Mage Mangler -(Crucible of Ascension)

"You're early," Galin said as I barged in his shop. "But lucky for you, I am brilliant."

He spun, lifting a long black leather coat from the dummy he'd been standing at. Same length as the brown one I'd loved. "Here!" he thrust it out to me. "I couldn't match the color with the time I had to work with, but I think it's close enough to what you had."

I snatched it and threw it on. "It fits better than the last one!" Then I opened the front to check on the inside pockets. Each knife had its own compartment designed specifically for the knives I carried, all perfectly placed for easy reach.

"I love it. How the hell did you manage it?"

He splayed out his palms with a sly grin. "I'll admit it involved some recycling of old garments. I couldn't treat and prepare fresh leather in the time I had."

"Don't care. It smells new, feels new, and will do perfectly. The black should help where we're going, too."

"Good. Now get out of here. I need some sleep before I open up for the day."

I didn't need to be told twice, I swept out of there with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.

The tavern was closed with the hour of the morning, but Mosda produced a key to the front door. I didn't ask how he had it. I was too fucking excited.

We moved to the Portal and the tall Unalaran then produced an enchantment rod similar to the one Moll had carried. "The portal opened to Waldren Perch and we stepped through. Mosda spoke urgently to the Mage to open us a portal to Haleem immediately. I found the whole thing fascinating, and I still needed one of those keys. At least one of them!"

The early evening sky of Haleen was impressive. Two moons hung in the sky, one green, one pale yellow, illuminated by a watery sun. The temperature was so perfectly mild that I noticed no discomfort either way.

Whatever race Moll was, made up a large percentage of the Haleen population, though none of those I saw walking around the wide, immaculate streets were as big as the warrior.

The architecture of the place was squat, organized and very simple. Well made, but no fancy ornamentation. I appreciated function over form and it suited the assassin's character. I nudged Mosda in the ribs as we walked inconspicuously through the bustling city. "What race are these folk?"

"Narak," he said. I expected something more. A little embellishment. Some background information or interesting tidbit, but if I didn't miss my guess, Mosda was too busy trying to hide his nervousness.

"Seem like decent folk," I replied. "Reckon they'll be happier once we're finished our work today."

He grunted and I sighed. There was only so much confidence building one man could do.

We walked for around two miles to our meeting point. Ree led the way, having memorized the street we were due to meet Hendel and the others at.

I could have done the last few streets myself as the sounds of battle rose up. Mosda paled. Ree increased his pace.

"Sounds like someone's fucked up," I chuckled, breaking into a jog. They both kept pace even when I sped up into a full-blown run.

Turning a corner, we saw the battle. Dalgom's head sticking above the rest as he fought side by side with Hendel who was shirtless even now and swinging his longsword to exquisite effect. They'd managed to link up with some of our other groups, but despite Hendel's skill and Dalgom's strength the twenty of them were outnumbered almost three-to-one.

Time to even those odds. I charged the back of the enemy line. I didn't know if Ree and Mosda would join me so eagerly, but to their credit they still kept pace.

I leapt the last few feet, pulling the Back-Bite dagger and plunging the needle like blade into the back of the closest man. The knife went deep into his neck and a powerful squirt of blood jetted out as I yanked it back out.

As he dropped to the floor, the man next to him turned to see what had happened.

I hit him mid turn and staggered forward with the result. There was no doubting it was a good punch. Straight right, twisting at the hips, striking just above the ear. It was also the first time I'd hit anyone with the Gologrid's Grips. The damage multiplier felt strange as the material over the knuckles vibrated on impact, but nowhere near as strange as the man's head caving in from that single blow. He was dead as he fell, so I had no idea what Level he'd been, if any. That meant I'd have to find out just how powerful they really where on my next victim.

Level 18 and huge. Not as big as Dalgom, but still monstrous. He sensed my approach and turned to face me. Fast for a big guy, but too slow to do anything about my arrival. I feinted a haymaker to his face and he lashed out with his knife to defend. It slashed harmlessly above my dropping arm. I parried it out wide with my left, stepped to that side and threw a right hook to his solar plexus.

The air audibly left his lungs with the force of the blow. He doubled over, his feet lifting an inch from the cobbles. And then the next fighter was on me and I couldn't finish the job.

I took a slash from a sword across the arm, but the steel bands in the reinforced tunic underneath saved me from being cut and I was able to smash the sword wielder in the face as he overbalanced.

He went down, and I went deeper into the crowd of writhing violence. Fighting a single target became impossible. I'd punch one person, get hit from another, retaliate, they'd be pushed away and another would appear. All I could do was make sure I dealt as much damage with each swing of my fist's as I could. And with the new gloves, that was a lot of damage.

By the time I'd reached Hendel and Dalgom the tide had well and truly turned Peralt's men were losing heart and starting to back off giving us all more room to work. Hendel decapitated two foes in quick succession, proving that he wasn't just tough and crazy, he was also scarily skilled with the sword.

He wielded the giant blade like an extension of himself, swinging, hacking and parrying in a constant seamless flow of brutality.

I finished one more opponent of my own, with a jaw-breaking uppercut and a stamp to the head before what was left of Peralt's men broke and ran. It felt like we'd won a great battle, but Hendel's words squashed that feeling.

"Now that was what I call a good warmup!" He sheathed his sword, put his hands on his hips and did a hip roll as if to stretch out.

"Glad your warm." I nodded to the towering wall, visible a couple of streets over. "Shall we go say hello?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

As the element of surprise was over, I decided we might as well run again and save some time.

Hendel ran alongside me at an easy lope. When we arrived at the building, he gestured at it. "Doesn't exactly scream criminal, underworld empire does it?"

He made a god point. The towering castle like structure was completely out of place in the city. "Yeah. It does stand out a bit, doesn't it? Reckon Peralt must be a bit of a wanker."

We emerged into the broad avenue that separated the base from the rest of the houses. It was busy, though the people closest to us were quick to scurry out the way when they sensed the trouble we were bringing.

As I surveyed the options, Hendel shouted. "Mages to the front! Get us a hole in that door!"

The group rearranged in a haphazard fashion to let the mages through. As I waited impatiently, I saw more people pouring into the street. A mix of Peralt's men and our own.

While the temptation to go and fight at the back was tempting, I held firm. We had brought enough fighters for that battle and I needed to be inside.

I pushed them from my mind and refocused on the work of the mages against the doors. They hadn't even managed to break down the magical shielding yet.

"What about the wall's?" I barked. "I don't know anything about siege warfare, but if the walls aren't shielded would that not be quicker?"

"Worth a try," Hendel muttered, and both Ree and Mosda nodded, before Mosda gave the command to attack the wall at the side of the gate. The mages redirected their attacks immediately and chunks of brick and Mortar were blasted away.

At my side, Hendel chuckled. "Bit of an oversight, eh? I reckon when I improve my own place I'll remember to enchant the whole bloody building and not just the doors. Good thinking, Joren."

I shrugged, "I dunno. There's something extra special about killing uninvited guests. Don't want to make it too hard for them."

He thought about it for a moment then nodded. "I suppose you're right. Let's hope that's not our fate, hey?"

"It won't be," I replied as a hole finally opened up. Rock was still raining down but I didn't care. I sprinted for the opening and unsurprisingly Hendel was hot on my heels. "Keen ain't ya?" He laughed. "You must really miss Malika."

"Ah yeah. She's being held here isn't she?" I replied before diving through the hole.

His hoarse laughter rang out even as he rolled across the floor and came to his feet next to me. "You're a heartless bastard, Joren. And I'm here for it." He pointed at the building a few feet away. "Window?"

I nodded, swept up a rock and we set off running again. I needn't have bothered with the rock as one of our mages hurled ball of condensed black power that shatter the glass before we got there.

We entered an empty dining room and I scanned the place. "Where the fuck is everyone?"

"Yeah. I thought they'd be all over us by now." Hendel replied, as Moll appeared at his side looking the most terrified I'd seen the warrior since I smashed his face in.

"Peralt is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. He'll not rush in on our terms. He'll choose ground to his liking."

"Let's go check this ground out then!" I replied and set off toward the closed double doors. Without pause, I grabbed the handles, prayed there would be no archers on the other side, then rived them open.

I was smashed with a barrage of magical attacks. As they washed over me, I cheered the lack of arrows and charged the line of shooting mages.

At that moment I didn't know or care if the others had followed me, but after jabbing a terrified mage off his feet, my men, my eager Hammers, poured in and joined the attack.

Despite being the most lethal, only Hendel made time to talk. "Thanks for taking all that heat! Poor fuckers didn't know what the hell was…" He chopped an armored head off, deflected a sword blow that was coming for me and then hacked at another fighters knee before continuing. "…happening! They just kept firing at you! Gave us a free run."

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I'd like to say that's what I'd hoped for, but I'd be lying. I just love killing defenseless mages. I was onto my fifth by the time the last of the warriors were downed. Only then did I take a look around to see where we were. A wide, grand stair case encircled us. It filled the expansive entrance area, wall to wall. There were no more enemies visible, but Moll gestured up the stairs. "Go careful."

Ree sidled up to me. "Hopefully they didn't see what you just did to the mages and you can do it again."

"Hopefully," I agreed as we crossed the floor.

Despite our first crushing victory in the base, there was an air of nervousness as we set off up the stairs. There was no doubt this was likely to be a bloody gauntlet.

Halfway up there was a racket from below. Dalgom peered over the balustrade. More of our men, and Peralt's. Looks like they're all flowing in from the streets. Must have been chased here."

"As long as they're all here. Easier to defend if were together."

As I spoke a massive fiery blast flew down from above. "Duck!" Mosda roared. Even as I jumped back, it smashed against the banister, destroying it completely and setting the staircase on fire.

Our group was suddenly split in two, but the ones who could deal the most damage were still with me, so I didn't care too much.

"Come on. Let's keep moving. Our mages can put the flames out but we've got our own work to do.

Keeping away from the banister, we continued our ascent finding the next floor up devoid of life, as was the third.

"Definitely people above," Ree said as we edged toward the last set of stairs to the fourth floor.

"How many you reckon?"

He held up a finger. "One moment." Then, pressing tight against the wall, he started moving up the stairs. Even though there wasn't a shadow to hide in, he practically disappeared against the gaudy red wallpaper. I could only see his movements because I'd watched him the whole way.

"How the hell does he do that." I muttered more to myself.

"Enchantments," Hendel answered. "More than one if I don't miss my guess."

I nodded. It was obvious really.

Ree reached the switch back and no one had spotted him. The mages above were too busy shooting down at our people below as they tried to navigate the fire.

I was tempted just to make a run for it upstairs so I could start killing before the mages new we were there. Because I took my eye off Ree, I lost sight of him and try as I might, I couldn't find him again. The smoke didn't help either, so once again I toyed with just charging up there. Then nearly shit myself when the stocky Salorian appeared next to me.

"Fucking shit, Ree. Don't sneak up on me like that."

He remained deadpan. "I counted fourteen. Four mages, ten warriors, but there were more in the rooms. Impossible to tell, maybe forty? Probably less."

Hendel swung his sword around. "Sounds like a breeze. What we waiting for?

"Couldn't agree more. I'll go first and draw the fire of the mages. Just make sure you're all behind me when I give the signal."

I didn't wait for a reply, but I heard Dalgom say. "What's the signal?" as I set off at a sprint.

The mages saw me immediately. The air crackled and I suddenly felt like a pigeon in a fireworks display as they lit me up.

Halfway across the level section, parallel to my attackers I staggered, barely keeping my feet and only just making the next set of stairs.

It was all a show of course and I let myself fall as I reached the last stretch up to them.

The dozy bastards all moved to the top of the stairs to unleash hell on me. I crawled up two more steps, then faked my own death.

When they stopped firing and cheered my death, I bunched my muscles and burst up the last set of stairs toward them.

"NOW!" I roared as I went, and the mages above squawked and started firing again but it was too late. I shrugged off their attacks and barreled into them swinging fists like I was playing Whac-a-mole.

They tried to escape me, but got in their own way and the way of the warriors behind them.

We'd timed it to perfection and by the time I'd opened up a gap, Hendel, and Ree were there, pushing into it. Dalgom was there a moment later stabbing over our heads with his sword and our enemy fell back.

They scurried like beaten dogs into one of the rooms with double doors and a whole lot more men waiting for us.

I raced after them, but just as I was about to enter the door Hendel's iron grip latched onto my wrist and yanked me off balance and we both went past the door and the fight beyond.

Ree, Mosda, Moll and Dalgom all just ran past us into the room. Didn't even bat an eyelid at the assault.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" I roared and swung at the crazed swordsman. He swayed and I missed, then he followed up with slap on the side of my head like I was a naughty kid. Only it was like getting hit by a truck.

"Relax, Joren."

I squared off against him, ready to make sure he didn't dodge my next punch, but the bastard was smiling. "Relax man. We talked about it while you tanked the mages. You and me, we came for the big chief, yeah? We all admire a man who leads from the front, but we don't want you or me to be wearing ourselves out on the grunts. That's what we brought all these lads for." He gestured at the men still running past us.

I was torn between trying to hit him again, rushing into the room, or accepting that he might have a point.

He took advantage of my moment of indecision and pulled a flask from his trouser pocket, took a swig and then passed it to me. "Dare say you're not immune to this kind of magic."

I took the flask, gave it a sniff and was hit with a fruity, spicy alcohol scent that burnt the nostrils a little. Rum. I didn't need to be asked again, and took a slurp of the delicious nectar, before passing it back.

Shouts and screams of pain and anger, and the clash of steel made it hard to talk. "You coulda just told me."

He shook his head and took a drink. "Nah, we didn't have time, and you had both feet in the killing zone."

"Aye! I was in the zone and I nearly took your head off!"

"I knew you would. I was ready for the punch. Sometimes you're predictable! Not very often though."

"Still risked the slap though?"

He shrugged. "Needed to knock some sense into you. And leading with a slap? Well, deep down you'll have known I wasn't trying to fight you."

I shrugged. "Suppose I did."

"Exactly!" he said handing the flask back. "Now cheer up. We were having such good fun! You really know how to show a fellow mass murderer a good time!"

It was surreal standing on the landing like that while people fought and killed. Crazy how the people we'd brought nodded to us both as they passed, looking for blood as if it was the most normal thing in the world. And possibly even crazier that Hendel Poe's words brought the smile back to my face.

I heard Dalgom roar in rage and a wave of powerful magic we could feel outside, brought fresh screams.

"Sounds like the noose has tightened," I said.

He drained the last of the flask, threw it over the banister and grinned. "Aye, but around who's neck?"

"Only one way to find out." I charged into the room, roaring as I laid eyes on golden armored wankers at the far end of the large hall.

"GET OUT THE FUCKING WAY!" I screamed at our people. They were already panicking at these new arrivals and at first my shouts just made their confusion worse. I shouted again.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!"

Hendel shouted right behind me. "You want us to kill our way through, cos we will!"

A badly injured Dalgom was in serious trouble at the front, but when he caught sight of us and the words sunk in he charged clumsily back toward us. Because of his size, the men sure cleared a path then.

Hendel and I kept pushing. Ree and Moll fell in and followed behind us along with a few of our stronger fighters. While we hadn't planned for me to sit out part of the fight, we had planned who would be best suited to fight Peralt's inner circle.

I barely took any of that in and just hoped they'd all show up when they were supposed to. I only had eyes for those heavily armored dickheads at the front, slaughtering our people.

Name: Igrid Tolemoy

Title: Warden of House Peralt

Level: 30

Class: Warrior

Name: Losen Mittora

Title: Clerk of House Peralt

Level: 31

Class: Warrior/Tradesman.

Name: Beline Peralt

Title: Mistress of House Peralt

Level: 33

Class: Mage

And in the middle of them, stood:

Name: Alstaer Peralt

Title: Reigning Nautus Arena champion. Baron of Endley. Head of House Peralt.

Level: 34

Class: Warrior/Mage/Tradesman.

Hendel nudged me. "I'll see if I can keep Peralt busy for a minute while you take his sister out."

"Sister?" I said eyeing the tall golden skinned women . "I think she's more than just his sister judging by the titles."

"Yeah. Wouldn't surprise me. Just be quick about it will you?"

I didn't need to reply. And Alstaer Peralt had decided that was the moment he would use his nasally, grating voice on us. "So the chicken came to the foxes lair? How fascinating."

If I didn't know anything about him, I'd still probably try to kill him solely on the basis of that voice.

"You have saved me further expense and trouble, Joren Vayne."

"How the hell has a pompous prick like you become a feared gangster?" I pointed at Hendel. "Now that's a gangster. I threw a thumb back at Dalgom. That's a gangster. You're a pampered pooch playing at being tough."

"I am an arena champion, fool. If you can't read titles, let me demonstrate what that means."

He surged forward so fast I barely registered his sword moving. If it wasn't for Hendel's block I'd have been dead or close to it.

But I wasn't dead and Peralt was not my first target. I sprinted under his outstretched arm the moment the blades made contact, charging at Beline Peralt.

She summoned an attack so powerful that it completely obscured her vision. She didn't even see the arc of my Sly Dagger until it was buried deep in her eye.

It was questionable if she even saw it then.

Her power dispersed and the beautiful, elegant and most likely incestuous Beline Peralt collapsed in a heap on the floor. Didn't even need a follow up stab such was the shitty Toughness of pretty much every mage I'd met so far.

I turned for Alstaer next. He still hadn't noticed what I'd done to his sister, because he was too busy winding up to behead Hendel. The bare chested Merchant of Lasital lay crumpled on the floor. A massive burn mark covering half his head, face, and right shoulder. Most of his hair was burned off, and when that sword came down it was game over for Hendel.

Funny thing about plate armor and having your sword arm that high in the air, it left the old arm pit pretty damn vulnerable. When I rammed the Sly Dagger into the opening, it was like a cold knife through refrigerated butter – On account of him having high durability.

Still, it went pretty deep and had a two-fold effect. He couldn't bring his arm down to kill Hendel, and he was bleeding quite badly, even though it was still stuck in there as he spun away from me.

Furious, he turned on me, but I waited for the moment his eyes flickered over my shoulder to his dead sister. Then, with a wide grin, I threw then threw a right hook to try and catch his jaw while it was still hanging open.

Heartbroken or not, he was way faster than me. He managed to avoid the blow by taking a few paces back.

He used the moment he'd bought himself to rip the dagger from his armpit and I watched as magic flowed around the area to seal the bloody gout.

Of course he could heal himself. Bastard.

I still followed like a pit-bull attacking a wolf. When I lunged in again, he slashed at me with his sword. I ducked it, just, only to receive a fireball in the face.

He thought he' won and went for an overpowered sword slash to end me. He was wrong.

Of course, the Flame ball didn't phase me at all and I sent a full force punch at his plate mail. The reinforcement vibrated as I made contact and the result was a dent in the middle of the piece, though it caused him no real problems.

"How did you take that attack!" he screeched as he slashed at me again with the sword.

When I thought he'd pause for an answer he slashed again, and again, and again.

He was an absolute machine. I had no choice. I was going to have to pull out the big guns.

I sagged and staggered back, like I was more seriously hurt than I was. I held up a hand to beg for mercy. "Wait!"

As expected he showed no mercy and tried to cut my hand off.

The most important thing was that he did it with contempt. It was careless. A little slower, a little wilder and completely telegraphed.

I dropped the hand, surged forward, ducking the blade to send a big right into his shiny gold nut protector, before barreling into him with my shoulder and taking him to the ground.

His scream at the nut shot continued long after the blow, because let's face it, a dented codpiece was no bodies idea of a fun time.

Even though I had him pinned on the floor and in agony, he bucked like a shark on land and launched me off with an epic hip thrust that had me scrabbling to get to my feet while he rolled and calmly got to his own.

I knew I was in for a world of hurt now and I didn't think feigning weakness would work again, but that wouldn't stop me from trying, along with another few tricks I had in my arsenal.

He rotated his sword, eyes boring into me with pure hatred, his legs bunched ready to lunge, and lunge he did. Straight into Moll's axe as the big Narak stepped past me and swung for the fences. The two opposing forces came together with only one possible outcome. The Axe cut deep into Peralt's face.

He wasn't dead, and I didn't know why, but somehow he remained on his feet, swaying, but alive. Until his head fell off.

It wasn't until I replayed the scene in my head and saw the battered Hendel standing behind him, blood-soaked sword in hand, that I realized what had happened."

And just like that the fight was over. I didn't even need to fight the other two Warriors. We'd overwhelmed them with numbers. I looked around the room feeling completely empty. I don't think anyone else quite believe it was over.

Ree snapped me from the daze I was in. "I'll go and find Malika."

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind until he mentioned her again. "Good call. Take who you need in case there's more trouble."

He nodded and disappeared leaving Moll to fill my vision. He was standing over the body of Peralt, his expression vacant. I clapped him on the back. "Hell of a shot that, Moll. Saved my bacon there, fella."

Ever so slowly his eyes lifted to me, like his brain was still catching up. "I can't believe we did it."

"Speaking of bacon being saved," Hendel said staggering over. "You did the same for me. I was done and you kept me screaming and kicking in this world a little longer."

"You don't sound happy?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. Sometimes I'm not sure if I should be here still."

I shook my head. "Too deep for me today, Hendel. Come on, let's enjoy the victory. And get you healed up. You look a mess."

"Aye. Mages are gonna be busy the next few days. At least Malika'll be fresh, hey? Though that's no good to you." He pointed at my shredded arms and legs. I had a deep wound across my chest that I couldn't even remember getting.

"Nope. I'll heal the old-fashioned way."