Chapter 31: The Fortified Door
The group exchanged glances. Two hundred monsters in the area sounded like too many, and they hadn’t seen Reidar fight that many.
They were not sure he could do it despite Reidar saying the opposite. However, these weren’t the level ten creatures they’d been fighting in the wilderness, so maybe what he said wasn’t a lie.
"Remember their levels," Reidar said. "Most are level one through four. You can handle them with the right strategy."
Mike hefted his crowbar. "And what’s the strategy?"
Reidar studied the terrain between their position and the target building. Open ground with scattered debris provided cover but limited maneuverability, and the others weren’t good enough at fighting.
"The strategy would be to smash their heads. I was able to do this when I was level 0, so the Rift-Sprites are not going to be a problem in themselves."
"The problem would be getting to them."
"Right," Reidar said, "And that’s why I will take care of weakening them," he said. "Hit each sprite with an attack of the same element it uses. That reduces the damage, but they’ll still take enough that you will be able to get close to them and kill them with single strikes."
The math made sense. With two hundred monsters split six ways, that meant about thirty-three kills each. Reidar wasn’t sure if that’d be enough to get them all to level five, but he had his doubts.
They should be able to at least get to level two, though, or three if they were lucky.
"We will start by clearing those near that building. Is that ok with you?"
The others nodded at Reidar’s question. The survivors checked their weapons and adjusted their grips.
Reidar led them down the hill toward the fortified building. His summons spread out in protective formation, ready to intercept any sprites that tried to flank the group.
The first cluster of wild sprites saw them. Six Ember Sprites came from behind a collapsed wall.
–Ember Rift-Sprite—Level 2–
–Ember Rift-Sprite – Level 1–
–Ember Rift-Sprite – Level 3–
–Ember Rift-Sprite—Level 2–
–Ember Rift-Sprite – Level 1–
–Ember Rift-Sprite—Level 2–
"Fire sprites first," Reidar called out. He raised his Rift-Sprite Conductor and channeled minimal mana into a Fireball spell. The orange sphere struck the lead creature center mass.
[Your Fireball strikes Ember Rift-Sprite for 32 Fire Damage.]
[Arcane Leech effect triggered. 8 damage points converted into mana.]
The sprite stumbled but remained steady. Its shell showed cracks and darkened areas, but it was far from dead. The reduced damage from matching elements had worked like Reidar wanted.
"Sarah, finish it," Reidar said.
She stepped ahead and swung her heavy wrench at the wounded creature’s skull. The impact broke through the compromised shell.
The creature died. Reidar didn’t know how many C.L.A.S.P. Sarah got or how much damage she did, but the strategy worked since the Rift-Sprite died.
Reidar struck the second sprite with another reduced-power Fireball while George took on the third. His metal pipe connected with the creature’s weakened torso, dropping it immediately.
The pattern repeated several times. Reidar would strike each monster with its matching element, reducing the damage enough to leave it vulnerable but alive. His teammates then stepped in for the killing blows.
It wasn’t easy, though, because Reidar had to keep at bay many monsters.
Mike crushed a level three sprite with his crowbar. Margaret drove her screwdriver through a level one’s eye socket. Frank’s tire iron caved in another creature’s skull.
The first group of sprites fell within minutes.
"Well done! Now let’s get to the others!"
Stone Sprites arose from rubble piles near the building. Reidar switched to Stone Bullet attacks. Each attack injured but didn’t kill.
[Your Stone Bullet strikes Stone Rift-Sprite for 28 bludgeoning damage.]
[Arcane Leech effect triggered. 7 damage points converted into mana.]
Linda stepped forward with her knife. More sprites appeared from different areas of the town near the building.
Wind variants, Aqua types. Reidar adapted his attacks to match each element, always leaving his companions with wounded but killable targets.
His summons handled any sprites that tried to escape or flank the group.
George crushed a Wind Sprite with his pipe after Reidar’s Wind Blade attack left it staggering. Sarah’s wrench pulverized an Aqua Sprite that Reidar had struck with a water blast. Mike’s crowbar finished a Stone Sprite with brutal efficiency.
The body count increased.
Frank struck down his fifteenth sprite with visible satisfaction. "This is actually working."
"Keep focused," Reidar said. "We’re not done yet."
More sprites poured from the surroundings. They seemed to be drawn to the sound of combat. But their low level made them manageable with their tactics.
The battle continued for 30 minutes. Sarah struck down her thirtieth sprite and paused to catch her breath. "How many more?"
"We’re close to clearing this area," Reidar said. He could see the sprite numbers diminishing around the building. "Maybe twenty more."
Frank’s tire iron crushed the skull of the last Ember Sprite. The creature’s orange eyes dimmed as its body collapsed to the ground.
Silence settled over the battlefield. The area around the building was filled with sprite corpses. Dark fluid pooled between cracked shells and scattered crystal fragments.
"I LEVELED UP TWICE!"
"ME TOO!"
"We did it," Mike said, staring at his status screen in amazement.
"Level two," Sarah said. "I can’t believe we’re on level two."
They did it.
<It’s around how much I assumed they would get.>
Each survivor received the same notification. Their accumulated C.L.A.S.P. points had pushed them past the thousand-point threshold for level one, then past the additional requirement for level two.
Even though they were worn out, the group buzzed with excitement. Reidar gave a satisfied nod. "People are holed up in that building, and they need us. Let’s move."
He gestured toward the fortified house. The boarded windows showed no movement, but the sprites had been trying to get inside for a reason.
It was a two-story brick building, older than the surrounding structures, with weathered stones and a tiled roof that had seen better days.
Every ground-floor window was a fortress of salvaged materials. Thick wooden planks, some splintered and gray with age, were bolted over the frames.
Sheets of corrugated metal, ripped from a collapsed storefront nearby, reinforced the wood. The gaps were sealed tight with a mixture of rags, hardened spray foam, and black tar.
The group gathered before the barricaded entrance.