"You Reap What You Sow (part 1)"

Liam was frozen, fear, anguish, anger, and uselessness washing over him. "This is the gate to hell," he thought, his hands trembling.

An arrow zipped past his face, the whooshing sound snapping him back to reality.

He focused on the battlefield, his eyes drawn to Leonard, who had been wounded in the chest. "Leo!" he gasped. "I need to help him..." But then he saw Leo regain his footing and, with strangely precise movements, finish off the gnoll. Relief washed over him, quickly followed by a wave of bewilderment. "What was that?" he wondered, his spirits lifting slightly as he witnessed Leo's calculated attack. It was like he was a completely different person, moving with an unnatural grace and speed.

Then he thought, "What am I doing here?" A scream caught his attention. He looked and saw a lost child near the battle. The child, no older than five, was huddled near an overturned cart, his small body trembling.

"An overturned carriage?" He assessed the situation. The child was crying, hidden in the wreckage. "Their parents were probably killed or lost them in the chaos," he concluded.

Liam spotted a gnoll turning its attention towards the screaming child. The beast was already drooling, its red eyes fixated on the easy prey. "Damn it...!" he cursed. Driven by an uncontrollable urge, Liam ran towards the girl. His feet seemed to barely touch the ground as he sprinted to reach her before the gnoll. He had to get there first and had to protect her. He couldn't just stand by and watch another innocent die.

Liam jumped over a dead horse and slid to grab her. He saw the gnoll closing in. "What do I do, what do I do?" he muttered to himself. Assessing the gnoll's speed, he looked at the carriage wheel and kicked it hard, causing it to collapse on the approaching gnoll. "Grrrck" was all that could be heard from the gnoll amidst the cracking of the collapsing wood.

Liam then ran to a dark alley nearby. After trying to open door after door, he managed to open one and put the child inside, asking her to hide.

"Stay here," Liam said, his voice trembling as he closed the door. "Don't come out, please." He offered a reassuring smile, but his heart was pounding.

The girl nodded, her eyes filled with tears. Liam understood the responsibility of being a Neumond. "Ha, it's not all glory, is it, Leo?" He thought to himself, remembering Leo's earlier words. He felt a pang of guilt for having been so naive.

"I need something to fight with..." He thought about the possibilities as he returned to the battlefront, collecting any scrap he could find along the way: pieces of wood, rope, a rubber strip, a small wagon wheel, and a bow from a fallen guard.

Letting his ability flow, his ELEV glowed faintly. "Let's do this!" he shouted with conviction. With incredible focus, Liam began to build a makeshift crossbow with the tools he had on his belt. His fingers moved with precision, guided by an intuition he had never experienced before. In a short time, a rudimentary crossbow was ready. He managed to make it shoot small stones or iron nails. "Hell yeah, bro, now stones' gonna fly!" Liam laughed with pride, a manic glint in his eyes.

Liam spotted a tower at the base of the main gate and ran to the top. He positioned himself at a point where he could see the entire battlefield. He saw Leo fighting another gnoll, injured and visibly tired. The beast was approaching Leonard, laughing challengingly.

Liam activated the small crank he had created on the crossbow and pulled the string back. He fired the first stone. The projectile hit the gnoll squarely in the head, shattering its helmet and sending it stumbling backward.

"Alright, yes!" He celebrated with a fist pump, a surge of adrenaline coursing through him.

It wasn't a lucky shot. Liam used his ability for battle for the first time. He knew how to make the best possible armor, so logically, he knew all the weak points of armor. The foundation of making something perfect is correcting its flaws.

"Feewww!... That's gonna leave a mark!" Leonard exclaimed ironically, a grin spreading across his face despite the pain.

He looked up at the tower as the impact of the stone shattered the gnoll's helmet. He was surprised by the accuracy and effectiveness of a simple stone. He gave Liam a thumbs-up, a silent acknowledgment of the crucial assistance.

Before the gnoll could regain its footing, Leo seized the opportunity and advanced quickly. With an upward slash, he severed one of the beast's legs. When it fell on its back, he plunged both swords into its throat.

Liam and Leonard exchanged glances and nodded. Without a word, they understood the strategy.

"I can't take it anymore; my knees are failing, and my arms aren't responding," Leo thought. He was exhausted. His bleeding was intensifying with each passing minute. His vision swam, and he felt himself swaying. His legs faltered for a moment, and he kneeled on one knee, holding his swords like canes.

"DAMN... I can't stop, or I'll die here," he thought, his breathing ragged and heavy. He had to keep going, had to push through the pain. He couldn't afford to falter—not now, not ever.

Liam noticed that Leonard wasn't doing well and needed urgent help. Panic clawed at him, but he forced himself to focus.

He kept firing stones and nails at the gnolls, and the guards started to shift the tide of the battle. The morale of the troops grew, seeing their determination.

Some other Equalizers arrived and finally joined the fight. Victory was in sight.

"Thank the Gods...!" Leo murmured with relief as he got back on his feet.

Then a trumpet sounded in the distance, a call for retreat. The gnoll leader ordered a strategic withdrawal, and the rest of them started running.

They let them go; it was too risky to chase the gnolls outside the walls without a plan. There was no telling what traps or reinforcements they might have waiting.

The battle was finally over. There were mutilated bodies of gnolls, guards, and civilians all over the area around the south gate. The same carnage that had persisted for hundreds of years.

That day, Leonard had killed more than 10 gnolls with Liam's help. He realized the difference an ally providing support made on the front lines. He almost died twice fighting alone.

"Now I understand why they form teams," he whispered to himself.

Leo felt his blood running down his arms. He looked at his fists and dropped his swords to the ground. Trembling, he looked up at the sky, seeking some comfort amidst the chaos. There were no clouds that day, revealing a deep, serene blue. The sun shone, casting an irritating heat on the bodies present. The contrast between the destruction and the beauty of the sky was disturbing.

For a moment, Leonard felt at peace and relieved. The clear sky brought him a sense of calm, as if the world were empty. The battle, the gnolls, the screams, the clanging of swords, the fear, and the adrenaline all seemed distant.

Fatigue overcame him. Slowly, his eyelids closed, and he fell on his back like a lifeless scarecrow. Liam saw this, and his eyes widened.

"Leonard!" Liam shouted and ran down the tower towards Leo.

Reaching Leonard's body, he kneeled beside his head and checked for any sign of breathing. Leo let out a long, low snore. He had fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from the battle and his injuries.

"Don't scare me like that, you bastard..." Liam lightly slapped Leo's head and gave a relieved smile.