MischievousMuffin
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Incremental Torture - Chapter 70
🕑 Added 2024-07-03 13:56:15 +0000 UTCIt was a difficult climb, more so than they had been expecting. The walls were smooth and there were few hand and foot holds available. However, with their attributes they were able to climb at or beyond the level of olympic athletes from Earth, with the exception of her mother and Anthea. However, they helped each other out and after ten minutes they made it over the top of the wall, breathless and sweaty.
Kayla was still as relaxed as she had been on the ground. The woman had yet to ascend for the first time, but Evelyn suspected her attributes were far higher than her own had been. At least two of them were over 100, most likely power and speed.
Beyond the walls, it was a pitch black abyss. Only the vague shape of the hills could be made out in the dark of night. Usually the moon illuminated the picturesque landscape, but thick clouds blanketed the sky that evening, letting only the faintest trickle pierce through.
Whether that was by the tower’s design or just an unlucky coincidence was uncertain, though Evelyn had a strong suspicion it was the former.
Looking behind them, the city was much brighter. Torches and street lamps lit up the main thoroughfares and the busy districts in yellow and orange glows. Humans were never content to let nature run its course, and even away from the modern comfort of electricity they were doing their best to create light pollution.
Right now though it was a blessing as facing this unknown threat in complete darkness would have been terrifying, even for someone as strong and confident as Evelyn.
Time until World Event begins: 00:39:51
“I think we’re too close to the city gates, it’s crowded here. Why don’t we move a little further along and look for somewhere we can act with more freedom,” said Kayla.
“Don’t you think the strongest monsters will focus on the gates though? I don’t want to leave all the juicy prey to the bigger guilds and the people near the towers,” Evelyn replied.
“You may be right, but even assuming that’s the case we’d end up falling prey to Ventura or Steelweb before we got the chance to make the most of the better position. At least if we find our own spot we can monopolise any monsters that get near,” said her father.
“I suppose you’re both right. Okay, let’s do it.”
Fifteen minutes later they had traversed about a kilometre down the length of the wall. The spot they had chosen was about equidistant from the two nearest city gates and there were barely any other people nearby. More and more were flooding onto the walls from the gates, but the crowds grew thinner as they wound towards the group.
“What kind of defences do you think will be available? I don’t know what to expect,” asked Anthea.
“I’m in the dark, same as you Anthea. We’ll just have to wait and see what the tower has in store for us,” Evelyn replied.
“Punny,” giggled Anthea.
~~~
Time until World Event begins: 00:01:03
“Just over a minute left y’all. If you have any memorable last words, now’s the time to say ‘em,” said Kayla, earning her a derisive glare from Evelyn’s father, a taut smile from her mother, a cute but worried puppy-eyed expression from Anthea and a chuckle from Evelyn herself.
“I’m not going to die to some ugly monsters that live underground. Freaks are too scared to come out in the sun. I’ll just do what I do best - punch and take punches until they’re all dead or I am. And I’m a hard woman to kill,” Evelyn declared boldly, shaking the last bits of tension from her muscles in preparation for the first enemies.
“It’s a good thing you’re not difficult to please,” replied Kayla with a wink.
Evelyn’s cheeks flushed with heat and she smiled back. When she noticed her mother’s stern look however, she was transported back into her teenage self, crying after she had told her parents about Lyra. They had accepted it, eventually, but her mother still had mixed feelings. She would just have to shut up and deal with it.
Time until World Event begins: 00:00:24
None of them knew what to expect from the event. The lengthy time limit implied there would be hordes of foes, but whether they would start off in great numbers or crescendo from a minor first incursion was a mystery.
They had discussed their party formation during the wait. Somewhat by accident, the five of them made up an extremely well balanced battle group.
Evelyn would be taking centre point of course. With the evolution of her fortitude, the 37 points she now had in the attribute felt about the same as the over 100 prior to the ascension, if not a little tougher. Her other attributes were lacking a little but they would be in a party and share essence drops, so her inability to deal finishing blows would not be a problem.
Her only job was to soak up hits and make sure that no monsters made it past the walls or had a route of access to the frailer members of the guild, like her mother or Anthea. Her father and Kayla were quite sturdy themselves and both had a melee focused fighting style. Kayla used her fists however, while her father wielded a sparkling steel blade with a razor sharp edge.
The two of them would focus on weakening monsters and funnelling them towards Evelyn when necessary. Her father could also function as a secondary tank thanks to his heavy armour and tough build if they needed him to adjust roles.
Anthea was a generalist. A jack of all trades type. She had been the first of them to unlock a magic related skill and had honed that ability since, but also had a pair of daggers strapped to her waist along with a bow and quiver slung across her back - though not the same bow she had used back when they were partied up.
She would focus on finishing off monsters and catching any strays that somehow managed to slip through the first and second lines of defence. While the bulk of the damage would be done by Evelyn’s mother, the frost mage.
When Mei Han had first told the group about her skills, they had expected frost magic to focus on slowing enemies and dealing gradual damage. And while a few of the spells had those functions, the ones which Evelyn’s mother had opted for took a radically different approach. It had all begun with her class and the unique class skill she had received.
A mix of luck and well thought out combinations had led to her first unusual skill, Kiss of Jotunheimr. It was a skill that made all ice summoned by the wielder ten times harder and require far greater temperatures to melt, along with a host of other bonuses.
That led her to focus on much more offensive ice magic, given the overwhelming force she could then bring to bear. Her main offensive skill Glacial Storm had a huge area of effect and showered foes with spikes of ice and chilled them to the bone.
Excluding threats on the level of a hyper boss or beyond, if that was a possibility, they were equipped to deal with whatever the World Event had in store.
You cannot form a party with the selected challengers, as you are already in the same guild. Guild members automatically share drops during combat, unless specified. Loot allocation is decided by the highest ranking member of the guild in combat.
“Huh, that’s neat,” muttered Evelyn.
She had tried to form a party so that they would share all the essence and stars dropped by the monsters they killed, but it seemed like the tower already had them covered. It was a useful function, though she could see how a more corrupt guild could exploit it and put weaker challengers to work. That wasn’t something they would need to deal with, at least not among the five of them.
Time until World Event begins: 00:00:02
There was a sound of ringing bells when the timer reached zero along with a new message from the tower. The ground began to rumble and not long after the nearest hill burst apart in a shower of dirt and rock as a colossal worm burst out of it. It had a gaping maw filled with an innumerable number of white pointed teeth and it made a beeline for the wall. More worms joined it, and looking across the hills they saw that the situation was the same all across Haven.
Inside the walls there was still relative peace, which boded well for the challengers of the city. Fighting a battle on two fronts would’ve been exponentially more difficult. Though there was no guarantee that the situation would remain the same.
Their enemies came from beneath the ground which meant that unless there was magic or something else protecting the borders of the city, there was nothing stopping them from burrowing underneath and emerging within.
~ World Event 1 ~
The invasion of the deep has begun. Do your utmost to survive and hold back the invading hordes. The defences of Haven have been unlocked and made available to all challengers through the property system. Guilds may designate areas as outposts, with the number determined by their rank.
Time Remaining: 47:59:59
Death Toll: 1
Evelyn frowned. The death toll was already listed at 1, which meant that there had been a brave idiot out in the hills who got caught up in the arrival of the worms, or the nefarious side of Haven was already using the chaos to their advantage.
“Let’s do this!” shouted Kayla, bouncing from foot to foot with a grin on her face.
Her father was more solemn and didn’t utter a word. He simply shut the visor of his helmet and readied his sword and shield to take on the approaching worm. Anthea looked nervous, but she always looked nervous. Evelyn knew just how sharp her aim was, and the girl had never failed to make an impact during their battles. Of all the members of the group she was most curious to see her mother fight.
Wide scale magic wasn’t something she had seen much of in the tower. When Evelyn had fought other challengers it had been too soon for most of them to have acquired powerful skills in the rare and unusual tier, so it would be a novel experience.
The worm was far more agile than its colossal bulk would suggest and had covered the distance between the hill it had emerged from and the walls in just ten seconds. She dug her heels into the stone right as it smashed headfirst into the bricks below.
However, Haven’s walls were sturdy and durable and while the combined force of dozens of the huge worms slamming into them was enough to make them shake, it didn’t leave a dent.
Having failed in its opening strike it changed tactics without delay and started to climb its way up the wall, leaning against the masonry to support itself and oozing a clear, sticky fluid onto the bricks from its pinkish flesh.
Evelyn stepped right up to the edge of the battlements and braced herself, activating Soul of the Unstoppable Conqueror as she roared her defiance at the monstrous worm. She heard the clinking of steel and the sound of Anthea’s bowstring being drawn taut behind her as the beast’s gaping maw crested the top of the wall.
It hovered still for a moment then its body adjusted to face her. Evelyn had just moments to react as the worm shot forward and smashed into her, sending a jolt through her whole body and knocking her a few steps back. However, she had remained on her feet and stopped it in place, which the others took advantage of immediately.
Comments
IdolTrust
Damn that is crazy. Her mother’s frost/ice spells and abilities are nutty. I didn’t expect the father to be a tank, maybe ah off tank with power with alt resource type like rage or Qi. Ant is like a spell Jack aka mage hunter. The guild system seems like it built for raid battles with lesser guilds in alliance by only party with a mix of other guilds which allows for the loot to be managed far more efficient. Plus if Eve’s guild everyone could solo would greatly increase the speed of a floor conquest by simply splitting up and still would share the gains.
