Divine Awakening - Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Ash's heart remained steady as the Hippodiles emerged from the canal, their large forms glistening under the glaring sun. Sporting the head of a crocodile on the body of a hippopotamus, the creatures snapped their jaws threateningly.

“I have these,” Ash yelled to Nomad, and moved to the left.

The Hippodiles charged forward, each step thunderous, shaking the earth. Ash dashed toward the two creatures barreling at him as he readied for a fight. His Root and Solar Plexus flared to life, spreading warmth through his limbs, strength building within him.

Engage, Nomad said in Chat, his voice easy to hear despite the roar of the oncoming creatures.

Gunfire echoed from the team protecting the other flank, which meant at least some of them had used the Piercing Projectile spell that turned their bullets into magical damage and made the guns useful in this environment.

Ash ignored it, focusing solely on the beasts coming for him. He cast Grave Diggers and the ghostly hands latched onto the face of the rearmost Hippodile, now only twenty feet away. In quick succession, he cast Frost Touch, Flame Strike, and Cluster Lighting, the self-buffs covering his skin in a kaleidoscope of fire, ice, and lightning.

The first Hippodile arrived and snapped its massive jaws, trying to end the fight in a single bite.

Ash darted left, using his momentum to twist and drive his fist into the side of the beast's jaw. Elemental forces surged outward from his hand, along with necrotic damage triggered by his necklace.

The creature bellowed, revealing three missing teeth.

The other Hippodile arrived and swung its head. Or perhaps it was just whipping its head back and forth to remove the hands covering its face.

Ash dove beneath the snout, his enhanced reflexes saving him from a crushed torso. As he rolled to his feet, the first beast activated its three-second charge.

Instead of dodging again, Ash sidestepped and drove his shoulder into the beast's flank, his chakra magic infusing him with unnatural strength. The collision jolted him, but he kept his balance.

The Hippodile suffering from the Grave Diggers spell turned frantic and ignored Ash completely. Evidently, even beasts didn’t like something covering their face and sucking their life away. It passed him, and he couldn’t risk chasing it until he’d killed the other one.

Lost one, Ash told Nomad in Chat.

Nomad’s calm voice responded immediately in group Chat. Longshot, Fletcher, left flank runner. Slow it. Blueprint, McGyver, get us on that pyramid.

Ash vaulted over the Hippodile still trying to kill him. He caught a glimpse of the ziggurat when he landed.

Longshot and Fletcher stood against the ziggurat their bows drawn. The Olympic archer and the SEAL let loose their arrows, each one finding a front leg. Longshot’s arrows struck with precision—hitting the knee joint. Fletcher’s explosive-tipped arrow barely penetrated the tough hide but made up for this with a burst of flame that distracted the beast.

Ash’s Hippodile spun in place, and he attacked. Sparks crackled on his knuckles as he struck the Hippodile’s sensitive snout with a flurry of strikes. The creature roared, stunned by Ash’s ferocity, but it didn’t relent.

Hold your fire, Grizzly told the group as the right flank Hippodiles drew close.

“Everest,” Grizzly yelled. “Winnie the Pooh!”

Grizzly and Everest moved with quick, efficient motions, the phrase evidently some pre-determined code for coordinated movements. They acted like the clowns in a rodeo, distracting and slowing the Hippodiles while keeping in the same area.

Patch and Stitch helped with the effort to scale the first tier of blocks, as no one had gotten hurt yet.

Tripwire, Blast. Get some charges on those things, Nomad ordered.

Ash slid under his Hippodile and struck it three times on the underbelly, but the armor and muscle appeared just as thick here as everywhere else. He rolled to the side as the beast dropped in an attempt to crush him.

Ash flipped to his feet and leapt onto the creature’s back. He straddled the neck where it narrowed enough for his legs to get a grip and struck the area he hoped held the beast’s brain. Every strike stacked more damage so he punched as fast as he could.

Third Eye flared and Ash focused on the ziggurat. Blueprint had made it on to the first tier and the pinging sound of a piton being hammered into stone reached him. The coiled rope next to her making their plan obvious. The danger hadn’t come from there though, and he flicked his gaze to the tiered pyramid’s top.

Sure enough, Ash detected movement. It made sense. They could kill Hippodiles easily if all they needed to do was get everyone onto the first level of the pyramid.

Hostiles up top, Ash said in Chat.

Nomad turned to study the pyramid while Tripwire and Blast rushed forward, explosives in hand.

Grizzly directed the two explosive experts using Chat as he and Everest dodged and twirled just inches in front of the two beasts, distracting them.

Two more in the left canal, Relay said. She stood on the first tier, and more civies climbed the rope to join her.

How far? Ash asked.

Three hundred feet, Relay responded.

The Hippodile hobbled by arrows regained its feet and shrugged off Fletcher’s exploding tips. It turned to Ash, slammed its head into the dirt, and dragged it across the ground as it charged as it attempted to remove the Grave Diggers hands.

Grizzly signaled the bomb duo and Tripwire slapped a charge on the side of the nearest beast, while Blast set his on the hind leg of the other. All four dashed in different directions, leaving the Hippodiles frozen with indecision for a second, unsure which way to chase.

Two explosions rocked the battlefield, and chunks of meat rained down.

Zombie Priests, Wiki said his voice cracking. A lot of them.

Shamrock? Nomad asked.

Going back in the ziggurat would leave them trapped as there was only one doorway. Getting everyone onto the pyramid would keep them safe from the Hippodiles, but the zombies were unknown. They could end up sandwiched between the two, and if the zombies succeeded in forcing them off the ziggurat, then any Hippodiles still alive would smash them immediately.

Using Lesser Ripple, Ash pushed his Third Eye to the limit. More Hippodiles were headed their way, likely because of the explosions. The zombies were dangerous, but not so much that he felt the need to flee. Plus, there was a stairway leading down under that altar on the pyramid’s apex.

Ash had seen enough of Everest to know she could get to the top of the first tier without any help and he could simply jump up there.

Everest to me, Ash said in Chat. Snipers on distant Hippos. Boomers to the far edge of the tier. Everest peel off Hippos and take them to the Boomers. Grizzly scout the perimeter and see if this thing has stairs. Nomad get everyone to the top. There’s a passage under the altar. We’ll try to keep our retreat clear, but if we get overwhelmed, we’ll follow.

Do it, Nomad said.

Ash focused back on his fight.

The first Hippodile slowed, its movements sluggish with frost covering its limbs and electricity spasming its muscles. The second had almost reached him, and it raised its head from the dirt to snap its jaws at him. He dodged, his body a blur of motion, landing blows infused with chakra strength and his elemental spells.

The Hippodiles didn’t pose much of a danger to Ash right now, but their hide made them very durable and not easy to kill. He considered pulling his pistol from his dimensional belt but didn’t think the bullets would do much, assuming the gun would even fire since he didn’t have the Piercing Projectile spell. He’d reconsider shooting them in the back of the head if he started to get overwhelmed.

Everest arrived just as two new Hippodiles appeared. She immediately ran toward them waving her hands and yelling.

Ash leaped over the Hippodile with Grave Diggers active and attacked the first beast. Five seconds of strikes and kicks finally killed the beast. His knuckles were shredded from striking the hard hide, but his Root chakra had already healed the damage, and he turned to the remaining Hippodile.

Zombies are manageable right now, Nomad said to Ash in Chat. We have injured but the medics have it under control.

Wiki spoke to everyone. We should farm this.

Nomad seemed to speak for everyone. What?

The fourteen-year-old’s voice sounded unsure, but the more he spoke the more confident he became. Those Hippodiles range in level from twelve to fifteen, so far, and they can’t get to us up here. The zombie priests are half the level but there are a lot of them, and we seem to be holding our own. We should stay here and farm experience as long as we can. As long as there’s no enrage timer or debuffs we’re relatively safe.

Ash glanced up at the Pyramid and the group of people standing around, obviously frustrated they couldn’t help more. The problem with their group was that many people didn’t possess the skills to contribute to a fight. That would all change at level ten when they took Classes.

Wiki’s right, Ash said. We do this until everyone reaches level ten. Then we’ll get somewhere safe and pick our Classes.

No one argued, and they spent the next thirty minutes killing Hippodiles and Zombie priests. Ash ranged outward farther and farther to collect Hippodiles, and the zombies steadily increased in level until Nomad was forced to destroy the orb generating the priests.

Nomad distributed the loot, and everyone moved to a new ziggurat where they repeated the process. It took longer to advance as everyone’s levels increased, but when someone mentioned they should pull from two ziggurats at the same time Ash’s Root chakra burned and he vetoed that idea. This way took patience, but it kept everyone safe.

After an hour everyone’s spells were out of charges and killing took even longer. Four hours later Checkmate dinged ten and Ash checked his last level notification.

Ding!

Congratulations Child of Enlightenment! You have reached level 12!

1 Spell Point Awarded.

1 Attribute Point Awarded.

You have 12 unassigned attribute points!

You have 9 unassigned spell points!

Check appropriate displays for new capabilities.

It was time to pick a Class.