Healer Book 5 -- Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Thaden had to harden his heart as he moved from town to town in the area, finding either the buildings and the people inside being demolished and eaten when he arrived or, which was more likely, stumbling upon a scene where he was already too late.  He ended up resurrecting a single Charee that he discovered the remains of while he was finishing off the rest of the Ogres he confronted.  

As for any Contenders, either they had fled before the impossible might of the Ogres heading toward them – which he could unfortunately understand, given that the monsters were, for the most part, 200+ Levels above most of them.  Even with a Raid Party of 500 or more, it was unlikely they would survive against more than a few of them, let alone the large groups that Thaden hunted down.

He didn’t stop in his pursuit of all the Ogres that had escaped from the Warpath Dungeon, as the only concession he made in his movements was to briefly check his message feed for any messages regarding anyone he may have inadvertently killed in the towns he visited, as well as for any visible dead he could Resurrect – but he never spent more than 20 seconds checking.  It was entirely possible that he missed dozens or hundreds of bodies left behind by the Ogres due to his haste, but based on the thoroughness of the Ogres and their insatiable appetite, he doubted there were many.

As he made a complete circuit around the area where the Warpath Dungeon was located over the next couple of hours, he found less and less evidence of the Ogres’ passing.  When the last group he encountered was a little more than 15 minutes before, he stopped and wondered where to go from there.

“I can’t find any more,” he muttered, floating in the air in between two towns that had been essentially obliterated as the Ogres passed through; they had been slaughtered by Thaden almost an hour and a half ago, and he had come full-circle in his search.  “Was that all of them?”

He thought he would’ve gotten a Quest update notification that he’d eliminated them all, but that hadn’t happened.

“Check the Quest; it should tell you how many are left.”

Thaden immediately opened his Quests, and sure enough, there was a counter inside the Completion Requirements section that was keeping tabs on his progress.

Completion Requirements: Eliminate all 3,125 Ogre Warriors, 2,808 Ogre Berserkers, 1,293 Ogre Magi, and 42 Ogre Chieftains

(2,825 of 3,125 Ogre Warriors eliminated)

(2,540 of 2,808 Ogre Berserkers eliminated)

(1,169 of 1,293 Ogre Magi eliminated)

(38 of 42 Ogre Chieftains eliminated)

If he was basing his progress on the number of Ogre groups he had killed, he was fairly certain that it matched up with the 38 Ogre Chieftains that the Quest said were eliminated.  That meant there were likely 4 groups out there that he had missed, but he didn’t know where to look for them.

“Where do you think these last ones are?  Would they be hiding, you think?”

“Doubtful.  They were sent out to do as much damage as they could, which includes killing everything they came across; there would be no point in them hiding.  As for where to go, you may need to backtrack and search some of the areas to the east, where you encountered those two Ogre groups fairly close together.  If I remember correctly, you skipped a bit of your search in that are because you didn’t need to look far to find the next target.”

He nodded, remembering that occurring about an hour before.  He figured it might be a good idea to check out that area first before widening his search grid.  However, before he headed east again, he suddenly had a thought now that he had a second to worry about it.  “Uh, what about the Warpath Dungeon?  Will it send out more monsters soon?  If so, should I go clear it of what is likely a Legion Commander pulling the strings inside?”

“I’m sure more will come, but I doubt it will be anytime soon.  It can only imagine it would take a while to create such a force as the one we’ve seen; otherwise, the whole Region probably would’ve been overrun a week ago.  We’re actually lucky that none have broken out until now.”

Thaden hoped that she hadn’t just jinxed them, as he agreed with her assessment.  They probably had days of time before another force of Ogres were released, so it was probably better to ensure everything outside was safe before he cleared it out.

Thaden went about a mile east in his search for any sign of more Ogres when his senses caught a whiff of something.  It wasn’t the rampaging monsters that had been released by the Dungeon, which he’d learned stunk horribly when he accidentally got close to them, nor was it a concentration of Adversarial energy denoting a dungeon in need of cleansing.  Instead, it was a familiar “scent” of the System’s authority, and it was coming from north of his position.

At first, he thought it was the Aelveen that had finally made their way down to where he was, but there were some subtle differences to it that he couldn’t precisely describe, but he was sure they were there.  It only took him a few seconds to conclude that it was likely Ghareta and the other Charee Wardens he was sensing, and not the Aelveen he was more familiar with.

He only stopped for a few seconds as he contemplated linking up with them for help stopping the remaining Ogres, but he disregarded that thought almost as soon as it sprung up.  He didn’t want or need another confrontation with Wardens who thought he might be the “spawn of the devil” or some other such nonsense when it came to whatever they could detect inside of him, and he still remembered the warning Tac had given him about avoiding them as much as possible.  Even given the current crisis, it was too much of a risk that he didn’t have time for.

Therefore, he went east, quickly coming upon the area where he had bypassed further searching due to the proximity of another Ogre group nearby.  It didn’t take long for him to expand his investigation into the nearby areas, flying quickly with his Wyvern’s Flight cloak, primarily using Sadia to help notice anything he might have missed.  Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, there didn’t seem to be any sign of additional Ogres.

With that area a bust, he made a wider circuit around the places where he’d fought and killed the monsters, which all seemed to have fanned out from the Warpath Dungeon as if directed to cause as widespread destruction as possible, and it was easy enough to trace where they had been.  The only area he avoided was up north where he still occasionally felt the faint presence of the Charee Wardens, so he could only hope that the Ogres were up there.  It wasn’t until he checked out the epicenter of the Ogre epidemic, the actual dungeon where they were released, that he decided that that had to be the case.

In fact, as he was looking at the trampled fields of dirt and stone boulders that sheltered the Warpath Dungeon, clearly showing signs of passage towards many different directions, Thaden checked the Quest again and noticed that a few more Warriors and Berserkers had been killed, a total of 8 altogether, so he could only assume that the Wardens were on top of it.

“Those Charee Wardens should be able to take care of them, shouldn’t they?” he asked, hovering over and eyeing the Warpath Dungeon entrance below him.  He was debating going in now that it seemed like the stragglers had been found.

“Given the Ogres’ Levels, they should be find – though if all of the remaining ones are together in one large group, they might have trouble.  If the number remaining continues to drop, then I’d say they should be able to handle it.”

Thaden kept the Quest open even as he set down near the entrance, which he thought was much larger than it should’ve been, as it encompassed an open space in between two large boulders.  However, based on the trampled and broken wooden posts and ropes denoting Raid Party waiting areas, their placement indicated that the prior entrance was likely only about a third of the size, if not smaller.  He could only assume that the Adversarial entity inside the dungeon had altered the size to let the Ogres out, otherwise the Chieftain – for one – wouldn’t fit.

As much as he wanted to jump in and cleanse the dungeon of whatever had taken control of it, he waited for an entire 2 minutes outside the entrance, waiting for the Quest to indicate that the Wardens had everything under control.  Unfortunately, even after waiting that long, the number of Ogres that had reportedly been slain didn’t change.

Impatiently moving his weight from foot-to-foot, he even stood there for another minute to see if that would make a difference, but nothing happened.  Then he closed and re-opened the Quest to see if it needed to be refreshed, like some sort of website he’d logged onto, but even that ridiculous act didn’t seem to help.

“Well, crap.  I think you might be right that they were too much for the Wardens.”

Sighing in annoyance – not at having to come to the Warden’s rescue by killing more Ogres, but because he didn’t want to have to deal with them afterwards – Thaden took off again, flying north this time.  The closer he got to the feeling the Charee Wardens gave off, the slower he flew, until he was moving at a veritable crawl compared to his top speed.  Staying relatively low by skimming over the treetops of a forest, he camouflaged himself by alighting near the top of one of the trees as the forest abruptly ended, revealing a large plain ahead of him.

“Well, now we know where the Contenders went.”

Ahead of him were the sad remnants of a battle between what appeared to have been tens of thousands of Contenders and the Ogre army, which indeed seemed to be all four groups he had been missing all mashed up into one large host.  What he was looking at was the failed defense against the Ogres, where thousands of Contenders had died and were currently being consumed by the monsters at a rapid pace; their feeding frenzy was the only reason that the remaining tens of thousands of Contenders were able to fall into a disorganized retreat into the distance, approximately a mile away by this point.  He wasn’t exactly sure how many had died to ensure that the others had a chance to escape, as he wasn’t sure how long the Ogres had been feeding, but any number of dead was bad enough.

Floating above the retreating Contender forces were three vaguely familiar figures, only recognizable because they were Charee and he could sense were the source of the System authority he felt.  Almost as if simply looking at them had alerted them to his presence, he saw them all turn and look his way, before conferring with each other. 

Ah, crap.  Don’t come over here, don’t come over here, don’t come over here….

Fortunately and unfortunately, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen, because the Ogres – in just the few seconds he was observing them from about a half-mile away, had finished their meals and appeared to be ready to move out again toward their retreating meals.  Their movements stopped any thought of the Wardens coming to investigate Thaden’s presence, as they floated downwards toward the Contenders in a show of being there to help protect them.

“With that many Contenders fighting alongside the Wardens, they should’ve been fine against these Ogres—oh.”  As Thaden was watching the Ogres start to move out, leaving not even a single trace of a corpse behind, he was able to catch just the barest sight of a nametag of one of the Magi that was further behind than the others.  It was a miracle that the System actually provided the nametag at that distance, but it was also only for a half-second or so before it was out of range again.

Ogre Magi – Intermediate Maximal

Level 535

There was no Perceived Level present because he wasn’t nearly close enough for his Advancement to take effect, but the sight of the Level 535 Magi wasn’t a good sign.  While it might have been a one-off, Thaden doubted it; if all of the Ogres were a higher Level than the others he’d hunted down and killed, then even the Wardens would have trouble fighting against dozens of them simultaneously, let alone the hundreds that were on the field.  Even with support by the Contenders, they were entirely outmatched – which made the reason why they had failed to kill more than a handful of them before they were forced to retreat more obvious at this point.

If they reach the disorganized Contenders again, it is unlikely that many will survive the day, he thought.  With that thought in mind, he shot forward, aiming for the front of the Ogre army, while at the same time he saw the Wardens above the retreating Contenders start to move in response.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Thaden just nodded; he didn’t really have any other choice.

Landing approximately 100 feet in front of the leading edge of the Ogre army, he quickly switched out his cloak for his cape and began the process of preparing for slaughter even as Sadia appeared next to him.  He had made it into position before the Wardens had even traveled halfway, but he turned around and held up his hands in a “stop” gesture.  Thaden didn’t realize until later that it appeared as if he – who had the taint of the Adversary on him – had flown to the front of the Ogre army in order to assist them, only to then cast what was likely a powerful spell toward the approaching figures.

It was only when they responded to his presence with a flood of long-distance attacks as they flew toward him with murder in their eyes that he comprehended his mistake, but by then it was too late.  His defensive spells were more than adequate to prevent him from getting hurt by the sudden barrage, and as they got closer, he shouted, “Get back!  I’ve got this—”

Unfortunately, the Wardens were lost in their rage at his appearance and sudden “attack” on them, so they didn’t listen.  Instead, they continued their dive-bombing run that appeared as if they were intending to crash right into him, which would coincide with the first of the Ogres arriving at his back.

“Well, crap.  So be it.”

It turned out that one of the Wardens was a Support Class, as when he and Sadia initiated their Leach spell combos, he could see the protective spells flare up around Ghareta in the lead.  Unfortunately for her, Thaden had refined his healing and damaging process so well that this didn’t matter all that much, as their random targeting started tearing through the Ogres behind them, increasing his equipment bonuses as they died, so he was able to pretty much cyclically chain-cast all of his healing spells in rotation, ensuring that there was very little downtime.

Ghareta and the Mage Class Warden died within 2 seconds, before being revived by what was undoubtedly a Death Ward and dying again almost instantly, their bodies going limp as they crashed into the ground; the Support Class Warden lasted a second longer, before they died and were also brought back by a Death Ward.  It all happened so fast that none of them had a chance to react, as the damage he and Sadia were putting out were so massive and rapid that it was over in a blink.

His solo-focused Growth items had definitely improved even further over the length of his hunt for the Ogres, and it showed with how he practically annihilated the army that was coming up behind him.  With a last look at the downed Charee Wardens, he looked at Sadia and nodded, before they both sprinted toward the incoming Ogres, intent to kill them before they could reach the System’s agents.  The last thing he wanted was for the 3 powerful figures to be eaten after he killed them, as he was sure the System would be very angry at him.

No more than 30 seconds later, the last of the Ogre Chieftains – who turned out to be Level 580, a challenge even by itself for the Wardens – collapsed on top of the dead Ogres surrounding it, signaling the final monster of the deadly monster army was finally dead.

Thaden knew that he had earned some good things from the elimination of these Ogres, as he could feel that the Quest had been completed, and he was sure to have even more PICK than usual stream into his new gear.  But he wasn’t thinking about that at the moment, because there was something a bit more important lying at his feet.

With extreme reluctance, he took advantage of his equipment bonuses being topped up to full to start quick-casting Resurrection on Wardens who would likely be extremely pissed-off as soon as they were brought back to life.