Chapter 30 - Freeing the Town 1

If a person were to look at a map to check what the town looked like from a top point of view, they'd realize that the town was in a crater. In reality, it was exactly what looked like on a map. The road leading up to the guard post at the very edge of the town was relatively straight, but to go into the town itself they had to go down, not straight.

With that, the group started its descent into the town. Luckily, the sloped roads remained as is but the problem was that they could see what was going on inside the town.

The town had smoke dotted in and around the town center and it was problematic with chaos running amok. It was bad. Very bad. The guards probably did what they could to minimize casualties but Rynold knew that they could only hold them back for a few moments.

A shred of gratitude arose from his heart, thankful that he was in the academy with few people that increased his survivability. If he were here, he doubted that he would even survive.

Shaking his head, Rynold focused on the objective at hand. Clear the town of the ghouls. It was easier said than done and there were a lot of random conditions that may arise from these circumstances.

The group kept running down the slope but it wasn't long until they reached the first ghoul.

Without even a word, the group lept into action.

It was a low-leveled ghoul so it wasn't much trouble for Rynold to clear up. He instinctively switched to Strength-form and blew the ghoul away, to Shyft's surprise.

His initial thoughts of doubt in Rynold's leadership were instantly gone as he knew that his nephew never had neglected his responsibilities, what's more if he had immense power?

The group rushed forward and reached the bottom of the slope that brought them to the same elevation as the town, clearing ghouls along the way. Rynold's heart secretly ached as he killed what used to be their townspeople, but now wasn't the time to think of those things.

"Keep going! I'll clear the way to the building that would act as the safe zone!" Rynold shouted as he punched a hole big enough for his fist to go right through at a ghoul's chest.

The experience that he gained was minimal since he was at a much higher level than these common ghouls. He decided to lead the way since he had the least potential gains from the current battles.

"Save some for us!" Oliver came up from the side with Strider lashing out on his own. Shyft did the same and showed excellent spearmanship to ghouls that would put Rynold's combat techniques to shame.

"Don't worry, you guys can leave Skye and Jack to me. Go wreck havoc in town!" Rynold yelled back as he beat another ghoul to the ground. He was picking up loot as he cleaned up the ghouls along the way but this was the first drop that looked like a really common skill book.

The skill book was called [Pierce], it was so self-explanatory that Rynold didn't even keep it for himself and threw it to his uncle. "Thank me later!" Rynold shouted to his uncle.

Shyft looked at the book and the corresponding windows that popped up that confirmed himself to be an evolver. He immediately learned the skill and made full use of it in his next attack. Paired with his spearmanship and the skill, the attack shattered a ghoul's skull and penetrated the back of its head.

"Go!" Rynold motioned to Skye and Jack to follow him while Oliver, Strider, and Shyft went their separate ways.

Skye was trying her best to deal damage to the ghouls that came up. Swinging the Wooden Staff here and there while using [Wind Blade] here and there. Jack was doing the same, only he used his Poisonous Mana Rifle to knock ghouls back and shoot them when he had the chance.

They were able to hold their own. Rynold's strength was overwhelming to the ghouls, however, but he decided to hold it back since it was a perfect opportunity for the other two to level up. That was what he was doing until not soon after an Enhanced Ghoul showed up.

"Really?" Rynold was inadvertently surprised at how soon an Enhanced Ghoul showed up. But it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Rynold cracked his knuckles as he met the Enhanced Ghoul's challenge. He didn't even have to summon X to deal with the creature as he wanted to test his limits against this humanoid monster.

With a smile, he got to work.

Using his higher agility, Rynold sped up to meet the ghoul head-on, only stopping once he was in the range of snapping its limbs in two which, if he were underleveled, was too close for comfort.

Strength-form Charging Fist!

Rynold's gauntlet smashed onto one of the Enhanced Ghoul leg joints and broke it clean in half. It made a satisfying cracking sound that made Rynold realize to keep going as his attack managed to work. He jumped up high where he was able to directly punch the creature's head.

Having 60 Intelligence made the power of his Mana Bonded Gauntlets deal more damage. The punch made a direct hit to the Enhanced Ghoul's head without it having any means to defend itself.

Rynold found it hard to believe that he was afraid of dealing with this creature not too long ago. Now, though, he was completely overwhelming the creature's defense and it didn't have the agility to keep up with Rynold's fast and powerful attacks. Granted, being in Strength-form slowed him down but the Enhanced Ghoul was still considerably slower.

He then spun to deal a backhand to the ghoul then sidestepped to reach another limb and punched its joints again. The Enhanced Ghoul toppled to the ground and made it an even easier target for Rynold to kill.

Slam!

Rynold dealt out a flurry of attacks that made a fool pity the ghoul from the one-sided beating. He made full use of his instincts in his attacks, not even thinking about how he should approach to make his attacks more efficient.

It wasn't long until the Enhanced Ghoul turned to dust. Not wanting to waste any more time, Rynold grabbed the loot and looked back to Skye and Jack. They were both about to finish up.

Jack was panting with beads of sweat was covering his face. His military training had prepared him to fight things physically but he was bottoming out his mana reserves. While Skye on the other hand was definitely worse for wear.

Her only means to defend herself was [Wind Blade] which required Mana. Mana that she didn't have. Thankfully, her last swing of her killed the last ghoul that she was up against.

"You okay?" Rynold asked Skye.

She simply nodded in response as she was trying to grasp for air with sweat covering most of her face. She was noticeably tired but it was just enough for her to recover from.

It was unfortunate to get them to a safe place and pass through what seemed like a trial by fire. On the bright side, they were leveling up.

Tsk.

Rynold was divided if they had the strength to push forward since they were only about halfway through their destination. It definitely wasn't getting any better for both Skye and Jack. He didn't want to waste any more time than what he had spent so far.

He let out a low sigh before running out to help Jack deal with the remaining ghouls. Blunt weapons like whacking the Poisonous Mana Rifle isn't enough to deal with ghouls. Injure them, sure, but killing them with those kinds of attacks won't work. Rynold had to step in to speed up the process.

"You guys good to keep going?" Rynold asked while looking around to make sure that they were alone. They were still at the farmlands that were before the town itself and it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Just... let me... catch... my... breath...," Jack was tired and Skye was no better.

This just showed how important it is for them to get to a place where they would deal damage without any danger. It was a lot more inefficient to go through like this since mid to long-ranged combat would be much better.

Rynold patted Jack on the back who was sitting down on the ground before going out and grabbing the loot. As much as he wanted to check what he had gotten over killing the ghouls, getting to the radio tower at the very edge of town was a lot more important.

'Guess I have no other choice,' Rynold raised his hand once more to do the thing that he had gotten used to these past few days. It was practically the only way to move forward now that the mana reserves of both Skye and Jack were nearly empty.

"Summon Mech Knight."