Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 38

Chapter 38

It didn’t take long before Thaden’s army of minions topped 50, and fairly soon after that it hit 100.  Because they were fairly even Level with him, there was no strain on his mind controlling that many, in addition to his Mentality being higher than it was the last time he’d controlled so many monsters, and he thought he could add quite a few hundred more before he had to worry about his mind being able to handle it.  For each new Goram under his control, Thaden added Major Enthrallment Infection, as well as Major Healing Assistant and Celestial Regeneration to ensure they wouldn’t die very quickly.  To improve their chances of staying alive, he also added Lesser Health Reinforcement on not only them, but also himself and everyone in his Raid Party, increasing all of their maximum Health by over 13,000% once he hit 100 minions. 

It was frankly ridiculous how much Health his minions had by that point.

“What the hell, Thaden?  What did you do to increase our Health so much?” Bat’la’hera asked, moving up next to him even as she continued lobbing large, greenish, area-effect spells at the monsters that practically made them melt apart.  He remembered what she’d done to his face, and he could only imagine what she could do to these monsters when she was really trying to kill them.  “That shouldn’t be possible.”

 “I’m just full of impossibilities,” he told her in response, even as he looked up and down the wall, seeing that the defenders were barely holding on.  So far, he thought that one or two of the Charging Gorams had managed to hit the wall, creating tiny cracks in the stone, but it wasn’t enough to concern anyone yet.  None of them were at his section, of course, because he was capturing them all in his Enthrallment spell. 

The Aelveen Mage seemed to either ignore his response or realized that he wasn’t going to elaborate any further than he had, so she told him, “The majority of us can’t keep this going for too much longer; while I can keep it up for a while longer, the rest of the casters in the Raid Party are swiftly running out of Mana.  If you’re going to do something with those monsters, it better be soon.”  She sighed as she looked up and down the wall, as well.  “And as much as I believe you could pull us through this attack, the other sections of the wall aren’t going to last much longer, either.  I can already see those to the east starting to falter, so we don’t have a lot of time left – and these are just the weakest of the monsters heading this way.”

Thaden could see exactly what she was talking about, as to the east a much larger group of Goram managed to make it through the destructive perimeter, and while they were far from busting through the wall, the defenders were now fighting an uphill battle. 

“I can see that.  I think it’s about time to make a move.  Be prepared to have everyone stop their spells and rest up; things are going to be a bit chaotic from here on out,” he warned her.  “I also need a half-dozen Fighter Class volunteers to accompany me out there for protection, just in case.”

“That doesn’t seem like a smart idea,” she said, but she didn’t say no.  In fact, within seconds, she had roped in the Heliothrope Zarin from her own Party, Rel’ba’shet from Thaden’s Party, and 4 others that ranged from Level 50 to 70, quickly joining him near the edge of the wall.  “Go do whatever you’re planning, but as I said before, don’t die,” she continued once everyone was in place.  “On your word, I’ll cancel all of the defenses.”

“Do it in 30 seconds,” he told her, before turning to the Fighters that were going to accompany him.  “Get ready, we’re going to jump down and move toward the line up there,” he pointed at the area where magical energies were basically tearing the incoming monsters apart. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rel’ba’shet asked worriedly.  “You could get hurt.”

Thaden shook his head.  “None of it is a good idea, but it’s my only choice if I’m going to be as effective as I need to be.  Let’s go.”

With a deep breath, he prepared himself for what was to come, before he leaped off the wall, landing 30 feet down with a flex of his knees.  His Physicality was high enough that it didn’t hurt, and even if it did, his Health was now so high and he had Celestial Regeneration active on him that he’d be fine within seconds. 

As soon as he touched the ground outside the city, something unexpected happened.  The rushing monsters outside of his control, everywhere along the northern wall, suddenly screeched to a halt.  The change was so dramatic that it was almost deafening in and of itself to not hear the pounding of feet against the ground, and he wasn’t the only one that was shocked at the sudden cessation of movement coming from the Goram. 

That lasted for all of a few seconds as he looked around, peering past the defensive line of destructive attacks, only to see every single monster suddenly turn toward him.  Uh, oh.

“Either your Class trait luring in all monsters within 3 miles finally kicked in now that you’re away from the wall, or whatever is controlling them finally found what they were looking for,” Sadia murmured next to his ear once she landed next to him.  “Either way, you’re committed now.”

He nodded, even as he started running toward the line he’d pointed out earlier.  All around the battlefield, the defenders on the wall were shocked to find that the Charging Gorams that had been striving to reach the walls were no longer even paying attention to them, as they homed in on the black-robed figure running away from the safety of the stone barrier with a seemingly suicidal wish.

As he got closer to his own minions, he had them surround him and the Fighters accompanying him in a circle of defense, pointing outward with their heads presenting their best protection.  In the meantime, he quickly outlined his plan with his squirrel companion, and she chuckled after agreeing to help with it.  “You’re insane, but it should be fun, at least.”

Thaden stopped at about 50 feet away from the destructive line, not wanting to get any closer, as he waited for the last few seconds to tick down until those keeping the line active took a break.  In the meantime, he started casting a few different spells what he was going to need for his plan to work.

Currently, Thaden didn’t have any ongoing Mana costs other than Major Enthrall, which was up to approximately 400 Mana per second, or about 5% of his Mana pool.  He hadn’t had any reserved spells active, but that was about to change.

First, he cast Celestial Spiritual Enhancement Aura for an additional 15% of his Mana pool, which then increased his spiritual spell effectiveness.  This was followed by using another 40% of his Mana pool on Major Commanding Presence, which increased the Physicality and Magical Resistance of all of his controlled targets, as well as his allies within range.  Then he started casting Celestial Dominate Spirit for another 15% of his Mana pool, focusing on having it targeting his controlled minions, which would take nearly 30 seconds to activate.  It was at this point that he canceled Major Enthrallment Infection on all of his Goram, as he didn’t want to add any more under his control courtesy of that spell.  Right after that, he began casting a spell that he’d only experimented with once back in the Blasted Caves, but he thought it would be much more useful now.

Thaden cast Celestial Reanimation for a final 15% of his Mana pool on the corpses of the Goram that were piling up along the destructive defensive line, which was numbering in the thousands by this point.  He was worried that it would be too much for his mind to handle, but he was hoping that with them being around the same Level and his Mentality being high enough that he’d be able to bear with the strain and succeed in keeping it all together.

When he was still a few seconds from Celestial Reanimation going off, as it had a 15-second cast time, the defensive line suddenly went down.  “What do we do?” Rel’ba’shet asked, tensing up next to him, as the other Fighters did the same.

“Keep them off me for the next 15 seconds.  After that, things should take care of themselves.”

His Aelveen Party member nodded, and he joined the 6-armed Heliothrope and the others as they arranged themselves so that nothing would reach him. 

“I’ll ensure they stay alive,” Sadia told him as she took a defensive stance next to him.  He could only nod as he concentrated on the spells that were about to finish.

Thaden dropped to his knees as the influx of over 1,200 reanimated targets slammed into his mind, even as he witnessed the now unencumbered Charging Gorams flood toward Thaden.  He instructed his Enthralled Gorams to hold their ground, keeping a defensive perimeter around his little group of himself, Sadia, and 6 Fighters, and he saw the first wave of hostile monsters slam into his own minions head-first.  His own Goram were pushed back a little, but the impact also cracked the heads of those that impacted them, and a good two-thirds of the attacking monsters took a little more damage as his Thrall Commander trait reflecting the automatic healing his thralls performed onto the source of the damage.  It wasn’t much, and would add up after a while, but it wasn’t enough to stop the attacking Gorams for long. 

Especially as those behind the hostile Goram that were stopped by his minions used their brethren as stepping stones to run over the top of his defensive perimeter – which was where the Fighters around Thaden came in. 

For the first time, he was able to see a high-Level Fighter with 6 arms at work, as the Heliothrope tore into the Charging Gorams with an efficiency and lethality that was both impressive and somewhat frightening.  His weapons absolutely tore through or completely smashed the hard scales of the incoming tide of monster bodies, flinging blood and body parts everywhere as he looked like a whirlwind of death and destruction.  He easily kept the majority of the Goram from reaching Thaden, while the other Fighters picked up those that attempted to go around Zarin.

Even with the viciousness of the Heliothrope killing everything in his path, there were simply too many monsters to kill them all as soon as they were within range.  All of the fighters were in various stages of being overwhelmed, but even as they took damage, Sadia was there to ensure they all had Celestial Regeneration active or used Major Health Siphon to grab some Health from Thaden’s minions and heal his defenders.  Their Health pools were so high because of Major Health Reinforcement that they would have to take a lot more damage for them to be at real risk, but keeping them healthy and able to fight was nevertheless important.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity as his defenders were slowly being overrun, his Celestial Dominate Spirit finished, and he felt the spell take hold of not just the Goram around him, but also the reanimated ones that he’d temporarily brought back from the dead.  Even as his head felt the strain of around 1,300 minions under his control, which was just about the limit of what he could handle, he recast Major Health Reinforcement on himself, his controlled targets, and the 6 Fighters – which may have been a mistake, as the sudden influx of a much higher Max Health made even Zarin stumble and collapse onto the ground.  Thaden was already on his knees from the strain on his mind, and when his body felt the strain of now having a nearly 18 million% increase to his Health pool, he nearly passed out.

Fortunately, he was able to maintain consciousness even as the first Goram stomped over the collapsed Fighters to slam into him, but he’d already fallen on his face by that point.  All that happened was him being trampled instead of being hit by its durable head, and while it hurt, any damage was quickly healed by the ongoing healing spells he had active. 

“Just hang on, Thaden, I’ll take care of this,” Sadia shouted as she jumped straight up and out of the way of the Charging Goram, who were all congregating around him, trying to stomp him to death.  Thaden couldn’t see anything past the mass of Goram flesh around him to see what was going on, and as he suffered blow after blow that he couldn’t prevent, none of it harmed him for long as he was healed by a plethora of healing spells and effects, including the Major Healing Assistant spell he had on all of his minions. 

Even though he couldn’t actually see anything, he could sense what Sadia was doing.  She spread the Major Healing Assistant spell around to his newly reanimated minions, bringing even more healers into play, while also directing them to swarm toward Thaden, using their leech ability every few seconds to leech approximately 50% of Thaden’s max Health every 4 seconds, which came out to approximately 48 billion Health leeched away from the hostile monsters.

It took weeks (or about 40 seconds in real time) for Thaden’s new minion army to finally clear out the hostile monsters, and he was soon picking himself off the ground, brushing off the dirt and some of the blood he’d spilled from the incessant attacks against him.  “Thanks,” he told Sadia as she moved next to him once the area was clear.  “That was… uncomfortable, to say the least.”

The 6 Fighters around him had also been battered and beaten up as they were trampled by the Gorams trying to reach Thaden, but they had suffered much less than he had.  Even so, they looked around with wild eyes as they surveyed the battlefield, which now had their little group surrounded by a circle of controlled Goram approximately 20 thick in each direction.  The army of hostile monsters had now surrounded them, but they were all being absolutely destroyed by his own controlled targets, until their corpses began to pile up once again.  Fortunately, he could extract loot and get rid of the bodies that way, which helped to prevent ramps of corpses from being formed. 

The strain on his mind was still rough, and he began actively releasing the original ones he’d Enthralled one by one, canceling any of his spells upon them and letting them be quickly killed by having the others leeching their Health away, as he gradually felt his mind get to the point where it didn’t feel like it was going to explode.  By the time he got to that point, he had rid himself of a portion of the reanimated ones, as well, leaving him at right around 1,000 total minions.  It wasn’t a hard limit, but it was a limitation that he didn’t want to exceed any further than he already had, as his mind was currently at a point where it wasn’t actively being too strained to think clearly.

“Uh… what do we do, now?” Rel’ba’shet asked, watching the slaughter happen around him, which was now completely out of his hands.

“Nothing, hopefully.  You did your job, and now we just wait for the rest to come here and kill themselves.”  It wasn’t quite that simple, of course, but the others had done their job spectacularly and could take a break.  Just like the entire force of Adventurers and combat Classes on the walls, who were now just staring out at Thaden as every single monster ignored the city and focused on the single Human standing next to a giant squirrel.

The waves of Charging Gorams seemed to be endless, but he could see them already beginning to thin out within a few minutes as they continuously ran into the perimeter of his minions, keeling over in death as their Health was leeched from them almost instantly, only to disappear shortly thereafter as loot was extracted from them.  Behind them, the higher-Level Assault Gorams were approaching, some of them starting to become eager enough that they were trampling the smaller Charging Gorams, as if whatever was directing them was losing some of that disciplined control. 

Peering past them, Thaden could finally see what they were up against after the smaller Goram were eliminated.  He had no doubt that they would be eliminated, even the Level 60 Assault Goram, but the others might be a little more challenging. 

Behemoth Goram – Medial

Level 105

The double-decker-bus-sized monsters, which he learned were called Behemoth Goram, were obviously larger, but there was something surrounding them that worried him more than their size.  A reddish glow that looked like an aura seemed to emanate from their scales, concentrating on their heads, which were a bit more pointed than the others, looking more like a horn than a conical bullet.

“Any clue what that is?” he asked Sadia, who stared at the Behemoth Goram in the distance, who were slowly closing in on their location. 

She shook her head.  “No.  Nothing good, I would imagine.”

Once the Assault Gorams arrived, he was tempted to try controlling some of them, but he decided against it because it would only increase the strain on his mind.  He could control so many Charging Goram because they were almost the same exact Level as he was; his advantages came with a higher quantity of monsters under his control, after all, and having higher Level ones would only benefit if he didn’t already have 1,000 at his disposal.

 It wasn’t until the 2,000 or so Charging Goram were being killed by his minions that he was able to view the information about the final Goram monsters bringing up the rear, the ones that were the size of multiple jumbo jets stacked up on top of each other. 

Goram Colossus – Maximal

Level 280

Crap.  Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I can control one of those things.  Enthrall certainly won’t work, and there’s a very good chance that I could never get a Dominate Spirit or Befriend Spirit to stick.

The problem with something that high of a Level wasn’t that he couldn’t control it, though that was certainly part of it.  It was that such monsters inevitably took a lot less damage from sources that were far below it in Level.  He’d experienced something similar on Tarth when he had to find a way to kill some extremely high-Level World Bosses; they were so far above him in Level that they only took about 0.0001% of the damage he dished out.  While these weren’t nearly as high of a Level as those World Bosses, the same principle applied here; the damage reduction of higher-Level monsters was one of the main reasons Adventurers typically didn’t fight monsters that were far above them in Level, because even if they were very strong for their Level, they would deal reduced damage to their targets.  In this case, he thought that the leeching his minions did would only deal about 0.001% of the their normal damage, if not even less.  They were dealing so much already that he thought that they would still deal enough to kill one of the Goram Colossuses, but he couldn’t guarantee it.  The problem was that there were dozens of them, and if they all attacked simultaneously, he could be in real trouble.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that he could do about it now, because he was kind of stuck, surrounded by the enemy that would follow him wherever he went.  He would just have to wait and see what happened.