Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

Frostheim

The build-up the following day was missing the usual tension. It was one of the first times a muster was called for that worry didn't accompany it. After all the fighting and battles the army had been through, this felt like just another day in the office.

Gabe, with sufficient motivation, finally agreed to form a Mage order. He wouldn't be officially Knighted, as it were, until after the upgrade. As a Small City, there was only one slot for Guard Captain, and Elliot currently filled the role.

After reaching City level, they would have three, one for Elliot, Hal, and Gabe.

Still, he was doing his best to get used to the role, speaking with all the Mages and getting them set in their place. Affinities separated so they wouldn't interfere, and the strong spread out.

It helped that a makeshift command structure was already in place for him to take over from previous battles. The powerful Mages already sort of formed into Lieutenants; the only thing Gabe had to do was make it official.

And win their respect.

It wasn't that he didn't already have it, but there was still going to be a grace period for the mages to get used to. Gabriel fighting against the Demons, Orcs, and then Lakeshore went a long way.

If he hadn't, and I'd forced his appointment anyway, I wasn't sure it would have worked out as well. Strike that, it would have been a mess.

Still, he did his work, and Hal's Order joined him on the walls. Elliot's was split, some up and some down, just like usual. Austin, Jon, and Elliot were down with me, with the rest of the warriors behind us, and everyone else was in place.

The plan was simple and one we'd executed many times by now nearly every Settlement Wave. Even though it was something we'd done many times, I was a little bit excited for the added challenge. Austin jumping up and down was a clear indication that he was, too.

"This is going to be fun!" Austin said, and I could see the glow building on his skin. His arms were the only part not covered in armor, and they were starting to radiate light as he circulated mana.

"I don't think it will be too bad," Elliot said, "We have enough strong D-ranks to face down the Boss even without Chris. All of us working together to bring the Boss down should go swiftly."

"Yes, but the goal is to do it without casualties. Or as few as possible," Jon answered, decked out in his own armor. It wasn't the same polished and gleaming metal of Elliot, but a rugged browns and greys of layered stone. His job was to be our primary tank. He'd keep the Boss's attention to the best of his ability. Elliot and I were back up tanks.

Jonathan's armor was a new addition after his evolution that he had helped Vincent make for himself. The layers acted like plate armor in a way.

"I think I'm gonna try to combine all five skills today." Austin boasted. "I should be able to this time." Austin, as always, was going to be our main damage dealer besides myself. His level was high enough that he very well could outpace me if I didn't give everything I had and focused only on damage.

His style was so attack heavy, and with his level advantage, it was going to be hard to outdo him.

"All five? What are you talking about?" Elliot asked.

"All five of my weapon skills." Austin replied with a smile, "[Solar Extension], [Piercing Ultraviolet], [Penetrating Rays], [Spear of the Morning], and [Sundering Strike]!"

It was Austin's 'unleash the sun' attack he had used before, except with some improvements. He had upgraded the uncommon [Piercing Light(Uncommon)] to [Piercing Ultraviolet(Rare)], [Penetrating Strike(Common)] all the way to [Penetrating Rays(Rare)], and added the strike skill [Sundering Strike(Common)].

If his previous attack during the Baron wave was powerful, I was excited to see his new one. His earlier combination of four was now all Rare, and he'd managed to add a fifth.

"How is that even possible?" Elliot asked, "Combining more than two weapon skills in the same weapon is damn near impossible."

Based on Austin's smirk, I knew what he was going to say before he said it. "You just have to get good."

Yep, I knew it. Still, a five-fold combination was impressive. I could do three, but that wasn't the same. [Hammer Reverberation] was made with the intent to combine skills into it. Using [Meteor Strike] and [Pervading Cold] with it was easier than a straight-up three-fold combination.

The combination of all three was wildly difficult to control, but it neared [Shattering Hammer] levels of power. It didn't have the single target damage, as [Reverberation] spread it out, but it certainly had the wide area damage to be impressive.

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Elliot scoffed, and Jon and I smiled at Austin's antics, but he'd brought up a good point.

"This is a good opportunity to focus on growth." I said to the three, "To focus on upgrades or improvements you are close to. This isn't the life or death battles we've been in lately, so we can afford to be a bit looser. At least before we face the Boss."

Elliot nodded, "I agree. I think I'll focus on [Metal Morph]. It's still too slow switching from offense to defense for my liking." The skill he was referring to was his ability to shift his metal around to his liking. He could extend his weapon into a longer sword, taking material from his shield and armor, or he could do the reverse, take from his weapon and reinforce his defense.

It was what made him so versatile and fit so many roles on a battlefield. He could also shift into any stance that the situation required.

"Abby's got me working on [Earth Manipulation] and I think I'm close to an upgrade." Jon said, "It'd be nice to use it instead of [Stone Wall] or [Stone Aegis] for smaller things. Saves mana."

All three turned to me. "I feel a merge is in order." It would be harder than a straight-up upgrade, but the two skills I had in mind worked in tandem already, "I'm sick of having [Permafrost] and [Desolate Blizzard] separate."

Hell, if things went perfectly, maybe I could work on [Frozen Leach] too. Getting it so it wasn't a single target skill didn't seem so hard. After, I'd focus on slowing movement and other energies.

"What about [Sweeping Snow]?" Austin asked, "I thought you were gonna try and fit that in there somewhere."

"Maybe after. I don't feel I'm close to slotting it in there. Plus, I want to change it a bit more before I do. I don't like how it's a constant mana drain. I want to merge it into [Blizzard] so it's a passive augmentation to make the snow sharper, instead of an active skill."

Gabriel had been excited about the different possibilities of merging skills and had given me the initial idea. I still had to work with him to figure it out, but I was optimistic I could do it.

A horn blew from the walls, and our conversation was cut off. They were ready on the walls, and not long after, a timer started counting down.

"Guess this is it," Austin grinned and slammed his helmet down. "The one with the least kills buys the first round."

Jon groaned, Elliot laughed, and I grinned. Our new Aegis of Spirit and Stone wasn't the best for kill count.

I fastened my helmet down, "Let's get this over with."

Anna

Anna was surprised that her mother agreed to let her watch. It didn't even take that much convincing, either. She'd asked her dad, and the two of them faced down what they assumed would be a mighty battle, but it was only a question.

They'd asked, and she'd said sure. Anna didn't push any further and was content with her win.

The top of the Keep was cold, as there was nowhere to hide from the wind, but she came prepared. Her heavy furs wrapped around her tightly, and they did enough to cut through the chill.

Anna heard the horn and the timer start counting down and hurriedly put her spyglass up to her eye. She could see the battlefield from where she stood, but it was difficult. She wasn't like Uncle Austin, who could see the horizon with just his eyes alone.

She could make out the groups of people, but not anything detailed. Uncle Gabe had given her a glasses that enhanced eyesight, but those didn't work as well as the spyglass.

The monsters that ran at the wall looked like werewolves. Anna wasn't sure if that's what they were called or not, but that was how she thought of them in her head.

Uncle Chris created a small snowstorm around him as he dove into the fight with her dad and Austin. Elliot joined too, but she didn't focus on him much. Most of her attention was on Chris and her dad.

Her dad, for obvious reasons, and Chris, because she wished to be powerful like him. Austin, her mom, and her dad were all powerful, but she felt connected to the snow, unlike the other elements.

She'd seen enough blood that it didn't make her stomach feel queasy anymore, but she still had to pull the spyglass away a few times. There was a hammer skill Chris used that was... not fun to watch.

Her dad, though, was a master of defense. None of the werewolves made it past him, and he stood like a tall and unyielding tower, unblemished by their weak attacks. Her mom was a storm on her own. She controlled eight long whips of water, which she crashed down on anything that came close while also launching spells further in.

Rachel burned, and Gabe froze or impaled.

Throughout it all, she wished she were out there with them. A powerful warrior who could fight with the rest of her family. Her brother didn't care. He was content to sit in the city and learn about stuff.

Not Anna.

She wanted to be a force of nature.

Throughout the fight, the snowstorm kept changing in odd ways. It would grow, then contract, it would swirl clockwise and then counterclockwise. The snow thickened into a wall of white, and then it thinned.

It grew deeper to wade through, and then it became a dusting.

It was fascinating to watch the sliding array of changes, and it drew her eye for more of the battle. It was like constantly shaking up one of her snow globes in all kinds of different ways. Every time she turned the spyglass to Austin, it hurt her eyes and she had to turn away. She didn't get to see much of him.

Anna wasn't alone in her efforts. From her vantage point at the top of the Castle keep, she could see others standing on roofs or other tall places to try and get a good look. The weird elf was standing with a device of his own pressed to his face.

Some tried to climb the Inner Wall but they were caught and told not to by the soldiers already on the wall. There wasn't a lot manning the Inner Wall as most were taking part in the battle, but there was enough to notice and shoo those trying to climb in. Mainly, it was the ones operating the trebuchets.

There were multiple times when she got distracted by certain sights. Like the bison charges! Aurora had to stay in the kennels, and Anna visited often, so she got to see the bison every once in a while. Zion was always fun to mess with.

It was weird to see the usual docile creatures stampede over everything. Those on their backs swinging away at anything the massive creature's hooves missed.

Speaking of Aurora, she was out there somewhere. Anna hated the fact that her dog was fighting, and she wasn't. Some of the wolves were with Gavin and stayed back along the wall, but that didn't mean all of them were there.

Luna and the wolves not bonded to anyone were out picking off any enemy they could find under Sarah's guidance from the back. Luna had grown massively since the first time she had seen her. It was the first wolf Sarah had tamed and led the pack of non-bonded ones.

She spent some time zooming around to try to find different people, but before she knew it, the battle was over. A chime told her that it had ended.

She saw the light rush out into the distance and knew the area that they had 'claimed' grew. She knew that much from school. Whatever the new 'appointments' were, she wouldn't know until she asked her mom.

One year. One more year, and she would be out there with them.