Surveying the enemy in front of him, he analyzed their probable classes. He didn’t dare focus too much on any one, lest his identify skill kick in. He had already learned his lesson in that regard.

  The one who gave the orders earlier looked like some kind of guardian variant, so he at least, had a high constitution. The one he had ordered to kill Pixel looked more like a rogue by his gear. Three of the others had the robe and wand combination that marked them as mages. The Two others were harder to classify. They had swords at the belts, but only leather armor. They could be simple fighters with a dexterity class, or possible they had some mage or healer mixed in there. Or maybe they were hunters. Alan didn’t have enough experience with others in the Network to tell.

  The last of the Untar he could see was clearly a healer, and if this was a real battle he would have been the first target, but Alan wasn’t going to try and fight them. At least not straight up. Without using identify he couldn’t be sure, but it was a safe assumption that most, if not all, of these people would have an opal class. Alan was the only soldier on his own side he had seen with a quartz class, so it was probably true for the opposing army as well.

  Alan knew he was becoming an even more talented fighter under the Network’s guidance, as demonstrated by his contributions in the prison break back in the dwarven dungeon. However, eight to one odds against other warriors, all of whom had more evolved classes, was suicide. He had only one chance if he was going to salvage the situation.

  Pixel was in imminent danger from the Porter guy. Hopefully the rogue didn’t also have a constitution class, because Alan needed him to die first. The next target was the leader. He didn’t think he could kill him quickly, he only hoped to prevent him from giving clear orders. At least temporarily. He needed these people to be uncoordinated and panicking.

  Sheathing his pugio, he moved his spewn to his left hand. He withdrew his small crossbow and took aim with his right. His accuracy had been improving, but he sent a silent prayer to the Network as he targeted the rogue’s throat. With a more powerful weapon he could have tried a head shot, but he wasn’t confident that the underpowered bolt would have the punch to penetrate Porter’s skull.

  Smoothly tightening up on the trigger, he shot the metal tipped shaft toward his foe. He then stored it in his ring at the same time he pointed his spewn at the bulky leader. Using it as a wand, he sent two powerful fire bolts flying towards him, even as the rogue collapsed to his knees with blood pouring out of his neck.

  Alan then redirected his spewn and sent a prismatic orb at the healer. That pretty much exhausted his mana pool, but he was pleased with the results. He didn’t have the means or the time for any more attacks, so he turned and ran through the forest, back towards the front line. He spared a quick glance to take in his handiwork.

  The leader’s armor was on fire. He had been wearing some kind of plate armor, but it was heavily padded underneath, and that cloth was burning. In addition, his head had taken the first blast and there was a lot of melted flesh. Maybe he could have killed him with a third fire blast, but he hadn’t been able to risk it.

  One of the sword fighters knocked their burning comrade to the ground and was yelling at him to roll around. The healer might have been able to help, but he was currently dazzled and unable to cast his spells. That left another swordswoman, and the three mages, to react to the attack.

  If one of them made a move towards Pixel’s still form, he would have to risk an attack, Luckily they chose door number two. The mages pointed their wands at Alan’s back, but he was already far enough into the dense forest that hitting him would be difficult. Instead, they lowered their arms and took off running like the swordswoman, who was already in hot pursuit. It seemed like his plan was working.

  If he couldn’t fight them, and he couldn’t run away, then the perfect solution was to combine the two. If he could draw them away from Pixel, it may allow her to recover, or give Mikael and Jordan time to find her. In the meantime, if he managed to get his foes strung out in the forest, there was a chance he could defeat them in detail.

  So far it was a partial success. He had half of the force chasing him, still probably too many to take on himself, but if he could get some cover, maybe they would split up to search for him. As he darted through the woods he had two jobs, keeping trunks between him and the mages wands, and looking for a good place to hide.

  He was doing a decent job avoiding the magic sent his way. He had heard a couple of impacts behind him, but nothing close. It helped that he seemed to be much faster than everyone chasing him. The problem was, he couldn’t allow himself to get too far ahead, or they might break off the chase and return to regroup.

  His perception was a blessing as he made his way through the forest. That and his dexterity. While much of the area showed signs of battle, there was still foliage and debris all over the ground. He also wasn’t on an established path, so he was constantly on the lookout for tripping hazards.

  At the same time he had to keep an eye out for an opportunity to hide from his pursuit. He had been running for maybe two minutes when he saw his chance. Alan had recently passed by an unusually dense series of bushes, so he was currently unobserved. Just ahead he saw a tree with a relatively low branch.

  Planting a foot, he made an impressive leap and managed to catch the limb. Then, using his momentum, Alan launched himself up to a higher branch. Simone Biles would have been proud. Without pausing, he quickly scrambled higher and then sat pressed up against the trunk.

  He was maybe fifteen meters in the air and his pursuit had just made their way around the bush screen. Now was the test. It was obvious they were already concerned that they couldn’t see him. Alan was unable to make out their words, but he could see their heads whipping around and a discussion going on.

  Suddenly they were under his tree and still running. It looked like it worked, they hadn’t noticed him above them. Not daring to move, he watched as they continued the chase. Now it was time for the hunters to become the prey. He slithered down the trunk at a reckless speed, more concerned with silence than safety. He hit the ground in a good impression of a superhero landing.

  Looking ahead, he could just make out his former chasers. He noted their direction and then counted to ten. He didn’t want to be too close in case they looked back. Then, taking advantage of his higher speed and burgeoning sneak skill, as well as his prior training, he dashed from tree to tree, just barely keeping them in sight.

  It wasn’t long before they realized they had truly lost him. They huddled together for a short discussion. This is where he hoped the missing leader had an effect. Alan crouched down behind a bush and waited.

  It felt like he was down there for hours, his heart beating loud enough to be heard across the battlefield, but he knew it was less than a minute. Finally, the foursome decided to split up. Two of the mages were heading off to the left and right. The remaining mage and the swordswoman started to double back. It was going just as he had hoped.

  Hunching deeper into his cover, he held his breath as they walked past him. Alan would like to think he wouldn’t have been as oblivious as this pair, but he was fairly concealed, and the omnipresent gloom of the whole area made it difficult to make out details. They walked right past him.

  Deciding to leave the individual mages for now, he followed the pair back to where they had lost sight of him. The mage continued retracing their steps, but the swordswoman stopped and started searching the ground. Alan assumed she was looking for signs of where he’d gone. Little did she know he was still here.

  Allowing for another twenty count so that the mage could put some distance between them, Alan readied himself to act. The swordsman clearly didn’t have a perception class, and he didn’t think she had a dexterity one either, based on her previous speed. However, she could have some form of magic class, so he would need to watch out.

  She needed to die fast, before she was able to summon help. Unfortunately, his foe didn’t seem so oblivious that Alan could sneak up and try and take her out in one hit. He would just have to strike fast and hope she couldn’t react.

  With his countdown complete, Alan broke from cover with his spewn in his right hand and his pugio in his left. His shield could have been a great asset in a fight with a swordsman, but he needed offense right now, not defense.

  The distance between them was around ten meters when the swordswoman first spotted him. It was down to four meters by the time she got her sword out, and Alan covered that in less than a second, his pugio already moving to push the sword out of the way so that his main weapon would have an unobstructed path to her chest.

  That was the plan anyway. In a stunning display of skill and agility, the swordswoman allowed the pugio to push her sword out of line, but she also managed to twist her torso out of the way. His spewn shot past, hitting nothing but air.

  Luckily this wasn’t Alan’s first fight, and he was ready to play. As he pulled his weapon back, he brought his right knee forward and buried it in her gut. His years of martial arts training made such a move second nature. Her leather armor absorbed much of the blow, no doubt, but his strength and skill meant she was still left sucking air.

  This was not her first dance either, and while she was still trying to regain her breath, she brought her own sword back around. Alan moved to block with his spewn and she performed some kind of twisting motion with her wrist.

  Her sword blade started sliding along the shaft of his spewn in a kind of spiral motion. If it continued, the lack of crossguard was going to lead to a serious injury. Initially, he tried to disengage with her, but she kept her blade in contact with the shaft of his weapon.

  Deciding to go to the source of the problem, Alan stepped in with his left foot and sliced her sword arm with his pugio. It was a shallow wound, barely cutting into the dense muscles he had noticed earlier. However, she hadn’t been expecting that move, and attempted to pull back. Unfortunately for her, the strange angle between their weapons, now that he had shifted, made that awkward and Alan was able to press his attack and stab into her side.

  His dagger punched through her armor with only minimal resistance and when he pulled it back, a flow of dark blood rushed out. That was a serious injury that must have cut through one of her veins. Normally he could have backed off and let her bleed, but while she was in mortal trouble, she still had time enough to call for help.

  Alan let go of his spewn, Tamee would probably give him grief about that later. Now that he was no longer holding the handle, it was sent flying by her sword. He dodged as the weapon spun by him. Now that Alan had a free hand, he grabbed her sword arm, which was weakened from the earlier slice, and pushed it in, trapping it against her chest. In addition to locking down her weapon, this also made it difficult for her to bring her other arm around.

  Again he struck with his pugio, this time pushing through the underside of her chin and into her brain. All the fight left her and she collapsed instantly. Alan took a few breaths and assessed his condition.

  The fight had lasted less than fifteen seconds, but it was filled with action. Checking his stamina he noticed it had only taken a slight dip. He suspected this was part of the effect of the Army Array. He had noticed, both in his flight and in the fight, that he was moving more fluidly than normal.

  Also, the strike with his knee had felt more impactful than even his newfound strength should account for. His player sheet didn’t indicate he had gained any stats, but he would guess he was operating as if he had at least twice what he did now. No wonder people wanted to be part of an Army. Be all that you can be, indeed.

  There wasn’t time to loot the body at the moment, but he grabbed both her sword and his spewn before taking off. The sword went into storage and the spewn was once again secure in his grip.

  “I saw that Alan.” He heard Tamee’s whisper as he regained his bearings. She didn’t need to whisper, only someone in the party could hear her, and there was no one else in the group.

  “Did I win? That’s all that matters,” he whispered back to her. Everyone seemed to focus on how often he dropped his weapons. His next target was the mage that had continued to backtrack. Alan didn’t know if they were going to report back to the leader, or if they were searching for him, but either way he needed them out of the picture.

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  He had to make up some time, but he also needed to try and look for tracks. The chase hadn’t followed a path, so there was no guarantee the mage would return by taking the same route. Alan stayed low, scanning the ground and bushes as he slipped from tree to tree. It didn’t take long for him to hear the swish of their robes as they walked through the brush.

  Alan readied his spewn and pugio again. He needed to end it quickly before they could alert others to his location. A few more moments were enough to bring the back of the mage into view.

  They were wearing a grey robe, which was doing an admirable job of blending in with the gloomy remains of the forest. The person wearing them, however, had no idea how to travel silently. They were making enough noise that Alan was easily able to sneak up from behind.

  The last few steps were nerve racking for him. If the mage suddenly turned, Alan would be caught exposed and it was possible they would get a spell off that could severely injure Alan, or even worse, alert the rest of the group. He could always heal an injury.

  The mage was oblivious, however, and readying both hands, he plunged the pugio into the area that should be their kidneys, and at the same time he chopped at their neck with the deadlier spewn. His knife probably would have been enough to kill the most likely fragile mage, but the neck wound was to keep them from shouting. It worked beautifully since his spewn sliced all the way through their spine and sent the head tumbling. He would have to thank Helge again for this wonderful weapon.

  Once again, he had no time to loot and the mage didn’t have any obvious weapons lying around. He also didn’t see any movement, so his kills really seemed to have gone unnoticed. Alan now had a choice. He had eliminated a third of his enemies so far, and he could continue to try and take them out one by one.

  The problem with that, was that he didn’t really know where the others were. The two mages who were still alive had gone in opposite directions, quite a ways back, and could be almost anywhere by now. If he tried to track them down, he could just as easily end up walking into them with disastrous results.

  Alan decided a better plan would be to make his way back to Pixel. If she was alone, or lightly guarded, there was a chance he could heal her and they could escape together. The entire point of this escapade had been to save her life, so he might as well get to the saving part. The entire run back he prayed she was still alive. Not only was it considered really bad form to get your sergeant killed, but he had grown to respect her as a leader.

  When he returned to the area, he was forced to slow down. If he went crashing through the underbrush, then anyone nearby would know he was coming. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Hating every extra second he took, he finally made it to where he could see his squad leader. It had only been around six minutes since he first ran off, so he was surprised that he didn’t see the enemy leader or healer.

  Pixel was still lying on the ground with blood running from her shoulder. That was a problem. She had been bleeding for this whole time and her body only had so much blood to lose. Checking her silhouette he noticed that overall it had turned a light yellow and her shoulder was blinking red. That strange purple glow surrounded it still. It didn’t seem like she was going to die in the next few seconds, but the sooner he could heal her the better.

  He stopped next to a trunk and surveyed the area. The rogue’s crumpled body was still lying there, but other than that, he truly saw no one other than the downed earth fairy. This seemed too easy, but he had to take the chance.

  Taking slow, silent steps, Alan made his way over to his Sergeant. He got about halfway there when he felt something from off to his left. Turning that way, his right arm was already swinging. Without any conscious thought, he brought his spewn around and knocked a crossbow bolt out of the air.

  That was incredible. He hadn’t known what the feeling was, but somehow his body had still reacted appropriately. It was a good thing he had the Quick Hands talent, too, or even with the strange warning he probably couldn’t have gotten his spewn in place.

  Following the line the bolt had come from, he was able to pick out the ninth member of the squad. He was pulling back on the string of his crossbow, trying to reload it as quickly as possible. Alan didn’t fancy his chances of pulling off another midair deflection, so it would be a race. Not bothering with stealth, Alan sprinted straight at him.

  Luckily the forest was dense enough that the crossbowman had needed to position himself relatively nearby to guarantee a shot. Alan managed to cross the distance in less than four seconds. It would have gotten him a spot on any NFL roster, but more importantly, it also got him to his target before he could seat the bolt. It was a close thing as his opponent was working incredibly fast.

  In his rush, Alan hadn’t been able to set his feet properly, or to aim all that well, so he simply stabbed his foe in the chest. The matte silver bulge of his blade punched through the thick chain male of his enemy, and opened a large hole in his chest. Alan’s momentum caused his weapon to shift as he moved past him, tearing through his victims major organs. Without a cadre of healers, he would soon bleed out. Before that could happen, the crossbowman reached down and grabbed something off of his belt.

  Alan was puzzled, he couldn’t tell what he was doing, it didn’t look like a weapon. Then the dying enemy pointed it toward Alan, and with eyes widening in panic, Alan jumped aside. A stream of red sparkles shot into the air. They climbed high enough to be clearly visible from several hills away.

  Alan didn’t know exactly what that had done, but at the very least it meant the rest of the enemy squad knew where to find him. Unable to stay and treat Pixel, he would have to take her away from here.

  He left the man to die and ran back to her unconscious form. Bending down, he managed to scoop her up and get her over his shoulders. It wasn’t dignified, but she was both bigger and heavier than he was, and even with his new strength, she was a burden.

  The sound of movement off to his left sent him scrambling to the right. It wasn’t back toward the safer side of the battlefield, but it also wasn’t deeper into enemy territory. Alan had only made it about fifty meters when he was suddenly surrounded by an intense light, and found himself flying through the air.

  He managed to adjust in midair so that his body cushioned Pixel when they landed. It was a hard landing too. Whatever had caused it, they had been blasted almost five meters. Looking back, he feared to see a mage pointing a wand, ready to follow up on whatever attack had hit them.

  Instead he was greeted by a shattered section of forest. The trees nearest to him were in one piece, but farther back they were shedding branches, some of which were quite large. Even farther back he could see that others had been shattered completely and a few bushes were burning with small flames.

  Alan realized what must have happened. When the crossbow warrior had shot the sparks out, it wasn’t a signal to his squad, it was instead a marker for their siege mages. Those mages had called down a lightning bolt from the Network empowered sky, and Alan and Pixel were lucky enough to have gotten to the edge of the blast radius before it hit.

  If the enemy hadn’t known where he was before, they certainly had a good idea now. It was more important than ever to get away, but since he was already sitting and his wounded leader was in his lap, he took the opportunity to send a healing spell coursing through her.

  He was pleased to see the shoulder turn a dark yellow instead of the more critical blinking red, but the rest of her body was still a solid yellow. She had lost more blood as he ran, and the force of the explosion had probably not done her any favors. Pushing the amazon off his legs, he climbed to his feet, only to bend down and lift her once more. She might have some impressive bruises in strange places after this, but that’s what minor healing was for.

  He would have cast another healing spell on her right then, but his mana was still low and he wanted to keep a reserve. Now that her shoulder wound had closed up, she shouldn’t get any worse, and could wait on further treatment.

  Alan had noticed a couple of notifications pop up when the lightning hit, but he didn’t want to deal with them now. Instead he took off running once again. He had to blink a few times to reset his vision after the bright flare of the lightning, but his high perception, which was also being boosted by the array, allowed him to pick out a safe path.

  He ran for over fifteen minutes. By the end his thighs were burning and his back was aching. The good news was, he hadn’t seen anyone. He had also cast heal on Pixel twice while he ran. He couldn’t direct the energy as well while moving, but it got the job done. Her silhouette was now a reassuring uniform green, but it still had a purple glow.

  The fact that it was still there after more than twenty minutes wasn’t a great sign, and Alan decided it somehow indicated she was under a status effect. She should have long ago woken up otherwise.

  With his lungs also demanding a break, Alan slowed and picked out a likely looking clump of trees. Making his way over, he found a fairly secluded area between them. There was also little undergrowth here, so it should make for a comfortable camp to assess his charge’s condition and to reassess their mission.

  Jordan and Mikael had tried to contact him a couple of times over the army chat, but Alan was still unable to respond. It was comforting to hear they were still looking, but after his mad dash it was unlikely they would find them.

  Now that the panicked hurry had passed, he felt strange putting his hands on Pixel while she was unable to consent. It was weird, because as a doctor he had treated plenty of patients who were unconscious. For some reason though, the idea of placing his hands on her made him uncomfortable. Pushing past that feeling, he prepared to treat her.

  There was no point in casting healing again, she didn’t seem to have any injuries and it hadn’t woken her up before. What he needed to do was see if he could figure out what was causing that purple glow.

  To that end, he first placed his hand on her head and directed his senses into her body. He could get a vague read on someone’s aura just from looking at them, but it was much clearer when he was making contact.

  The first thing he noticed was how her body was fine. There were no real injuries and no sign of any toxins. Next he explored her aura. This was definitely where the problem lay. Her pathways were not working properly. Energy was flowing through, but it was at a fraction of the pace he was used to seeing.

  He was also shocked by how expansive her pathways were. The closer he looked, the more he realized that her aura was almost like a fractal. The large pathways were repeated over and over as he focused closer in. It was almost like MC Esher and Benoit Mandlebrot had gotten together to design it.

  It took the concept of a fractal, repeated structure at any level, and combined it with the impossibilities Esher was able to create in his drawings. Alan had no clue how it worked, but it meant that her aura was far more pervasive than his own, connecting to a much larger percentage of her body. Perhaps this was the result of evolving to a Red grade being.

  It was possible that the slow moving energy was a result of her aura’s structure, but Alan doubted it. Time to see if he could help. While watching her aura intently, he cast another healing spell. It traveled throughout her body, but there was nothing for it to heal, other than some developing bruises she had received from the rough journey.

  Alan tried to direct the energy to move from her body into her aura, but it was as if there was a curtain separating the two and the energy was unwilling or unable to pass. He also tried his new regeneration spell, but that fared no better. Alan would just have to wait and hope that she recovered on her own. It seemed unlikely that something as simple as a crossbow bolt, no matter how enchanted, could permanently knock someone out.

  Now that he had some time on his hands, he could finally address the notifications he had received earlier. It turned out they were two and both were achievements.

  Achievement earned: Slayer

  [You have slain an opponent of a higher grade, while still at the bottom of the lower grade. The effect of all of your stats is slightly improved]

  Achievement earned: Harder Than a Penny Nail

  [You have been hit by a Network Siege Weapon and survived. The effect of your Constitution is somewhat improved]

  Both of the achievements provided a boost to his stats. They didn’t actually improve the stat number, instead it made each point more effective. Or at least that was how Tamee had explained it before. The fact that the first one provided a boost to all of his stats was impressive.

  He tried to think why he had earned it. Most likely the crossbow armed warrior he had managed to critically injure was red grade. He must have succumbed to his injuries just before the lightning bolt had obliterated the area. Alan was even more glad that he hadn’t tried to fight the whole group at once if there were red grade soldiers included. It was lucky that the others he had killed hadn’t been of a similar level or those fights might not have gone his way.

  It was obvious how he had earned the second achievement, but it was also interesting that he got credit even though he was barely in the blast radius. He wasn’t going to complain, however, constitution helped with both hit points and stamina. That made him think of something.

  “Tamee, why is it that even though my constitution has just gotten an effectiveness boost, my health and stamina pools haven’t increased?”

  “Slow down, what do you mean they got a boost?”

  Even though she answered his question with another question, he was actually pleased. It seemed like she might actually give an answer, which was not always the case. “I just got two achievements, one for killing a player a grade above me, and the other for surviving a hit by a siege weapon. Both gave a boost to my constitution.”

  “Congratulations on those achievements. The first is a common enough, but highly sought after, achievement. It is actually one of the reasons some people sign on for wars. The boost from the arrays makes it a more level playing field, mostly, so it is possible to take out higher grade foes. The second achievement is not as common, as siege weapons do not usually leave many survivors.”

  Alan had already learned that achievements were important to his future growth, so it didn’t surprise him that people would take great risks to try and earn them. The same achievement didn’t always provide the same rewards, but there were apparently other benefits that no one would share with him. “You didn’t actually answer my question, how come my health and stamina pools didn’t change.”

  Tamee paused for a moment, as if deciding whether to answer or not. Surprisingly, she did. “The answer is that they did change, but like the stat itself, it is their quality and not quantity that was affected. A movement that would have drained your stamina by ten points, might only drain eight or nine points now.”

  That was helpful, but it also meant that he would have a hard time quantifying how much ‘slightly improved’ actually meant. Or whether slightly was better than somewhat. It would be really nice if there was a guide for this. It would also be great if the actual guide that did exist had this kind of information in it. Still, Tamee had been unusually helpful, and he was grateful. “Thank you, I don’t suppose you can tell me why she is still unconscious? The only thing I can find is that she has a purple glow around her silhouette.”

  “A glow on your silhouette is usually an indicator of a status effect. Purple means some kind of magical sleeping condition. It will most likely wear off soon. Unless that guy had something as overpowered as your spewn, there is no way he could inflict a more lasting condition.”

  As if Tamee’s words had cured her, Pixel’s eyes fluttered open. Alan let out a big sigh, and looking down, couldn’t help but add “Look who finally decided to wake up.”