Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

It felt like I had been under attack for hours, even though it had only been a few minutes. I may, just may, have overestimated my ability to shrug off attacks. When I first approached the city, there weren't that many people I felt with [Aura Detection] that gave me pause.

There was one I assumed was the city Leader, a barely contained fire that burnt away at my aura when it got close to the man. Another that felt... bloody, but not in a solely sinister way, and two more that were notable, but I couldn't outright describe.

They were hidden, and that was impressive in its own right. Not many could after I purchased [Aura Detection].

Other than those four, there weren't that many others that felt anywhere near threatening, which was... odd. The natural curve of power levels felt wildly lopsided. Sure, the leader was at the top, and there was a small grouping that was up there with him -if a bit lower- but other than that, nothing remotely close in scale.

Power levels in Frostheim were much more gradual. Sure, I still sat at the top, and if you excluded my family, the next strongest was Elliot, but the gap between him and Anders, his Vice-Captain, wasn't that far.

Subsequently, the gap between Anders and his Lieutenants wasn't that far either. Just in Elliot's Order alone, there were six D-ranks.

That was not the case from what I felt from the city walls.

After sensing that initially, I had assumed charging at them wouldn't have been that hard. My increased stats were outrageous, [Glacial Heavy Plate] encased my body, and an underlayer of metal plate armor just in case the ice broke.

A layer of Rare grade, enchanted armor, an Epic armor Skill, and stats well above anything the defenders had. My assumption should have been sound.

And it was... if it wasn't for the sheer number of attacks. Nearly every individual attack coming at me was one I could shrug off alone, but that didn't mean the collective might of all of them was the same.

I blamed two people.

Consistently, there were two attacks that kept breaking the outer layer of Ice armor and that then let other attacks through. A powerful arrow with some type of armor-breaking skill tacked on, and a fire spell of some sort.

I wasn't sure what spell it was exactly, but it was concentrated, powerful, and hot. It burned through the ice and melted large portions of it if I didn't reinforce it with my Law or Spirit.

Even though attacks were getting through, I didn't stop. I wouldn't until the gate was down and an opening was made. That was my job.

The attacks followed me after I ran back towards their range. Mana flowed through the skill structure and the plates of ice refroze back into pristine condition. The underlayer of metal was still holding up fine, other than a few kicks and scorch marks.

After reaching a far enough distance, I turned back and sprinted back at the gate. Much like the first time I charged, the feet ate up the ground and I bounded toward my target.

My speed was every so slightly faster. My stats didn't get any higher, and my boosts were still maxed out, but my movement skill was not. [Glacial March] provided a slow but consistent speed increase.

In the five charges, that amounted to little, but it was building.

Attacks rained down, and I ignored all but the two most powerful. I positioned my hammer in front of the intense bolt of fire and attempted to dodge the arrow, but failed.

If I allowed myself to diverge from my course, I could have done it, but I refused.

The urge was stupid and the idea behind it was even more stupid, but I couldn't help it. The piece inside of me that wanted to face whatever they could throw head-on and shrug it off. To steamroll everything in my way.

To so utterly and completely show anyone who thought they could kill my people the consequences. To have them realize their mistake and know, without a shadow of a doubt, there was nothing they could do to stop what was coming for them.

To stop me from reaching them.

Maybe, deep down, there was another reason I didn't dodge, but I didn't want to think about it, so I didn't.

The pain was easily ignored. The heat washed over me and tried to melt the ice while the arrow hit and shattered a small plate, but the rest were ignored. An opportunistic catapult tried to hit me but missed wildly.

The gate loomed large once again, and I swung my hammer for the sixth time to the result of a resounding thud. People were shouting and orders were being issued on the wall above, but I ignored them.

The wards flared brightly but otherwise held up to the force. The wood did the same.

Again.

I ran back and did it again.

The attacks rained down, a few small injuries accrued, and I smashed the gate once again.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Thrice more to the same effect for the tenth knock.

My hammer strikes were matched by boulders raining down on the city in sequence. Our trebuchets had never stopped working, and even though the first volley had been thwarted, that didn't mean all of them were.

Continued, sustained attacks, both by me and them, wore down their defenses, but not fast enough for my liking.

Fine, so be it.

I had wanted to hold at least one thing back to keep just in case, but my current actions were getting me nowhere. I was getting faster, but not nearly at the rate to make a large difference.

My Bloodline thrummed as I called on it to aid me. The frosty energy, amplified by my heart, filled my veins, and I felt my body drinking it up like water in a desert.

The strain of maintaining my boosting skills immediately lessened, and my speed increased subtly. The Bloodline of the Frost Giant wasn't meant for speed, but for overwhelming force through strength. It also increased my defense to match, but that part wasn't what I needed right now.

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My steps were longer, my line of sight raised by a few inches, and the ice surrounding me felt more comforting.

BOOM.

The next swing of my hammer resulted in a much louder knock. The gate rattled threateningly, and the Wards flickered and fractured. The force it dissipated was too much for it to do so without consequence.

They held. For now...

BOOM.

BOOM.

Two more saw them worse for wear. The mana drain had to be huge, but they paid it. The thought that it came from my own crystals angered me further, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Every swing was harder than the last. Every time, I pushed my muscles as far as they would go and my hammer as fast as it could.

Slowly, I was winning.

The conclusion was inevitable; they just couldn't see it yet.

The continued strain of my blows was burning through the Formation. I could see it and feel it. The feedback from my hammer was enough to know it was faltering, but I could see the lines of mana burning into the wood and surrounding stone.

Every hit worsened them further.

I continued until I felt it was ready. They had softened enough. It was now, I could feel it.

The next trip back towards our camp, I stopped. My momentum momentarily halted. [Glacial March] fought me, threatening to deactivate because of the inaction, but I manhandled it into submission. It hurt somewhere in my spirit, but I ignored it.

My pause was instantly noticed by both sides. All eyes were all already on me, but I made to give the signal anyway. I had to force the ice out of the way, but I grabbed the horn on my waist and blew it.

Hooooooooooooooooooooong.

The same horn blast that had started it all would end it. It was the signal that this would be the last charge.

As I pushed my feet forward once more, I didn't need to scream out an order to charge or say anything for that matter; the horn was enough. As I ran back toward the wall for what I could only guess to be the twentieth time, an army followed after me.

I didn't look back, but I had no trouble picturing what I would see. The entirety of the Order of the Bear would be at my back. Elliot, encased in thick metal, leading the charge with shield and sword aloft. With him would be Jon, clad in stone.

Anders, clad in thick pelts and great axe in hand. Hugo with a warhammer of his own. Valerie with a great sword as tall as she was. The rest of the Order charged fearlessly in my footsteps.

Behind them would be the Order of the Wolf. Mixed in with mages from an as of yet unformed Order.

[Glacial March] stopped fighting me and helped me bound forward one last time. The attacks that had once been so concentrated, fanned out. The catapults that had been as yet unused launched their fiery payloads.

Fiery, because they were literally set on fire. A new addition.

I was too far ahead to be targeted by them and kept my line on the gate. The same powerful arrow and fire spell tried to stop me, but just like the last dozen times, it left light wounds only.

A few steps away, I did something different. Mana and energy flowed out of me and into my hammer, which then began to shift. The once contiguous head broke apart and cracked.

The Runes along the shaft lit up, and I could feel the violent energies raging to be unleashed, and I had just the target. [Shattering Hammer] would have its outlet to vent its violence.

The gate reached me and I swung with all I could give. Instead of just being powered by sheer force and power of will, my hammer now held an energy ready to shatter and sunder. To tear apart and rend into pieces.

My Spirit and Law flowed in to aid it. Feeding the violence, stoking it to new heights.

It was most likely the single most powerful attack I had ever dealt out, and it was on a door. An irony I would have to appreciate later, as the room to focus on it now wasn't in me.

My hammer met wood, and there was no resounding boom, no thunder nor thud, but a sharp, intense crack. Like lightning had flashed down and the thunder was left behind.

The sound of glass shattering filled that air, and it wasn't glass, but the formation that was the source of the sound. The already burned conduits were assaulted by the empowered violent energy and couldn't handle it.

My hammer continued, its violent energy substantially expended, but its force and speed still grand, and hit the wood straight on.

There were protections on it; I could feel as much, enchantments of protection or durability. A Law of Wood empowered it, and the wood itself was strong, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

The wood was next to shatter, and a spray of splinters shot into the city.

I had forced open an opening, and now it was time to capitalize on it. Through the hole, I could see frightened faces and trembling weapons, but that didn't stop me. My next swing spilled blood, instead of splintering wood, and the next one after that did the same.

I left [Permafrost] and [Desolate Blizzard] alone. Not only was I approaching my limit for active skills, but I didn't want to hinder my allies. The main purpose of those skills was to create an environment in my favor, and it was already winter. There was no better environment.

Swords clattered against ice and failed to cut through. Axes and halberds fared little better. Hammers and maces tried to crack it and had the most effect and could be called somewhat effective, if those cracks didn't refreeze in moments and wash away what little damage there had been.

After the first few men and women who held the line against my assault died instantly, the onset of fear was palpable. I could see it in their eyes and feel it in their actions. The confident swings were gone and even their own feet fought against them.

They wanted to be anywhere but in my path, but it wasn't to be so. They were there, and then they weren't, but not in the way they were praying for.

Blood quickly coated my hammer, and the splatter quickly found its way on me as well. I swore, if the total time of [Frost Amor] and now[Glacial Heavy Plate] being active was added up, that the time it had spent tinted red from blood outdid the time it was icy blue.

My steps into their ranks and the city were relatively unhindered, and I felt Elliot and Jon smash through behind me. The gap I had shattered open was being filled, so I pushed further.

I didn't need any weapon skills to dispatch the chaff thrown against me, and I saved on the mana. I had already expended a decent amount before getting into the city, and I still had a bastard leader to fight... wherever he was.

Anders came roaring in the gate, axe already swinging. Hugo and Valerie behind him. The gap was quickly filling, and we would soon run out of room.

There were hundreds of bodies trying to stop our advance, and as fast as we were culling them, more stepped up. If our advance slowed, we would end up clumped up and prime for a counter attack.

Let's see how this does in action.

I had practiced and played with the skill before, but this would be the first time I would be using it for its intended purpose. I didn't force it into phantom hammers, but I also didn't let the skill waste it by diluting it too much.

I didn't need to hit behind me. I only needed to hit in front and around me. For good measure, I threw [Meteor Strike] on it to give it a little extra. The mana cost was hefty, but I paid it.

Both skills layered on my hammer, and as it came screaming down, I took hold of [Hammer Reverberation] and forced the energy to go in one direction. Outward in front of me.

All my strength with [Meteor Strike] was a lot of force to control, but I wrapped my Spirit around it like a stranglehold and forced it to do what I wanted.

My hammer landed on the next foe in line, but it did much more than that. So much more.

Outward from where my hammer hit metal armor, a shockwave of force so great it was visible rippled out. A flutter of snow followed in its wake, both from the snow already on the ground getting affected and the skill manifesting it.

The force shockwave and snow rippled out, and body after body exploded like...

I cut that gruesome thought off. Nasty. It was nasty.

My fear of just my outlandish strength not being enough was unfounded. [Meteor Strike] was complete and utter overkill.

The gap was much wider now, and my objective was accomplished... but... my stomach wasn't ready to do it again. Death was death; it didn't much matter how, being as instant as it was, but the image...

I knew I wouldn't like what was to come, but... that was a bit much, even for me.

Thankfully, one was enough to create a breach big enough that I didn't see it being necessary to do so again. I hoped not, at least.

Seeing that my main job was done, I felt around for my next task.

Slaughtering the weaklings could be left to others. I sought the real prize. I felt it, up on the walls flinging spells down. A fire bright and shining to [Aura Detection].

My next target was set; now all I needed to do was get there.