Chapter 18

The camp still had plenty of supplies for them to use and so in order to buy time for himself to think, Axel ordered the worshipers to salvage anything of use.

He stood with fake confidence pointing at random areas for them to go, giving the illusion of productivity.

Axel pinched the bridge of his nose, the stress giving him a small migraine. He already regretted his choice to give in to the inspiring words of the gathered crowd.

Making matters worse, someone had confiscated all the devil’s water. Axel blamed Rayner.

Said friend loomed behind him, waiting for a chance to speak. Axel mused at the idea of ignoring him but knew it would come back and bite him in the ass later.

Turning to face Rayner, he saw that he kept looking at his palm. “When is the last time you checked your stats?”

The question caught him off guard, though it shouldn’t have. Knowing his own strength should have been a top priority, but stat checking hadn’t crossed his mind in some time.

“That’s what I thought,” Rayner said in reaction to Axel’s expression. “Now’s the time.”

Axel gazed into his palm, at the complex patterns that had grown much since he first saw them back in Yazid’s cabin. The tattoos swirled the longer he gazed at them, forming into the illusion of a screen. There he saw the various numbers that made up his capabilities earned through training and fighting.

Name: Axel, Level: 3, Class: Thug, Mana: 25, Skills: Pain Knife(1) Fear Knife(0.5) Malice Seal(X), Item Seal(X) EXP: 60.

There was a noticeable jump in his experience and though he needed Roddrick’s help to do so, he had the skill Item Seal. If getting his butt slapped by a boss gained him EXP, then maybe he should lose more often.

“Mine hasn’t changed much. It’s not even worth showing you. The description of Rampage changed to reflect my control over it and that’s kinda it.”

“What did I tell you two about obsessing over stats?” Roddrick said, back from whatever Axel had him doing.

“To be fair, it’s been a while since we checked,” Axel said.

“Your thoughts?”

“It’s OK, I guess.”

“I know these numbers don’t reflect everything, but it sure would feel good to see the improvement,” Rayner said, shoulders slumped.

Roddrick nodded in understanding. “A morale boost would be nice right about now. Yet the fact remains you two have improved significantly since I met you.”

“Really?” Rayner said, both hopeful yet somehow unbelieving.

“Oh yes. In our short time together Rayner you have gained control over a violent skill, gained enough proficiency with your skills to use them all rapidly with little to no wait time, and proved this in a battle where you fought two experienced, well-armed Coalition worshipers by yourself.”

“ ... Wow ... um, thank you.”

“No need to thank me for telling the truth. As much as I would like to take credit for your improvement it is my belief that my training only hastened a growth already taking place.”

“Still, thank you.”

Roddrick nodded his head slightly, accepting the thanks. Axel, however, tried not to look eager for the same compliments and as the seconds ticked on, he feared Roddrick was finished.

Then the blue-skinned man turned to him with a slight smile. Axel was being teased.

“Then there is you Axel. For now, I have nothing to say,” Roddrick said.

“Oh, that’s OK. That just means I have lots of work to do. No problem. It’s fine.”

But from the way Roddrick and Rayner looked at him, they knew it wasn’t. It only made sense; his list of accomplishments recently had a pile of dead allies attached to it. A feat hardly worthy of praise.

“Sorry, I have my reasons,” Roddrick said.

Axel waved him away, forcing a smile to his lips. “No need. Look, the others are back.”

Axel took the excuse to walk off, and he heard Rayner whispering to Roddrick heatedly as he made his escape.

Rayner was a good friend. He’d assumed Roddrick insulted him somehow but Roddrick only told Axel the truth. His deeds were not worth mentioning.

To be honest with himself, given the chances they had of stopping the ogre and his monster army, it may have been for the best.

Colin and Haro stood before the assembled worshipers having been appointed the de facto leaders of the bunch. Ellen and Kata led the surviving followers, members of the entourage, the medical teams, and other support staff that made up the camp.

It tempted him to use his new position of leadership to get an answer to why Haro as a Coalition worshiper stayed with them but he shelved the idea. More important matters needed addressing. For one, he had to tell these people a plan he did not have.

Axel tried to meet the eyes of everyone at once, a leadership strategy he saw online. As he had little idea what to do, he decided it would be wise to inform himself and the group of what they faced.

He pointed to Kata. “Share your name with the crowd.”

The cataloger jumped in surprise. “Oh, my name is Kata, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir and are you serious? Kata, the cataloger.”

“It’s the name my mother gave me, Axel.”

“Alright Kata, you have spoken with the other worshipers. Can you brief us on the monsters you saw and your thoughts on how to combat them? Especially that ogre.”

Kata nervously joined Axel to stand before the crowd for the briefing. “All the monsters that escaped the dungeon share a single trait, and it’s not that they are green and plant-based. It’s the moss. This moss acts as a cushion for blunt force attacks, so hammers, clubs, and fists do little. I have also confirmed through a personal and frankly terrifying encounter with one of the monsters that they are all one.”

“Do you mean like a hive mind?”

“No, more like ... clones.”

“Is this a good or bad thing?”

“Bad,” said Haro. “It means they can make more of themselves.”

“Ah, yes but they would need the dungeon’s unique environment to do so,” Kata said.

That made Axel sigh in relief. It lasted only a second.

“Moss is hardly a unique substance. Can’t this be used to make more clones?” Haro said.

“I suppose—yes, yes it can. If they have moss available, they can indeed make more of themselves.”

The crowd buzzed in fear. Axel had to get it under control before panic set in. What could he say to calm them? They needed to hear they could fight a horde of monsters capable of replicating themselves.

“Can you give us an estimate of the strength of these clones?” Axel said, calmly, as if unfazed by the crowd or Kata’s bad news.

“Very weak. Time is needed before they can match the strength of the original.”

“Good, so we all know what to do if we see one of these clones, kill them first before they become a threat.”

“Or even better, kill them as they are being created,” Colin said.

“I’m no worshiper but I say we actively find moss that can be used for them to make clones and destroy it,” Ellen said.

After that, the rest of the crowd joined in to make their own suggestions. A plan was forming without Axel having to create one.

His plan to cover for the fact he had none worked. He grinned, feeling clever.

“What of the Ogre?” Roddrick said, causing the conversations of the crowd to return to silence.

“The Ogre is a problem,” a woman said.

“We know. It crushed us!” said a man from the crowd.

“Let Kata speak!” Axel said before anyone else could cut the man off.

Axel nodded for Kata to continue. “Thank you. The problem of the Ogre is challenging due to our inability to get close to him and the significant defensive and offensive capabilities he possesses. I have no counter for him yet.”

“How is it surviving outside the dungeon? Dungeon monsters need mana to survive,” Roddrick said.

“Well there is mana in the atmosphere but I see your point. The mana outside the dungeon is not concentrated enough for dungeon monsters. At least that is the case for a half-formed dungeon like this. The Ogre’s own mana reserves are enough to sustain it and the other monsters outside the dungeon.”

“Then if we do manage to kill the Ogre, the rest of the monsters die.”

“Where is the horde even going?” Ellen said.

“The largest population center of the region that’s close by is Ridgehill,” Rayner said. “I fear for them but they have a better chance than us with the three armies to back them. It’s also where the Coalition worshipers retreated to.” Rayner was polite enough not to say that the Coalition worshipers fled like cowards.

“Normally I would agree but the state of those three armies was bad and got worse since then,” said Axel. “We must assume that the forces we have here are all we can rely on.”

To Axel’s surprise, this pronouncement failed to discourage the crowd. Their heads were held high and their eyes held the light of determination.

Fighting the Ogre scared them. It’s sure scared Axel. But they all made the choice to fight, regardless.

So, had he. “I don’t know of a sure way to defeat the ogre but I do know how we can catch up to the horde and surprise them. There is a tunnel made by a dragon that terrorized the Alea region. If we use that tunnel to travel, we can intercept the horde.”

“The horde has to stay close to the Ogre and use its mana as cover to travel. It limits how fast they can move,” Haro said, expanding on Axel’s plan, for which Axel mouthed his thanks.