Homestead Survival

<15 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER , A+>
[Theo]
Theo's ears were still ringing when the dust settled enough to reveal a six-foot hole blasted through the protections of the Ward runes. Theo saw a horde of Orcs, Goblins, Ents, and Elementals that were charging towards the hole. He glanced around. Ordus was climbing to his feet, and Julia was sitting up, looking a little shell-shocked.

"Julia!" Theo cried out over the ringing in his ears. Julia looked at him with a confused look on her face. Theo pointed to the hole and yelled again, "Patch it!"

Julia looked, took in the rush of enemy combatants, and then scrambled to her feet. Theo yelled as he stepped out past the blood-splattered crater. "Ordus! Help her!"

Then Theo launched himself at the rush of enemy combatants, Taunting them to give Julia as much time as possible.

[Julia]
Julia was confused; one moment, she had seen a smiling goblin. Now, Theo was yelling at her. "Julia!"

She realized that she was lying down. She was sitting up and trying to sort out what was going on. She looked at Theo and saw him point; she looked out past the crater that now stood where a chunk of her permanent runes had been. Then Theo cried out again. "Patch it! Ordus! Help her!"

Julia scrambled to her feet and used Ward to layer temporary runes around the crater. Ordus stepped up to her side. And her ears finally stopped ringing thanks to Warmth of the Hearth. "What Can I do?"

Julia saw Theo engage the rushing group and immediately switched to the focused version of Warmth of the Hearth. Then she looked at Ordus. "Can you fill in the crater and leave a small trench for the brick?"

Ordus nodded. "At once, Julia."

Julia stepped over to the pile of bricks that was all over, picked one up, and set a Ward rune on it. She then realized that she did not have a tool to carve the Runestone brick. She looked out and saw Theo finish channeling a Penitent Strike before slamming his foot down and knocking everyone around him back several paces. Julia watched Theo take off at a sprint, so she called out. "Theo! Master Tool!"

[Theo]

"Seventeen... Eighteen... Nineteen... Twenty!" Theo counted to himself, then slammed his food down and decided that today was going to be a marathon, not a sprint, so he set off, kiting the group of Horde members. He heard Julia call out to him.

"Theo!" She cried loudly, "Master Tool!"

Theo looked over and saw her holding a brick while Ordus worked the dirt of the crater with his skill. Theo nodded as he ran and spammed Taunt. For a few minutes, Theo led the group around until he came close to the opposite side of the cabin from the crater. He summoned the Master Tool to his hand, formed it into the chisel he had used earlier, and hucked it over the wall and cried out! "Tool!"

Then he used Taunt again and led the group on a tour of the Overlook.

[Julia and Ordus]

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Julia heard Theo yell out. "Tool!"

She ran around the cabin and found the Master Tool on the ground; she picked it up and ran back to the other side. She picked up a brick and started to do her best to carve the stone away. She was focused. Ordus called out to her.

"Julia. We might have a problem." Ordus said, a tone of concern making her look up.

The Storm Giant stood outside the Ward runes, a smile on his face, and an Elemental next to him.

Julia's eyes widened. And she screamed as loud as she could.

"Theo!"

[Theo]
Theo had not made it far after throwing the Master Tool over the wall. He had summoned his Axe to his hand and immediately felt it tick over once. As he continued to kite the group around using Taunt, He began to slam his Axe into what he could reach.

Every few moments, he would lash out. A knee here, a shoulder there. Sometimes he would lash out with the butt of the Axe to the face of someone too close for his liking. After roughly two minutes of this, he heard a blood-chilling scream of his name.

"Theo!" This was the only word that Theo heard, so he turned and sprinted as fast as he could to the side of the cabin that had the crater. When he rounded the corner of the wall, he saw the Storm Giant finish using his skill. Something crumbled in the Storm Giant's hand, and the temporary wards evaporated.

"Ten minutes." Theo thought and hefted his Axe as he ran.

The elemental next to the storm giant was grinning at what he saw beyond the wall. He did not see Theo coming.

[Theo, Julia, and Ordus]
Julia watched the Storm Giant use its strange skill at a leisurely pace. Just as the temporary wards vanished, Theo rounded the corner, and the elemental next to the Storm Giant smiled wickedly. It had its eyes locked on Ordus. Ordus, to his credit, had placed himself between Julia and the Elemental.

Ordus and the Elemental were staring each other down, so when Theo leaped into the air, putting his full body weight behind the blade of the Axe, the Elemental only had a moment to react. It tried raising its arms, but the Axe was quicker. A moment later, the Elemental's head fell to the ground next to its decapitated body.

Theo now stood between Julia, Ordus, and the Storm Giant. The group that had been following Theo was also rounding the corner. Theo stood there catching his breath. After a few moments, another Ent arrived and used a skill.

>Local Message: Universal Translation Active

The Storm Giant stepped forward. "Greetings once more, Theo Sorrenson. Now I have more to say to you."

Theo smiled. "I figured. You seem like the type to gloat."

The Storm Giant looked angry at that. "Even in defeat, you have no grace. No poise. It is no wonder that the Unwanted God will be victorious today."

Theo stood there for a moment, then shrugged, "I mean, you have breached the wards, but maybe this does not work out the way you want it to? Who knows? You know, before this System came to Earth, there was a profession of people that went around trying to motivate people by talking to them."

The Storm Giant looked amused as if he was humoring a small child who was asking stupid questions. "Oh really? And what does that have to do with right now?"

"Well, there are some excellent quotes that apply right now." Theo said, looking thoughtful, "Some pertaining to death, some to victory, and a plethora of other things. But there is one that comes to mind. Before I share it with you, though, I have to ask, how do you keep shrugging off my Taunt?"

The Storm Giant chuckled. "You are a dead man walking, and yet you ask such a question. Fine, I guess I can humor you."

The Storm Giant held out a hand, and a shimmering bracelet hung there. "This item lets me do that."

"So it's not even possible?" Theo asked with genuine curiosity.

That sent alarm bells through the Storm Giant's head. He pulled his wrist back and shrugged. "Who knows? Now share your quote and then die."

Theo smiled. And that smile drained the blood from the Storm Giant's face; it was not the smile of a defeated man enjoying his final moment; it was the smile of a feral animal ready to fight to the end.

"Well, I'll tell you my quote," Theo said, feeling his Axe tick over once more, mentally tallying up the bonuses. "That is seven minutes; I am so glad this thing counts every enemy as active. Thank you for letting me monologue as well, you dumb Giant. Seven percent damage mitigation and thirty-five percent extra damage, here we go."

"A Man named Les Brown said this in a fantastic speech," Theo hefted his Axe, locking eyes with the Storm Giant and spamming Taunt as he yelled as loud as he could, "It's not over until I win!"