A look of shock filled the guard’s eyes, barely visible through his visor. I laughed at his dismay then lunged at him, thrusting the spiked butt of my axe into his face. He reeled back but stumbled. As he tried to regain his footing, I buried my axe in the top of his skull.
My victory preceded Tejón’s by a few seconds, giving me enough time to look over and see him rear up at the ratkin. He ignored the spear that was lodged in his shoulder and, using his paw, struck the ratkin’s head so hard that the sickly crack of its spine echoed around me.
Foreman Shezkal bellowed a challenge, and I screamed back. Nothing like a fight between two equally unhinged opponents, eh? I told Tejón to go and support the others, who, by the sound of the fray, were not faring well.
The bear ambled away even as I sidestepped the first thundering downward slash of the halberd. The weapon was longer than the spears and much more powerful. Its tip was capped with a long spike, and hanging just below was a wicked double-sided axehead. One side was the typical half-moon shape, the other hooked like a dagger.
My Rampage was still augmenting my movements, but my HP was already running low. I would need to deactivate it soon.
I dove away from another strike that cracked the stone floor and pelted my legs with rock fragments. Shezkal’s attacks were precise and quick, but my ability allowed me to dodge and counter them all. Frustration seemed to overtake my opponent, and his form pulsed with a white light before he slammed his front foot in the ground. A ripple of power leapt out at me and knocked me off my feet.
Damn this rat. He’d used some form of Stomp. I tried to get to my feet, holding my axe before me to fend off any attacks. The slash that the foreman threw at me next was aimed directly at my axe. It flew from my hands and clanged against the floor, leaving me in shock. I was facing an opponent in full plate armor, wielding a ten-foot polearm, and I held no weapon!
The next few moments were just a blur of dodges and dives as I avoided the onslaught.
Shezkal screamed as he attacked me. “Maybe you are one of us after all, traveler! You scurry like a little rat. You are too weak for this world. Give up and die!”
A deeper source of rage consumed me then. Though my HP was at thirty percent and I had little hope of surviving, I stood, faced the demon, and growled at him.
He laughed and struck again, aiming his blow at my belly. I jumped forward, ignored the blade of the weapon as it tore through the flesh over my ribs, and grabbed the shaft of the halberd. A brief look of surprise registered in the foreman’s eyes, but I didn’t pause my attack.
Using my momentum, I kicked the ratkin in his breastplate and sent him to the ground in a heap.
Since I had no skill for the weapon, I tossed it aside and drew the dagger at my side.
The huge ratkin recovered quickly and held his gauntleted fists up to fend me off.
He swung out in a wide haymaker, but I ducked it easily. Suddenly, being heavily armored was not to his advantage. Another punch. This time I swept under his outstretched arm, wrapped my arms around his waist, and used every ounce of strength in my body to throw him over my hip. The clash of armor was a riot in my ears, and I followed him to the ground, straddling his breastplate and sinking my dagger into his skull through his visor slit.
My chest heaved, and I noticed my vision was beginning to turn gray.
I stared down at the dead creature and thought only of more violence, something else to kill.
“Madi, let it go! Release the skill!” a voice called. I turned my head to face the new threat.
A girl was running at me. I ripped the dagger free, intent on killing this one, too. But my head swooned a bit, and I nearly fell.
“Madi!” the girl said. “Wake up! Release the skill or you will die!” She was beautiful, and her pale face had a spray of vibrant blood on it.
I knew that girl. Hana.
And as if a spell had been shattered, I knew myself again. I quickly released Rampage and gasped for air, my HP at two percent. I slumped to the ground, and then my friends dragged me away from the mess. Sleep soon took me. I floated in a sea of red.
I woke sometime later, my health already regenerating. I had few wounds, so my normal health regen would have me up to fighting shape within an hour or so.
Alysand was smiling at me. “You fight like a Kafliri shield sister. I am honored to stand at your side, Madi. Here. If you are not too prideful, drink this.”
He handed me a glowing red vial that any gamer could tell you was a health potion. Still, I had only seen a few of them so far in this realm, all at the apothecary in Taelman’s Pond. They were outrageously priced. The minor ones that were being sold there were 50 dragons and only restored twenty percent of your HP.
I drank this one and felt the fiery magic go to work within me. It wasn’t a spark of healing, but a torrent. I inspected my HP and watched in awe as it refilled swiftly.
Tejón barreled into me, and I was grateful to see the twinkle of health in his eyes.
Hana kneeled before me and smiled. “Alysand is right. I don’t know who the Kafliri are, but you went
