Chapter 76 - Payoff

The lizards came at Max weapons raised, roaring in fear and anger. They were brave admittedly, but apart from one guy with a sling, they were all melee based fighters. And all too slow for Max.

Max weaved around them using [Tether] while Maverick spun in the air and blasted at the enemy. Whenever one of the lizards got too close, Max used a repelling [Tether] to push them back. One of them fell and Max received an experience drop.

The others formed a group to help each other in case they got repelled by Max. That was the mistake Max had been waiting for.

“[Gravity Well]!”

Three of the enemy melee fighters got clumped up in the air, all but one who apparently had enough of a Resistance stat to pull apart. The slingshot wielder was accurate and Max took a few hits from him, dropping his Health down to 400s. It wasn’t enough. Now that the melee fighters were clumped up in a trap, Max would deal with the ranged attacker.

The remaining enemy melee fighter lunged at him with a sharp, black dagger. Max got out of the way, sliding backwards with a [Tether]. Then he used another spell on Maverick and the enemy fighter, and the weapon zoomed through the air and struck the fighter, as he lunged again. That tripped him off balance. Max picked up [The Maverick] and killed him.

After that Max moved towards the slingshot guy. It wasn’t exactly clear from where she got that endless supply of rocks, but it didn’t matter. Another one struck Max, and he took a chunk of 50 Health points. He glanced at his mana. Over 600 left. Despite it ticking down, it was more than enough to keep the [Gravity Well] going. From the corner of his eye Max confirmed that the enemy was still struggling. They were trying to push one of their own out of the sphere, but it was hard to push anything, when you weren’t grounded. Even if they succeeded, it’d not be enough.

The slingshotter cast another rock at Max, but it missed. She was so visibly tired, Max almost felt bad for gunning her down. But this was not the time or the place for sympathy.

Defeated Level 15 [Ishkarassi]

You gained 470 experience points

One of the three fighters managed to escape from the [Gravity Well]. He got to barely stumble back on his feet before Max killed him. He could feel the bloodlust and glee of Maverick through their bond, but Max felt detached. This was a triumph. His enemies weren’t all even dead, but he knew he’d defeat them. It was almost too easy. They were so tired and weak to begin with, it was like fighting a bunch of ten year olds.

The second last one didn’t even get out of his spell, before he finished him. A level 16 Ishkarassi.

Class upgraded from [Graviturgist] D-grade to [Gravitician] C-grade

Level up! [Level 20 Gravitician]

You have gained + 2 Constitution, + 3 Intelligence, + 3 Wisdom, + 3 free attribute points

Skill Choice available!

Signature Ability Choice available!

“Wow,” Max said to himself, as he released the [Gravity Well]. “That’s good stuff. Those stat boosts are massive. If I can somehow upgrade my [Tether] through his signature ability, I’m all for it.”

The last remaining lizard scrambled to his feet and yelled out “Scum!” as he attacked.

Max pinned him to the ground with two [Tethers] in almost a distracted manner and sat on top of him.

“Our signature ability is clearly [Semi-automatic Firearm]!” Maverick declared. “Did you see me? I rained down hellfire on them!”

“I saw you,” Max said and smiled. “Good job.”

“Hey, that’s my line,” Maverick huffed. “As per usual, I did most of the work, so I should decide on the signature ability.”

“We don’t even know what it is yet. Let's just stop, breathe and think for a second.”

“What do you mean?” Maverick asked. Just bring up the skill upgrades and let's gooooo!”

Max looked at the direction Slassekhsnas had run towards. He didn’t even see her anymore. Chasing her would be impossible. Especially with a prisoner. He could kill the prisoner and take his chances, but that didn’t seem like the right choice.

“We need to move,” Max said.

“What about all the upgrades?” Maverick protested.

“You know they have a bounty on us, right?” Max said. “What do you think happens when Slassekhsnas reaches their base?”

Maverick hummed as if thinking. “I don’t like it when you’re right about stuff that I overlook.”

“Isn’t that what being a team means?”

Maverick huffed. “Maybe. But I should still outshine you. Fortunately that’s the natural flow of things. I got another skill!”

Max raised an eyebrow at that and smiled. “You did? What kind?”

“Not telling. You didn’t want to discuss the skill upgrades, remember.”

“You’re such a little girl sometimes…” Max muttered. Then he got up and released the spells keeping the lizard down.

The enemy immediately bolted. He threw ash at Max’s face and took to a sprint in the same direction Slassekhsnas had gone to. Max targeted a [Tether] at a single leg and the enemy tumbled on the ground, tumbled and cursed.

Max went over to him and pistol whipped him in the face twice. Then Max wagged a finger at him and shook his head. “Play nice.”

The lizard did seem to understand his body language well enough and gave him a reluctant nod. Max was worried he would waste his time until reinforcements arrived, but for lack of bravery or guile the enemy became compliant after Max’s disciplinary measures.

That made Max’s life significantly easier. He pushed the enemy towards the direction he wanted them to go. The enemy looked at Max and growled, but Max flicked him with the barrel of [The Maverick]. The enemy clearly wasn’t enthusiastic about this march, so his pace wasn’t exactly adequate. Max quickly noticed his prisoner required a steady drip of snappy physical encouragement to stay motivated.

Max knew the general direction they needed to go towards to get to the outpost. He just needed to choose a route that would avoid most of the enemies in the Dreadlands. Especially [Foulworms] as those bastards could cause situations which would enable escape.

Maverick was swelling with self-satisfaction. Max smiled to himself. He was pretty pleased with himself too. He was tired. Exhausted even. It had been a few very long days. But looking back at it, it had been indeed quite a success, as Maverick’s mood suggested.

Max had had first contact with the enemy and triumphed. Against overwhelming numbers to boot. He had killed a score of the enemy fighters, destroying their potential permanently. There was a grim satisfaction to that. He had leveled up and gotten a class upgrade. A High-King of the dwarves owed him a favor. And he had a prisoner to interrogate. Yes, things weren’t good, they were great. Now all he had to do was to get back home safely.

Max cast one last glance behind him towards the general direction Slassekhsnas had run off to.

They’ll come for me.

Maverick barked out a laugh. “Let them.”