Then Tim caught it in the side with his sword, almost ripping it open, just before a human warrior appeared at his side and skewered the monster. Regina thrust with her spear, but the monster dodged. One got stuck in the ditch and three tried to scramble up the palisade, but one large black cat managed to vault it with a leap supported by a sudden gust of wind. Half a dozen of the monsters charged at the fortification at once. This time, the soldiers took fewer of them out at range, probably because their more powerful abilities were spent or needed to recharge. The next group of monsters, a mixed pack of hyenas and feline monsters, was approaching already. Regina wasn’t sure if they’d used Skills or not.īut they didn’t get much time to rest. There, two of the human warriors captured their attention, while Max and a human swordsman cut them down quickly. Only two of the Spike Dogs survived to reach the palisade. Even without the eggs, there was no way her mana regeneration would be able to keep pace with the fights. Regina resisted the urge to fire a Magic Missile.
Other fighters joined in, everyone with a ranged option unleashing it on the monsters. The rest of the pack started to howl, but they didn’t change course. She didn’t think they were in a reasonable range already, but his arrow shot out like a bullet and hit the closest dog right in the throat. Regina resisted the urge to turn and stare in surprise. Suddenly, one of the human fighters in the group opened fire. This wasn’t the occasional stray monster they’d faced in the night, but a significant part of the horde in the area coming for them. Behind the horde of dogs - which she could now see were called ‘Spike Dogs’ by the System, very creative - other monsters were moving closer, too. She shook her head and focused on the coming fight. In her case, Regina suspected she’d get experience for doing queenly things - leadership, presumably - and perhaps for growing her hive. That was one of the things she’d been able to confirm by watching and listening to the villagers: Combat wasn’t the only way to level, even if it was by far the fastest, and Classes with a non-combat focus, especially, gained experience by doing tasks that pertained to their Class. And even better, unless she was greatly mistaken, they would both get experience for that work. That would be very useful for crafting and had even come in handy with building the palisade. According to Mia, it was called ‘Meld and Merge’ and it basically glued things together magically. They’d both hit level 5 yesterday and, although Regina had missed it in the commotion, they’d gotten a new Ability. The evening before, Mia and Tia worked hard with the locals to build their improvised fortifications. Regina took the last shift and didn’t move much from here until the others arrived. Her hive had used the night to recuperate, although they’d had one or two members at a time out to patrol the village. Or so she’d heard the commander saying, at least. It was rough and quick work, but it should hold for a while. They had, with the help of her workers, built a palisade together with a ditch. Quite a few of the baron’s men covered this post, the main road leading into the village. Regina leaned her arm on the earthen rampart they’d built and glanced around for a moment. They looked like overgrown, rabid dogs, except that there were odd spikes and plates of bone growing out of their bodies.
The morning sun was only just cresting the horizon, but thankfully it came from the side, so she still got a good look at the pack of monsters drawing closer. It wasn’t like she only had her hive to fight them off. Well, more like a night and some change, really.Īs Regina stared out at the group of monsters approaching the village now, she couldn’t help but feel that it still wasn’t enough. The monsters left them in peace for most of a day.