As we entered the altar room we saw that it was covered in a hazy mist, obscuring most of the room. I could see the two candles burning brightly on the altar even through the mist, that seemed to swirl with every movement, almost clinging to our bodies. I was tense as hell walking into this creepy room, expecting the inevitable boss battle. I swung my head to the left, seeing movement in the mist. I stared at the space, waiting to see if I spotted it again. The room was deathly silent like a shroud had been draped over it. I chuckled internally at that thought."Welcome," a raspy wispy voice said from somewhere in the room.The voice seemed to come from everywhere as it echoed around the walls. I wasn't able to locate the speaker as I frantically looked about the room."Back to back," I whispered to Fiona."Ok, but leave some space to maneuver," she replied as I felt her armor brush my shoulder."Oh, no, don't be like that. I get so few visitors. You came to play, let's play," the las

We rode towards the smoke as quickly as our mounts could move. It seemed to be coming from the overpass bridge. The very same bridge we took the first time we entered the city. While not the only entrance to the city, from this side of town it was the most convenient. We rode past a few other entrances that had been blocked off or were too far from the main road for ease of use.I doubted the city or any cities for that matter, would remain this spread out in the future. It was likely the cities would be walled off. Making safe zones for non-combatants to protect them from roaming monsters. It would also help position the soldiers at easily defensible chokepoints like our overpass.We zipped down city streets, the ravor beasts easily navigating even the concrete roads. We were closing in on the checkpoint. There was still some smoke, and from this close, I realized it wasn't coming from the crossing. It was farther in the city, perhaps near where the army headquarters might be. Whatev

The freed slaves had been correct. I was looking over the railway overpass from the second story of a house. Four individuals were lounging behind the sandbag bunkers on the far side. There were, however, no mounted guns.I couldn't see any guns from this range, which was not necessarily a good thing. It probably meant these individuals had power enough to not need firearms. There were two possible ways across the bridge, quietly, or loudly. We would try the quiet approach first."You ready for this?" I asked Fiona.She had argued against the plan, well one part of the plan. She had been pretty insistent about not wearing the armband. I managed to convince her it was the only quick option we had. We needed to get across, to the city, and determine what happened to the locals. If we could save them we would."Not really, but what choice do we have?"I just grunted in response. Plan B was in the back of my mind. If this plan failed I could probably blitz across half the bridge before my

On our way out from the compound, we checked a few of the bodies. I removed any storage rings from the Black Dragons we came across stuffing them into my boots to look through later. We did manage to find another pistol and M16 rifle along with a few magazines of ammo. The Corporal took the pistol and now the Specialist had two weapons. Well, three if you included the maces I gave to each of them.The Scout actually came in quite handy on our trip. He could sense hostiles within a certain range, allowing us to avoid a few patrols and letting us know it was clear. I checked anyway just to be extra cautious. Trust but verify."Ok where to?" I asked our guides."Well, the first place they could have gone was to link up with the Matron and her people."I grumbled at that thought. I didn't really want to interact with the cantankerous old crone again. I was also starting to suspect that she had an ability that allowed her to leach experience due to her high level. The only other explanatio

I easily dodged the thrown spear with my enhanced agility and blurred towards the Sapper, you might ask why not go for the highest level person first. Just a little payback for poor Jenkins, since he was likely the one that set the boobytrap. I think even he was surprised as I barreled towards him, trying in vain to raise his club to block my strike.I simply pulled my staff back, just enough to avoid his clumsy swing before thrusting it forward with all my might. Splattering his brains all over the Vindicator, whom I conveniently lined up for a facial.This brought the man to a halt as he tried to wipe the gore from his face and spit it out of his mouth. The Dervish came at me with his curved swords trying to carve me up, but he was about four levels shy of being a true threat. Especially since my sparring sessions with Fiona, who was much more skilled and much quicker.I slapped his swords off to the side, spinning around behind him using the momentum of my strike. With a flick, I s