Chapter 95 — Defense of the Wall (Part 5)

Chapter 95 — Defense of the Wall (Part 5)

I rushed toward the wall at maximum speed. Of course, along the way I kept cutting down Dark Wolves that got in my path. But it seemed like I wasn’t fast enough.

Suddenly, a rain of arrows and magic attacks poured down on them. But most of those attacks were useless—they didn’t even slow the Dark Wolves down. Considering their speed, almost ninety percent of the attacks simply missed.

Still, a few of the magical strikes were powerful enough to wound them and slow them down a little.

Well, of course… there had to be some strong fighters on the wall.

One of the wolves leapt onto the wall. That height wasn’t a problem for it.

I was already starting to worry there would be casualties, but some adventurer cleanly beheaded it mid-jump.

In the next moment, someone used a powerful lightning-based skill.

The bolt struck one Dark Wolf, then jumped to a second, then a third.

For a moment, it seemed like they were paralyzed—they collapsed, though inertia still carried them forward.

But now the archers and ballista operators no longer missed. The magical attacks also began landing almost perfectly.

Within seconds, the remaining three Dark Wolves dissolved into particles of light.

Damn… what the hell was I even rushing here for?

It made sense that a few Dark Wolves weren’t a serious threat to the defenders on the wall.

I turned around.

Oh, damn… damn, damn!

The number of Dark Wolves was rapidly decreasing. If I wasted any more time, there wouldn’t be any left at all. About half of them were already gone.

There were more and more golems, and they were simply overwhelming the wolves with sheer numbers.

And I still hadn’t gained a single level.

I dashed at full speed toward the nearest Dark Wolf.

—

The Dark Wolves were gone. Not a single one remained.

At least I managed to kill the last one—just before a stone golem reached it. I destroyed it in the exact moment before the golem’s strike landed where it had been. A small victory.

But overall, I lost. I only managed to gain one level. Just a few dozen more kills, and I would have reached the next one. Bad luck.

So… should I return to the wall? No, first I should talk to Rem. There were no monsters left, and the dungeon was now useless—its core had been destroyed.

Hey… in front of me were more than six thousand Rank-5 stone golems. That was more than enough to gain a huge amount of experience, even with a massive penalty. Damn, what stupid thoughts… Yeah, Rem probably wouldn’t mind—the battle was already over, and no more monsters would appear. But doing that in front of so many people… I glanced toward the wall. Hundreds… no, thousands of people. That was a bad idea. Damn, but I really want to. No—stop standing here.

I teleported into the Training Room. I expected to see Rem and Sherial resting on lounge chairs, reading books, or just lying around. But they weren’t there. Then I heard an explosion and looked in that direction.

On one side stood Rem, with golems appearing around her. Judging by their size, these were Rank-4 golems specialized for speed. On the other side was Sherial, destroying them.

Damn… they were having fun. I wanted in too.

"Finally, you’re here," Sherial said, with a hint of irritation in her voice.

I didn’t understand why she was annoyed. She fired a couple more shots, destroying the remaining golems, then walked toward me.

"What was that? Did you enjoy yourself?" she asked.

She was smiling, but there was still irritation in her tone.

"Hey, idiot, take this and drink it," Rem said, walking up to me and handing over a health potion.

"What? No, I’m fine. I’m not injured. Maybe let me join your training? I just need a bit more experience to level up," I said.

"Take it and drink it," Rem repeated firmly.

"I said I’m not injured."

Anger suddenly started rising inside me. I didn’t even understand why, but for a moment I actually wanted to attack Rem.

Damn…

I quickly deactivated Berserk.

The moment I did, a burning pain shot through my back. What the hell… why did it hurt so much? Even the slightest movement sent sharp pain through my body. I reached out with difficulty, took the potion, and drank it immediately. Within seconds, it got better… then better… until the pain disappeared completely.

I reached behind me.

Damn… there was a huge hole in my armor, and everything around it was soaked in sticky blood that hadn’t even dried yet. My entire back was covered in blood. I fought like that?

I quickly opened my status window. Ah… no, my HP was already fully restored—100%. I should have checked before drinking the potion.

"Feel better now?" Rem asked.

"Yeah… sorry. I didn’t feel it. Probably because of Berserk," I replied.

"Be careful with that skill. You might not even notice when you’re on the verge of death," she said.

"Yeah, I understand. I’ll be more careful next time."

She was right. I thought I had learned to control it, but… no. It wasn’t just a feeling—I really did become dumber when it was active.

Damn… I even wanted to attack Rem.

Remember this. As soon as the battle ends—deactivate Berserk immediately. Never leave it active afterward.

"So, what level are you now?" Sherial asked.

"178. Just a bit more and I’ll reach 179," I replied.

"Oh, nice. I’m still very far from that. Though I could’ve been closer if someone wasn’t so selfish," she said.

She smiled, but it was obvious she was still a little annoyed.

And then I remembered something.

According to the plan, every fifteen—or sometimes thirty—seconds, I was supposed to return to the Training Room and teleport Sherial to the battlefield so she could use her strongest skill.

But at some point… I completely forgot.

"Sorry… I forgot. I got too caught up in the fight," I said.

"Yeah, makes sense. You were too dumb because of Berserk," she replied.

Still… her mood seemed a bit better now.

Well… I didn’t really like her jab, but fair enough. I deserved it.

—

I took off my armor, washed up, and changed into clean clothes. After that, we started discussing what to do next. Yes, the problem was solved—no more monsters would come out of this dungeon. There shouldn’t be any left. But the real issue was different: we had attracted too much attention, and that could cause trouble.

"I suggest we stay here, train a bit, fully recover, and be ready in case something happens. It’s unlikely, but we showed too much power. That will definitely attract attention from those in power," Rem said.

"I don’t mind. We could spend a couple of months here—resting and training until we run out of food," Sherial said.

"We probably have enough food for more than a year," I said, remembering how much we had bought.

"I meant proper food. Good food," Sherial replied.

Right… I had forgotten she had more refined tastes than me. Yeah, for a normal person, living off rations for a year wasn’t exactly appealing.

In the end, we decided to train for a while and spend some time in the Training Room.

—

"Well then, your debt is now 574 silver coins," Sherial said with a smirk.

"Yeah," I replied. What else could I say? I lost again. As usual.

Sometimes I do win… but I suspect Sherial lets me, so I don’t lose interest in competing after constant defeats.

Almost two months passed. We used that time efficiently, constantly training. Rem summoned different types of golems, and we fought them. But most of the time, Sherial and I simply competed to see who could destroy more.

During that time, I gained two levels from killing golems. Sherial gained much more experience than me and also reached Rank 6—level 176. Rem, on the other hand, benefited the least in terms of experience, since she didn’t gain any. However, her golem modification skill reached Rank 5—and that was a major improvement.

Because of that, her golems became much more dangerous. Now she could modify Rank-5 golems, making them more specialized. For example, she could combine types: defensive golems in front, and spear-throwing ones behind.

This made breaking through their lines and destroying them significantly harder.

I got injured many times fighting those combinations. Damn, I still do—even though I’ve learned their patterns well. It gets especially dangerous when there are too many spear-throwing golems—dodging all their attacks becomes almost impossible.

And I almost forgot to mention something else.

At Rank 5, Rem gained the ability to change the size of her golems. She could now create a Rank-5 golem about two meters tall—compact, not very imposing, but still with full Rank-5 power.

However, she rarely used this in training. According to her, it consumed far too much mana. Creating a two-meter Rank-5 golem required nearly ten times more mana than a standard eight-meter one.

She also experimented with increasing their size. For example, she created a fifteen-meter Rank-5 golem. Yes, it worked—but it was useless. It became too slow. Its stats stayed roughly the same, so there was no real advantage to making them larger.

On the other hand, reducing their size had interesting effects. A two-meter Rank-5 golem turned out to be even more durable than the standard eight-meter version. But shrinking them further had limits—below around two meters, the mana cost skyrocketed.

Technically, she could even create a tiny Rank-5 golem—about ten centimeters tall. It would be interesting to see something that small with Rank-5 threat level. But in practice, she simply didn’t have enough mana for that.

"Well, this is our last night here. After we rest, we’ll return to the outside world. Get some good rest. It’s unlikely we’ll face danger immediately, but be prepared for anything," Rem said.

"Don’t worry, Alisar, nothing’s going to happen right away after we leave," Sherial added, trying to reassure me. "Most likely, things will start later, once news about the battle spreads and reaches nobles and people in power. So we should have five or six peaceful days."

That did calm me down a little.

Fighting… for me now, it’s much easier. Even facing an army would be less of a problem than talking to nobles. Communication has always been my weakest point, and I used to be easily manipulated.

But I’m not the same anymore.

Now I can just say “no” if I don’t like something. When you become strong enough that almost no one can stop you, it inevitably changes you.

I’m not that weak person anymore.

For now, I just need to eat well and rest. It’s a shame our two months of training here have come to an end.

Yes, I can stay in the Training Room as long as I want. But being here alone… and being here with Rem and Sherial… those are two very different things.

Honestly, I’d like to stay here with them longer… but of course, that’s not possible.

—

"Alisar! Alisar!"

I woke up to a familiar voice. When I opened my eyes, Sherial was leaning over me. My drowsiness vanished instantly.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked. She had never woken me like this before.

"We have a problem," she said.

"What kind of problem?"

"Dark Wolves attacked Rem’s golems. A large pack."