Just before he threw himself into battle with the 10 javelinas, TJ took four hard hits from javelins. Fortunately, he'd already transformed, and his Storm Coatl's scales turned the worst of the hits from sinking into his flesh. His blood flowed as he roared at the two groups of cavalry. The heavy cavalry of javelinas and pukwudgies bore down on him while those on the wendigo-bred coyotes kept their distance. Not for the first time, TJ cursed the coatl's length. He was unable to protect himself completely as several of the javelinas focused not on the walls but on him.
Instead of being able to pick off javelinas at his leisure, TJ was reminded of his first contact with javelinas, how he'd nearly been torn apart. The audacity of these creatures, thinking he was that same weakling. However, since he was their focus, the Storm in him demanded that he strike them down for their arrogance. For the first time, Silver tiered winds ripped away from TJ.
In an instant, his MP dropped by 800. The uncompressed, casual winds that ripped away from him tore through reinforced javelina hide, bone, and entire bodies without effort. TJ fought to keep the raging zephyrs from tearing everything without any focus, instead specifically crippling the Dirt tier pigs.
That opening attack retained some of its strength even after every one of the ten javelinas was permanently crippled. Their mounts looked at each other with panic as they realized their charge was doomed so quickly. They tried to smash their shields down on him, but TJ whipped his tail through them, shattering shields and bones without any real effort. Far off, the coyote-mounted pukwudgies turned to try to flee, but TJ left the weakened javelinas and their riders behind. He rushed towards the coyotes and, seeing that he couldn't close the distance fast enough, used Wind Manipulation to push himself to fly.
More than any sort of controlled flight, TJ launched like a 70 foot-long spear towards the coyotes. Again, his MP dropped precipitously, but TJ flashed forward almost faster than he could comprehend. But he was in the midst of the coyotes and pukwudgies. Different from the javelina-comprised heavy cavalry, the coyotes couldn't do anything about his mass and strength. Their frigid jaws fought to pierce his scales, but though they bruised his flesh, there was no real damage sustained. The pukwudgies spears cut shallowly. TJ didn't care. He was a fox in a chicken coop, and slaughter was the only possible outcome.
Fangs flashed and coils crushed, and the elite ranged unit was dispatched. Two of the coyotes managed to escape with minor wounds, but to reduce an entire unit of a dozen to a mere two by himself was a feat to respect nonetheless. His MP had dropped below half, but since he still had 1700 after everything, he didn't mind. Looking around, TJ didn't see any pressing threats, and, in fact, saw movement drawing back, away from him in fear. With nothing nearby to kill, he pulled back to the fort, but as soon as he turned, he saw Sarah putchering the pukwudgies and javelinas he'd left behind from the heavy cavalry.
"This is enough for me!" The blood-splattered Zealot called out with a smile. "Just hit that level!"
TJ took the time to check his own System notifications at that point, disregarding the kills and instead seeing if he'd gained any levels. He wasn't disappointed by the hope.
Class: Storm-Calling Neophyte (Copper (I)) has advanced to level 19.
Attribute points allocated: Strength +7, Agility +6, Endurance +13, Vitality +13, Toughness +11, Wisdom +7, Intelligence +11, Perception +7, Willpower +11, Fixation +13, Free Points +10.
He felt that Savage Shaman wasn't far off, and he was sure he'd get another level before long. Maybe not in this first wave, but in the second, for sure. Though it was a little frustrating to be reminded that getting the level hadn't refilled his resources, they'd already known that was the case. TJ threw the 10 Free Points into Intelligence, finally taking it higher than his Endurance. He rolled his shoulders and used his Bloodied Wendigo Spear to cut the coyote heads off. So far as he knew, there wasn't much use for the rest of the corpses there, so with the nearly foot-long spearhead, he decapitated the coyotes he'd killed. He hadn't done anything with their horns, but he was sure that they could serve as something valuable in crafting.
It wasn't long before TJ had a double armful of skulls and he gave up on the last three. Jogging, he got back to the fort where people were subdued. Fearing the worst, TJ looked around for any dead bodies. There was nothing, so he asked Farid, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's 'wrong', per se. Just… everyone has realized just how dangerous this situation is. Less than halfway through the smallest and least dangerous wave, and the Disciples are exhausted and we've had several serious injuries. So, scared and tired, is mostly it."
TJ opened his mouth in understanding. "Ah."
"It's going to get worse before it gets better." Stanton agreed. "And you, TJ, need to stay back. I get what you're trying to do, but you're keeping the lowest leveled people in the fort from getting experience, so you're benched for now."
He pursed his lips in a bit of frustration, but TJ nodded before too long. Stanton was right, and he needed to let other people gain levels before things got worse.
"I'll Meditate for now, then. Need to recover my MP. Have someone know where I am to punch me or something and get me out of it when the time comes, though, alright?"
"Sure." Stanton replied. "You're a strategic resource, and we'll just keep you where you need to be."
TJ waved the old cowboy off and fought to calm his mind enough to Meditate. He cleared his mind, but the occasional shouts of seeing monsters, of combat, of pain, kept him from being able to concentrate fully. Even so, the fitful Meditation allowed him to recover his MP more rapidly, the only resource that was seeing any real use at this point. With deep breaths, the world around him slowly faded away and TJ felt the sounds and sensations surrounding his body fade into the background. Just when he was about to lose himself in the sense of recovery and enlightenment, though, someone jabbed him hard in the ribs.
"TJ!" Granny Penny hissed. "Get up!"
He hopped to his feet, looking around him. Was there enemies inside the walls? The panicked shouts of the walls' defenders let him know exactly what was happening.
"Three wendigos!"
"I see a raven!"
"There's some mist over here, I don't know what it is!"
"Leilani, help!"
"Where're those wendigos going?"
TJ rushed to the side that was calling out that three wendigos were seen. Behind him, Lailani hopped to the side calling for help. Stanton slowly circled inside the walls, his eyes on the sky, Zig and Seth beside him. As TJ went to where there were multiple wendigos, Farid and Sarah walked up to accompany him.
"Glad you decided to stop slacking off." Sarah laughed. "I gotta show this off, don't I?"
She held up, instead of a pure steel hatchet with a blue rubber handle, a pure steel battleaxe with some sort of engraving on it. Though he'd considered it required for all battleaxes to have a head on both sides, it was obvious this weapon wasn't meant for wood. The sharp side had a five inch blade, while the other sported a long spike meant for piercing anything that refused to give in.
"Means business." TJ nodded to her. "You wanna take one of the three by yourself, have me support you?"
"I was thinking to take all three, but if you wanna be selfish, I guess I can share." Sarah grinned and winked.
"That might work too." Farid replied. "I can see a whole lot more of the rank and file coming to help them, and we will hold the walls. So, you think you can hold all three off?"
Sarah's face fell into a much more serious look. "If they're under level 17 and I've got some support, yeah. I can do one handily, I'd guess, two with a bit of trouble."
"Then I'll do something to take one out as fast as I can." TJ offered. "Then, I'll leave the rest to you?"
"Sounds good. What're you going to do?" Sarah queried. Instead of saying anything, TJ responded by activating Stealth through his Shroud.
Stealth (Dirt (0)): This Skill will allow you to better hide from those around you. This Skill's potency scales with the Participant's Agility, Wisdom, and Perception.
The two people he was talking to continued to look at him. There was no reaction to the activation of his Skill.
"Are you going to do something?" Sarah asked.
"I'm going to use Stealth." TJ replied weakly.
"Oh, that's why." Farid answered. "Harder to hide once you've been seen. Just FYI. Now we need to get on the walls."
TJ kept Stealth active and hunched behind the walls, peeking through a gap between the logs that made up the fort. Hundreds of monsters marched on the fortress, three wendigos in the center of the force.
"They're gonna have their weakest monsters soften us up before charging in themselves." Farid grumbled. "Not sure how we're going to do here."
"At least we don't see a Chindi?" Sarah joked. "I can keep swinging my axe at these things. Not sure what to do with something that doesn't have a damn body."
"Fair." Farid replied. The frontmost javelinas charged forward, their feet kicking up a storm. TJ wanted to do something to stop them, but there were too many. A troop of at least 15 was at each side of the walls, and it was inevitable to have to do some repairs soon. As well as that, he needed to step back and let other people get experience or it'd just get worse. Finally, with at least 300 of the attacking monsters on each side, even with Divine Transformation, TJ would be surrounded and, at the very least, heavily wounded in this initial assault. With his teeth gritted, TJ watched as here on the north wall, the defenders threw everything they could at the enemy.
Rocks, spears, arrows, and cinderblocks flew freely through the air as they descended on the initial charge. Less than half of the javelinas went down, and nine plowed into the wall. It didn't shatter, but several of the logs shifted and tumbled down with that attack. Zealots reached down and struck viciously, but the javelinas pulled back to allow the pukwudgies to jump through the exposed weakness. Dozens of the goblins filled the space, their spears jabbing at everyone nearby. People screamed on every side of the walls as the first real contact with the enemy began.
Staying hunched behind a wall, TJ struck out with his Spear again and again, the blood of his enemies coating the leather and strengthening the bone. There was nothing to do but keep killing. Acolytes tried to keep their distance, but there were too many enemies. Farid held a spear in each hand and danced through the stubby swarming beasts, but his every movement was deadly. Sarah, on the other hand, was a brute, her weapon and shield both slaying with every moment.
As TJ listened to the wind to make sure he was ready for the wendigos' arrival, Connor blitzed past, his shield glowing with divine power. Pukwudgies were pulped under his charge, and his war pick ended the lives of anything that managed to survive initial contact. The Zealot continued trucking through the pukwudgies, never stopping and allowing those behind him to gather themselves. TJ needed to stop watching, though, as the winds whispered of the approaching "cold monsters".
Though he was already difficult for the monsters to find, TJ lashed out three more times, his spear slaying with each movement. Then, before the wendigos' heads could peek over the wall, he ducked behind a thick supporting post. The battle raged on, and TJ heard Granny Penny shriek a wordless battle cry somewhere behind him, but he needed to ensure the Elites were dealt with.
"Come on in!" Sarah screamed to the skull-faced monsters. "I've got plenty of whoopass left for you!"
One leapt up, claws flashing, but Sarah shield bashed it away. While she was so occupied, though, the other two easily scaled around her and went for her flanks. Sarah and Farid both focused on the one on her right, so while the one on the left thought he had an open shot, ice gleamed on his hand and he thrust it forward towards her spine. TJ took that perfect moment to strike it down.
With Prehistoric Huntsman strengthening his ambush attack, he knew just where and how to strike. Ordinarily, the Bloodied Wendigo Spear was a stabbing weapon, but against a skeletal creature like the wendigos, the long, thick blade could be used almost as a poleaxe. Then, strengthened with a dozen monsters' lifeblood, the weapon was strong, strong enough to bite deep when TJ swung it at the wendigo's spine. Its curling ram's horns protected its nape. There was nothing but its monstrous spine exposed and when the Spear met spine, Spear won.
A bisected wendigo fell to the ground and the other two, seeing their companion fall, turned to TJ. Their glowing icy blue eyes flashed, and both cried out in unison, "The sibling slayer!"