WhiteNinja489
Read up on the entire story so far. I really like the story you're telling.
Thank you, nice to hear that!
insertnamehereokay
Jim needs to get the milk and come back.
One day he will, don't worry.
Giggity Master
Hero levels can be forcibly reset?
Yes. That is canon, everyone's levels can be reset.
Giggity Master
What webcomic is Jim talking about? I'm so curious now.
The webcomic is actually UnOrdinary. Props to alex jesus for recognizing it, I didn't know if anyone would.
Also sorry I missed last week, and this chapter is a bit short, but I was also finishing up exams for college, moving houses, and christmas came up, so a lot of things happened. But next chapter will maybe be the longest yet as we have a lot of things to get done. So that's gonna be fun.
Enjoy :)
Before the guards could process what had just happened, the prisoners rushed forward and began to grab the rings from the ground. A green glow surrounded them for a moment as the dampening effect was removed and they regained their full stats.
"S-shit! Don't just stand around! TAKE THE RINGS FROM THEM!" the warden screamed, rushing forward with a metal stick in his hands. The knights followed him just as the prisoners began to rush towards the stairs. Jim watched the two sides collide with each other. Now at full strength, the tsunami of prisoners blasted their way through the guards' defenses. Jim saw a few guards begin to chant, but a wave of fire and thunder and other magic attacks blasted them into the ground.
Guess mages have more magic to play around with.
"YOU BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" a voice screamed from behind Jim. He turned around and caught the steel baton just before it crashed into his skull.
"Crime! Erst Bash!" Jim laughed as he slammed his hammer into the guard's torso. The man was flung to the other side of the room and remained motionless as his companion drew his baton from his hip.
"I just sent your friend flying with broken bones and possibly brain damage. You really get paid enough to pay off those medical bills?" Jim questioned, preparing his hammer for another round. The guard looked at him in confusion as he raised his baton.
"Our medical bills are covered by insurance, plus minor wounds can be healed with potions!' the guard replied, running at Jim. Jim grabbed the guard's baton and punched the guard in the face before slamming his hammer into the guard's stomach, sending him flying at his buddy.
"Lucky bastards and their insurance," Jim grumbled, grabbed the chest plate that the first guard was wearing, and put it on, raising his defense. He also took off the rings from the guards, putting one in his hammer and the other in his pocket. A new hammer notification popped up but he tossed it to the side and ran out of the room where he was met with chaos. While the prison gang seemed to be winning at first, it seems that the guards got their act together and began to push back.
"Hide Hammer, Zweit Bash!" Jim walked up to an unsuspecting guard who was casting support magic from the top railings and smacked him with his hammer, dropping the guy on top of the guards below.
"There is someone here! Advanced Firestorm!" a guard yelled, sending a wave of fire where Jim was. Jim raised his hammer and grappled onto some nearby lights, pulling himself above the guard. Then he let go of the ceiling and drop-kicked the guard who tried to burn him.
"My turn. Advanced Fireball!" Jim chanted, chucking a large ball of flame at the guards. The ones at the front screamed out in pain as the fire burned their armor and skin, and a few mages went on the defensive trying to put the flames out. This allowed the prisoners to start gaining ground, as they knocked the knights to the ground, stealing their rings as they went.
Jim turned off his invisibility and glanced at his SP.
With my stats back to normal I can use skills without much fear of running out of SP. Finally, I can go all out!
"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" a voice screamed behind Jim. He turned around and saw a very pissed-off warden with a bloodied baton in hand. He was panting heavily with several rings in hand, likely confiscated from the beaten prisoners.
"Fixing the injustice of the world and going to fight the waves. You know, the apocalypse you guys summoned me for in the first place!" Jim replied, running at the warden. "Mjolnir!"
The warden ducked under Jim's hammer and punched him in the stomach before he could block it. Jim didn't get much time to recover as the warden rushed ahead and slammed his baton into the side of Jim's head, almost knocking him over the railing. The metal sticks cracked and bent under the force of the attack, forcing Jim to grab onto a nearby unbroken railing.
"Chain Bind!" Upon Jim's command, several chains burst out of the ground and began to wrap around the warden's body, keeping him in place.
"Your people summoned me to fight the waves, yet both your king and Jarvestia's shoved me into different prisons! What was the point of summoning a hero if I can't even fight against the threat you summoned me for!" Jim yelled, swinging his hammer at the trapped warden. The hammer crashed into the warden's shoulder, emanating a loud crack. But the hammer wasn't done yet. It sprang to life and blasted flames in all directions, burning the warden's face and arm.
"GAH!" The warden screamed, thrashing around as hard as he could until the chains shattered. Jim went for another swing, but the warden launched his baton at Jim's face, forcing the hero to dodge instead.
"Mad Dash!" Jim launched himself forward to close the distance but was met with another baton to the face.
"AGH!" he yelled, jumping back and clutching his nose. Drops of warm blood dripped down onto his hand and his clothes. Jim glared at the man before him and gripped his hammer tightly. The warden muttered something and his broken and burned arm began to glow.
Sh*t, this guy actually knows how to fight! Well, I got skills and a strong hammer, while he's got experience and sticks. I think I got this in the bag.
"A hero? Don't make me laugh. You ended up in prison for a reason, and then you try to free the prisoners within a week of being here, pushing criminals back to the streets so they could hurt more people! What kind of hero does that?!" the warden questioned, picking up another baton from a fallen guard. Then he rushed at Jim with a baton in each hand, ready to strike. "I won't let you endanger the law-abiding citizens!"
"Erst Bash!" Jim swung his hammer up at the warden, forcing the guy to duck. But before the warden could strike, Jim pushed his hammer down as hard as he could and activated Zweit Bash, sending the hammer flying onto the warden with a loud crack, breaking his other arm and forcing him to his knees.
"What was that about not letti-," Jim started, but the warden pushed forward, grabbing Jim's torso and launching him through the broken railing and onto the ground below. Jim swung his hammer upwards and grappled onto the warden with ropes, pulling him down as well.
The two of them grunted, trying to scramble to their feet before a prisoner or a guard got to them. Jim leaned onto a wall and slammed his hammer into the ground.
"Stone Guard," Jim grumbled. A rocky layer appeared around his chest plate. He smiled as he saw his defense shoot up by a decent amount.
"Advanced Stone Bullet!" the warden called out, sending a large glowing rock at Jim's face.
"Shi- REFLECT BASH!" Jim screamed, hitting the attack with his hammer. Just as the name suggested, the reflective surface of his hammer redirected the attack away from him and into a nearby wall, leaving a large dent. Despite the effect working, Jim's arms still felt like they were going to fall off.
"Unfortunately for you, I am also an innocent civilian, and sadly the only thing standing between you and the apocalypse. Yet everyone just seems hellbent on getting in my way!" Jim grumbled, preparing for any attack the warden could pull. He glanced to the side and saw a pile of unconscious people.
"Like hell you are. In the 5 minutes I've known you, you caused me nothing but trouble. We already have our king, the ring hero. Our great king is as powerful as he is kind." The warden fired back, raising his unbroken arm.
"Must be weak as hell then," Jim taunted, grinning from ear to ear. This angered the warden, as his face turned red from rage.
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT HIM! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T EVER SPEAK AGAIN YOU BASTARD!" the warden hollered, running at Jim in a blind rage. Jim swung his hammer to the side and grappled onto a body with the hammer's ropes. Then he Mad Dashed to the other side, launching the body at the warden's feet, knocking him onto the ground.
"Second Bash!" Jim cried out, swinging his hammer as hard as he could into the warden's face. A loud crack resonated in the air as blood began to pour onto the ground where the warden now lay. His nose was broken and one of his eyes wouldn't open anymore. The man grit his teeth in pain as he tried to get up, but as soon as he did, he dropped to his knees. He tried to get up again, however, it seemed that his body couldn't balance properly anymore.
"Well, I gotta say, you were one hell of a warm-up," Jim gasped out before bashing the side of the warden's head with his hammer. With a final grunt, the warden collapsed and stopped moving.
If I had a nickel for every loyal-to-the-king person I fought before the king himself, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
"Oi! Jim! Over here!" Cobalt yelled from the top of the stairs. He and a few other prisoners were already running towards the big door, trying to pry it open.
"Give me… a second," Jim gasped out, walking slowly towards the stairs. Now that the adrenaline wore off, it seemed like the pain got twice as bad as before. However, before he could chant a healing spell, a bright glow surrounded him as several people cast their healing spells onto him. His wounds disappeared and his nose stopped bleeding in an instant.
"Thanks. So what are we dealing with here?" Jim asked, walking up to the door.
"It's locked from the outside. Must be a pretty sturdy lock cause this door isn't moving," Oblek replied, trying to peek through the crack in between the door.
"I see. Gimme some buffs, I got a plan," Jim replied, raising his hammer. Suddenly, a new notification appeared in his status.
[By combining the magic of a companion and a skill, a hero can use Combo Skills that boost regular skills or change their properties]
Just as he saw that, a lightning effect began to run through the head of his hammer as someone gave him a Master tier Thunderstrike spell.
"Huh. Interesting. Everybody stand back!" Jim yelled, raising his hammer over his head, the lightning around it crackling dangerously. "MJOLNIR!"
"Dang it!" Leona screamed, waving her pickaxe around wildly, bashing it into the walls of the cave. Hol took a few steps back to avoid the debris and grumbled.
"What happened this time?"
"I lost my smelting level. I was at 13 too," she whined, picking up another piece of ore. "Now I have to use more ore to raise the smelting level again, or else this weapon will be weaker than the fourth best one I have."
"Why are we doing this when the wave is in two minutes?" Hol inquired. Leona pretty much dragged him to the nearest cave as soon as she finished chugging two bottles of booze.
"Cause, I wanted to quickly raise my stats. But leveling up barely does anything anymore, and I ran out of weapon forms to master. Do you need any by the way?"
Hol shook his head and looked through his status. Pretty much all his weapons were awakened, any that he cared about anyway. His stats were still not nearly at the level they were before, but he did manage to get quite a bit of new weapon forms, giving him a few extra equip bonuses to master. Since the ones he got in his world stayed, he assumed the ones he got here would also remain permanently.
"Welp, that should be it. Only 8 though," Leona whined, swaying back and forth as she headed for the exit. "Don't look so anxious. I'll keep the boss occupied long enough for you to get your revenge. And if I come by whoever has the… vassal jar, was it? Anyway, I'll give that guy a good whack too. Though your chances aren't great."
"Why is that?" Hol inquired, picking up a nearby minecart and rummaging through the different materials.
"Unlike you or I, that guy was born here. He's been a vassal hero way longer than either of us. Plus, he apparently got some prodigy craftsman under his wing," Leona explained, walking and stumbling towards the entrance of the cave and knocking everything over as she went. Hol sighed and followed after her, putting the things back into place.
"I'll figure something out. You'll distract the boss and keep the wave open for a while, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep the boss and the little guys entertained for a while~. Maybe I'll meet the Crafter Hero too!" Leona said excitedly, pulling out another bottle. Hol went to grab it out of her hands, but she jumped out of the way and stuck her tongue out. "Can't touch this!"
"Don't get too drunk and pass out, alright? It's almost time to go," Hol chastised her, but Leona ignored him and grabbed her weapon tighter, now swaying even more.
"You don' tell me what to do!" Leona yelled. "If I ain' doin it drunk, I ain' doin it right! Lez go!"
Just as she said that, a bright flash of light erupted from their weapons. Hol felt himself get teleported and he was greeted with a sight of a large majestic castle that was decorated with gold and painted glass. The place was most likely the capital and Hol saw people run around yelling as the sky opened up and began to spit out monsters.
"Alright, I'm going to go track down the ring hero, you got every-" Hol paused as he looked in Leona's direction. However, he found her doubled over and vomiting her guts out. She noticed this and simply gestured for him to get away before pointing her pickaxe at an approaching mob of monsters. With a bright flash of light erupting from her weapon, they were all decimated in an instant.
Ok, I guess she may have this after all. Well, I got no time to waste then.
With that, Hol made his way to the wave.
"Everybody get ready!" the ring hero exclaimed to the knights gathered. William stood next to him, swapping through the different available jars as he looked for the most optimal one. The king did the same, swapping his ring to one he got custom crafted with a small engraving on it. Flames jumped around the engravings as the ring user twirled the ring in his hand.
"Your majesty, may I have a day off after this? I need to go visit my friends in my village for a wedding," William asked, finally deciding on a weapon form.
"Of course. You guys should enjoy these moments while you still can. Who knows what could happen in the next wave," the king said as he looked at the timer and took a deep breath.
"Get ready to depart. We will be transported in five! Four!..."
As he counted down, the crowd of knights and adventurers fell silent and put on their helmets, readying their weapons.
"Three! Two!"
The Ring Hero gave one last look at his army and closed his eyes.
"One. Now!"
He waited for a second and opened them up. However, to his and everyone's surprise, nothing happened. The Ring Hero looked around, confused, until a familiar sound appeared right above his head. It was a sound he only heard once before and it caused a great disaster.
He looked up at the sky above and his eyes widened in horror.
The wave had started in the capital.