Sergeant but let me get this straight—you’re planning on going out there? Into the middle of that? Wouldn’t it be safer to stay up here and keep hitting them from behind the walls?"

"Normally, yeah," Smithson replied, motioning for her to watch. Arrows rained down on the creatures below, bouncing off their armored hides like raindrops. The oil, while more effective, wasn’t slowing the horde enough to make a difference. "But as you can see, we’re not doing much damage. Those arrows are useless, and the oil isn’t enough to stop them. We’ve got to meet them head-on."

Jessika’s eyes scanned the walls. "What about magic? I don’t see any mages. Can’t they help us hold the line?"

Smithson shook his head. "Mage units were sent north to deal with the orc invasion. We’re running on reserves here. No mages to back us up this time."

"Orc invasion?" Roman interrupted, surprise clear in his voice.

"Yeah," Smithson replied, his tone heavy with the weight of the situation. "The kingdom’s dealing with a full-scale orc invasion from the north. Most of the army's already deployed there. These are just our reserve forces. The Hydra Knights, myself included, were returning from a previous mission when we heard rumors of this mess. So we came to investigate… and that’s when we found you."

Roman glanced at his group, understanding the stakes had just gotten a lot higher. "So the kingdom’s split between two fronts," he muttered. "No mages, and only reserve troops holding this position."

Smithson nodded grimly. "That’s the long and short of it. But we can’t afford to let these beasts break through the walls, or we’ll lose everything behind us. If they breach Kenan, the countryside will be overrun and there’s nothing to stop them for a hundred miles till they reach the capital."

Jessika glanced at Roman. "Looks like we don’t have much of a choice, then."

Roman gripped the handle of his glaive, his expression resolute. "We’ll handle it. Let’s get out there and push them back before it’s too late."

Smithson smirked, a glint of respect in his eyes. "I knew you had guts, Roman. Let’s see if you’ve got the strength to back it up. The gates will open on my command."

Roman’s heart pounded in anticipation as the group prepared to face the horde head-on. This wasn’t just about survival anymore—it was about protecting everything that lay beyond Eidon. And now, with the stakes higher than ever, Roman knew he’d need every ounce of his power to turn the tide.

“No need.” He said, smirked at his friends and dropped from the walls. He felt alive, a rush of power surging through him as he prepared for this battle and he started pulling at his power and prepared a couple skills he’d never used.

Kinectic Absorption then he pushed out a Lightning Burst out in a massive cone in front of him. The wall was a lot higher than he thought which works to his benefit here because of Kinetic Absorption. I’m gonna push it even more. He thought and then stepped hard against the wall.

Flash Step

The ground seemed to appear before him in no more than a blink. He barely had time to twist so he would land feet first instead of flat on his face but then his boots made contact with the ground in between two giant beetle like creatures who started to bite at him but his flash step through off their timing.

BOOM! He crashed into the ground and a huge cloud of smoke rose up all around. He lifted his head, tryin to get his bearings about him and smiled as he felt the new power surging from him because of Kinetic Absorption. This is awesome! He thought and stood tall with his glaive in his right hand.

He pushed off with his new strength and speed and swung quickly at the beetle to his left, swinging horizontally to cut through it and a good bunch behind it like he did with the soldiers.

CLANG! The blade bounced off the monster and the vibrations tore through his body, he ended up dropping the glaive as well as his whole body shook.

Ahh!” He shook the weird feeling from his arm and had to step jump back to dodge the beetles mandibles aoming at his face. He felt the wall not too far behind him so he had to push out.

Slash damage doesn’t work on these huh…He ran back through his gaming memories…when slash didn’t work blunt damage was usually the next option.

“But my beautiful hands though!” He fussed as he ducked another swing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a couple huge fireballs falling at the monsters and the explosion tore through monsters, and then the new monsters that touched the area also caught fire. Magic? My initial strike did hella damage so let’s try going all in.

He gathered a small amount of power and shot out a small lightning burst at the beetle and it dropped instantly.

“Oh word?! I didn’t think that little amount of power would take them out!” He looked around and focused on around 10 monsters around him and pushed bursts of lightning at each out them and creating a clearing. As soon as there was enough room, he heard a loud thud next to him.

“Now you can see the true skills of a Guardian Knight.” Z said proudly bringing his shield up and slamming it down hard. A shimmering blue bubble shield appeared in the clearing and the monsters rammed against it but made it made no difference.

“My protector!” Roman swooned and Z laughed hard.

“Yall are having a little too much fun out here.” Seth materialized next to Roman who jumped in surprise.

“Um my good sir! Please announce yourself next time before you get a fist through your face!” He exclaimed.

“Nah its so much better this way.” He chuckled. “So how about a little competition?”

“Say less! What’s the bet?” Roman asked.

“’Say less’?” Seth asked.

“Sorry it’s a saying from home…but uh..”

“Most kills gets bragging rights…I don’t think anything financial would be worth it with the amount of gold we’ll be making after this anyway.” Z answered.

“What gold?”

“Oh there is a bounty out for these creatures, Count Kenan has agreed to pay 1 gold for each monster killed. How about for our bet I double it if yall beat me but if I win then…Roman you tell me about your cultivation trick.” Seth offered. So he thinks its some unique trick of the system or something?

“Ok deal. I’ll take the middle since I’ve already started there.” He nodded towards the destruction he already caused there.

“Sounds good to me.” Z said and turned to the right leaving the left for Seth.

“May the odds be ever in your favor!” Roman announced with a chuckle but the others just looked at him confused. He ignored them and burst forth out of the bubble of protection.

Its time to learn this system. Maybe makes some attack skills on the go. So many questions needing to be answered…like just because lightning is the element I chose is it the only one I can use? His mind shot back to the carnage those fireballs caused. He did the same thing he did for lightning burst but instead of lightning he imagined an inferno bursting forth.