Chapter 51: Operation Schoolyard Rescue (8)
The summoned Rift-Sprites tore through the enemy ranks without rest. Fireballs exploded among clustered variants, Aqua projectiles shattered Stone sprites, and Wind blades sliced through the Aqua Rift-Sprites’ targets.
Reidar watched the battlefield from a safe distance. His proficiency with his skills was good enough for him to be able to stay safe while, at the same time, killing the monsters. There were sixteen health bars glowing green as notifications went in and out at the edge of his vision.
[Ember Rift-Sprite level 8 Defeated.]
[Aqua Rift-Sprite level 9 Defeated.]
[Ember Rift-Sprite level 6 Defeated.]
The swarm of 2,500 thinned visibly, especially because those from the 50 people unity leveled up at least once during the fight, meaning that their Rift-Sprites squad got stronger. They could also get into a party, so getting experience became easier.
Soon, porcelain corpses piled in the schoolyard, but the battle was far from being done.
Reidar’s Fireball vaporized three sprites.
[CRITICAL! Your Fireball strikes Wind Rift-Sprite for 312 fire damage.]
[CRITICAL! Your Fireball strikes Wind Rift-Sprite for 289 fire damage.]
[CRITICAL! Your Fireball strikes Wind Rift-Sprite for 351 fire damage.]
[Wind Rift-Sprite defeated.]
[Wind Rift-Sprite defeated.]
[Wind Rift-Sprite defeated.]
[You have gained 24 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have gained 27 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have gained 28 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
<It’s too easy... Really...>
Though, that kind of battle was just dangerous. While fighting one or two monsters at his same level was indeed harder, Reidar would need to focus on just one or two monsters. Here, instead, Reidar had to keep attention to hundreds of attacks coming his way from multiple directions.
The others quickly agreed. Unless they were way stronger than their enemies, fighting like this, with no real defense, was just plain dumb.
Actually, if it wasn’t for Reidar and his Skill Sharing Trait, the battle itself would have just have been impossible, not only because of the numbers, but because of the levels.
Though Reidar’s jaw tightened. Even with "The Pioneer" title’s 5% bonus, level 10 sprites yielded crumbs.
<The only good thing is that I’m killing far more Rift-Sprites than the others. I guess keeping up with me is impossible for the others.>
Though he had to recognize they were doing well, especially George, Kate, Malcolm and the rest of the core group. They were doing far more damage and kills than all the 50 others put together. Not only they were able to fight properly with their Rift-Sprite Squads, but they were also using their weapons.
They weren’t part of the core group for no reason.
Being safe amongst those many monsters was not easy, but their own Rift-Sprites were keeping them safe up to a certain extent.
The sheer number of Rift-Sprites made things worse for them. They kept hitting each other in the chaos. With so many crowded together, it was impossible for the wild monsters to tell friend from foe, especially with the group’s summoned squads mixed in.
Across the battlefield, Margaret’s summons cornered a shrieking Elite Aqua Sprite. Her squad pummeled it to shards.
[Margaret Steinis reached Level 6!]
Reidar’s party counter ticked upward—16% of the swarm eliminated. For the others, each kill was a leap forward. Sarah’s health bar risked being brought down a lot, but she luckily ducked behind Linda’s summons and avoided quite a nasty wound that would likely spell her untimely death.
[Sarah Finch reached Level 6!]
"Push the left flank!" Malcolm roared, as his own summons formed a wall around him. "Elites are clustering near the jungle gym!"
Reidar’s Guardian Shade siphoned mana from the surroundings, which were supercharged given the amount the rift-sprites were releasing upon their death. Arcane leech got even more mana as he launched attack after attack, and his proficiency in the spells he used kept increasing.
He unleashed Wind Blades in incessant arches, clearing paths for the weaker fighters. Every sprite he attacked died, giving much more experience to his party members, far more than the other fighters were getting.
[Mike Leisman reached Level 7!]
[Frank Lindon reached Level 6!]
[Linda Merr reached Level 6!]
[George Wells reached Level 9!]
George was doing well. He seemed pretty adept at fighting despite his age. Like many others, he didn’t push his A.C.U.M.E.N up, and actually increased his S.H.I.E.L.D quite a bit. That meant he had at least 5.5 points in S.H.I.E.L.D. and... well.
He was basically superhuman. He was moving fast, too fast for someone of his age, and his sword was cleaving through the brittle porcelain skin of the Rift-Sprite as if they were pieces of ham.
It was kinda scary.
<I should think of increasing my S.H.I.E.L.D. too. George is kinda cool.>
Though not all the monsters fell that easily to George’s rampage. The Elites could either be taken care by Reidar or groups. That role, in fact, always befell Reidar, but often Malcolm, Kate and the others killed one.
"Incoming!"
A huge rain of attacks fell from the sky. The Rift-Sprites didn’t like the attack on the nest, and were trying their best to repel the invaders. Reidar looked in the area where the attacks came while the rest of his comrades hid behind walls and buildings.
There he saw an elite Ember Rift-Sprites coordinating the surrounding group.
—Elite Ember Rift-Sprite Level 12—
<That’s a fatso there! I need to kill the big guy!>
The problem was that the monster was too far for Reidar to reach the bastard.
<Time to send the Bone Militia then.>
The summons were already there. In truth, they were playing the most important role of everyone else, because the skeletal minions were right in the middle of the monster horde, keeping the Rift-Sprites occupied and focused.
That allowed the others to fight relatively free from harm, but Elites happened, exactly like they did right now, and in those cases, Reidar had to do something.
That something quickly turned into moving his Bone Militia toward the Elite Ember Rift-Sprite.