The Classless Sorcerer's Self-Stealing System

Smoke rose above the streets of Everden's western outskirts, as thatched roofs of homes and buildings quickly caught fire in the ensuing danger farther ahead.

Blychert grimaced, straining to push his way through the crowd of terrified people making their way in through the gatehouse. He kept his pace steady though, tuning out the sound of frantic screaming and shouting to keep his own degree of focus. But by the time he finally forced his way onto the exterior road, putting a bit of distance between himself and the wall behind him, the rest of the soldiers were already well ahead of him.

"Alter appearance." Bly murmured under his breath quickly, presenting the image he wanted in his mind's eye and manifesting it into the world.

The illusion wasn't particularly powerful, seeing that it was only a basic spell, but a simple change of hair and eye color were at least enough to be effective in the heat of battle. Despite Bly's desire—borderline desperation to get involved, he didn't want to take his master's caution for granted.

If things got out of hand, it was better to keep himself masked.

Faint shouting up ahead jerked Bly's attention back to the matter at hand. Thus, with his hair now a few shades fairer than brown, and his eyes hopefully a greener color than his usual hazel, Bly hastily set off in the direction of what he could only assume were the sounds of an unfolding encounter.

Smoke continued to rise through the air as Bly ran as fast as he could.

Banking left at the nearest fork in the road, Blychert followed his ears to the source of the chaos. Sure enough, and as he turned right and dashed down a tighter alleyway, he cleared it onto another adjacent road and at once found himself standing in the thick of the action.

Everywhere Bly looked, there were white and blue tabards, and flourishing weapons. And yet, all of that was dominated by the sheer presence of the others… the giants.

Small breakout skirmishes ran up the length of the street, hard to tell exactly how many fights were going on and how spread out they were. Beyond, the sounds of shouting and clanking metalwork clashing against the sound of burning wood and thatch rose through the air. Six or seven soldiers already lay dead, and many civilians too, their bodies littering the streets in the wake of the formidable raiders that had run through them with seemingly no mercy whatsoever.

At a quick glance, Bly noticed that there were only four giants within his immediate area, and yet not even one of them seemed to be any shorter than ten feet tall. Beneath their horned, metal helmets, their skin as pale as ice, and dark, braided beards of various lengths swayed amidst the action. Long, muscular arms wielded halberds and long axes to great effect, and no less than two—sometimes even three soldiers at a time seemed capable of going toe-to-toe with even one of these giants, who simply cut through the soldiers ranks as if they were nothing.

Bly's eyes widened at the chaos, never having been a part of, let alone seen something so bloody and ruthless. His mind recalled the carnage that Alyse had caused to the Guildhall back in Darskaart a year ago. But those were administrators. All of these people lying dead in the streets, complete massacre in the blink of an eye... it was momentarily hard to stomach.

However, Blychert's mind quickly turned, and jumped into battle mode posthaste.

"Flickering ember, ignite my will. Fire bolt—!"

All Bly could think about was helping these soldiers, caution be damned, and so he squeezed mana into the elemental spell and forced a dual casting. He then pivoted, pumping an added layering cost of mana into each instance, simultaneously enhancing the power of both. In the same motion, he twisted the mana already pooling at the center of his palms and tightened his fists around both, mentally gesturing for a scatter shot to denotate at the exact moment he released the twinned spell.

One arm raised, Bly flicked his fingers apart and released the first spell, before doing the same with his other hand. Both tendrils of flame split apart in the first seconds of their casting, allowing for four induvial bolts of fire to go hurtling into one target each.

It was a difficult maneuver to pull off, but each of the fire bolts struck their intended target head-on.

However, Blychert worried at the result. The effect seemed to do little more than throw each of the giants off their footing for a but a single moment. It at least gave the soldiers a moment as well to collect their own bearings, But Bly was suddenly concerned with how he was going to handle all of this, if they brushed off his elemental spells so easily.

Suddenly, one the giant raiders off to Bly's left snarl and looked directly at him, before shoving a soldier backwards. The giant reeled his arms in attack, swinging his halberd with speed and with force.

"Swift shield—!"

Blychert thrust his arm outward, stepping forward to get within range of his target. His barrier magic glowed a yellow hue for an instance, and sprang from his fingertips. As the polearm came within inches of the soldier's head, a wall of protective mana shimmered before him.

The halberd struck.

But at that moment, Blychert gasped.

The entirety of his shield spell cracked and shattered in a second. And yet, unlike nearly all his experience with barrier magic thus far, the giant's polearm didn't ricochet. In fact, it cut straight through the shield spell, barely losing any of its momentum as it reached its final destination.

Hardly a sound escaped the poor soldier's lips as the blade of the giant's halberd crushed the base of his neck. Blood splattered everywhere, as the soldier's body flung to the ground in a limp heap, his head barely still attached.

Bly's heart pounded in his chest, as he slowly began to understand exactly what had everyone so terrified, why they hadn't been allowed to take the road west to Frostwall.

That shield spell had saved his life countless of times in the Gleaming Caves, and had even helped him defeat Glemberfang by the end. This single giant had just cut straight through it as if weren't even there.

Were these giants… more powerful than a B-ranked dungeon boss? That didn't even sound remotely plausible. And yet, Bly's shield was no better than dust in the wind.

All around him, Bly could see that the fighting hadn't ceased. Soldiers fell by the wayside, cut down by their giant counterparts with such brutality and simplicity that it was almost too easy for them. These soldiers never stood a chance at all, did they? And yet they had no choice but to fight.

At that moment, Blychert looked up into the closest giant's eyes.

"Ifthar ulok tah," The giant chuckled unintelligibly. Brandishing its halberd, blood still dripping from the blade that had severed the soldier's head, he looked down upon where Bly stood with a simple grin, "Af thular ma'dok kag… seidhar."

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The words were all but lost on Blychert for a moment. However, the sudden aura of magic emanating from the ring on his right hand caught his attention, and as he let the passive alteration enchantment of his ring of comprehension take effect, the last of the giant's words echoed in his mind.

"…sorcerer."

Blychert blinked.

A flash of metal streaked through the air—a split-second lurch from the giant raider, whose halberd came crashing down upon Blychert in its entirety.

"Swift shield—!"

Bly barely had enough time to mutter the words of his barrier spell, but this time he was at least able to pump it full of extra mana—mentally gesturing for several added layers just for good measure.

Again, the halberd struck.

The reinforced mana cracked down the middle, barely managing to hold its shape for a split-second longer than Bly's first attempt. That was enough though, enough for Bly to steady his footing and assume a better casting position.

Which was all well and good, because the giant was relentless thereafter.

Strike after strike, attack after attack, heavy and agile maneuvers alike, the giant raider exerted its presence to maximum effect, putting Bly on the backfoot as quickly as he had regained any sense of composure previously. Shield spell after shield spell fired off, with only the barest attempt of an offensive spell thrown into the mix—a fire bolt here, an icicle there—though it seemed to hold little effect in the face of such a foe.

Frankly, it didn't make any sense.

It was as if this giant was completely… resistant? Resistant to the kind of magic Bly was throwing at it, anyway. But even if it were resistant to magic, being able to cut through barrier magic was a completely different story. And with just physical attacks alone?

Just who in the hell were these guys?

All around him, Blychert watched as soldiers fell at the hands of the giant raiders, white and blue tabards soaked with blood. He was unable to do anything more than a few hastened shields that hardly seemed to have any effect but prolonging the inevitable.

He could defend himself just fine. But with their numbers thinning out, Blychert wasn't certain about how much longer he could sustain an effort like this, at least not without dipping into his own special ability.

But he had to do something, had to find some way to pull it together and try to save who he could. There were likely reinforcements on the way, he just had to hold out until then. But what could he do? The path wasn't as clear-cut as it had been so many times before this moment. An all-out strategy wasn't guaranteed with so many lives hanging in the balance elsewhere.

Bly stumbled backward, he and the giant now somewhat detached from the rest of the fighting forces farther down the street.

"I will take great pleasure in chopping off your head, little human." The giant taunted, all this seeming to be as effortless as a training exercise to him, as he continued to press in its assault. Looming tall over where Bly stood, the giant looked down on him and grinned, "Now, be still. My axe is thirsty!"

It was now or never.

If Blychert was going to have any chance of pulling this off, he needed to act right here and now.

"System command—"

A flash of purple energy suddenly streaked past Blychert's head, the sound of which crackled as it sped forward. As the giant raised its arms and thrust its halberd down in an arcing motion, the streak of purple energy burst into the giant's chest at thunderous speed.

"Guh—!" The giant gasped, dropping its halberd entirely.

As the flash of purple light dissipated, a figure was now standing in-between Bly and the giant, the figure's dagger firmly pushed through the giant's rib cage and into its heart with a sickening crunch. A moment later, the figure pulled the blade out with force, and with his off-hand dagger, leapt up and spun around in one fluid motion.

Blood burst from the giant's neck a second later, and it fell limp to the ground at the figure's feet.

"Heh…" The figure grunted, almost as if amused by the situation. Cocking his head back a long moment later, he looked at Bly with a furrowed brow and a slight grimace. Bly couldn't help but notice the series of tattoos lining his otherwise clean-shaved head, or the familiar bronze medallion hanging around his neck, as the figure muttered, "Hm? Hey... what are you looking at? You got to be quicker than that if you want to eat. You people always playing with your food…"

"Wait… huh?" Bly said confusedly, "I don't—"

Who was this guy? And what the hell was his problem? Didn't he know what was happening behind him?

The figure twirled his daggers all of a sudden, the blades of which were an oddly shaped, almost zigzag design still emanating a faint purplish glow. He spun one of the daggers around in his fingers and pointed it at Bly, somewhat casually, and clicked his tongue, saying, "Oh, I get it… you're an out-of-towner, huh? Well then, I guess you're going to doubly make sure that you remember the name Lanelc. Got that?"

Blychert shook his head, still not sure what was going on, and so replied as he tried to move past the figure with haste, "Why are you—we need to go. There are other people in danger! More of those guys killing everyone."

"Lanelc." The figure held out his arm, stopping Bly in his tracks, "Tell me you understand? I want to hear you say my name."

Blychert paused, glancing up into the figure's narrow gaze as if he were speaking complete nonsense. Frankly, he sort of was. Bly couldn't be certain, but his gut told him that there was definitely something crazy in those eyes. Nevertheless, Bly gritted his teeth, and muttered, "Yeah… I understand, Lanelc."

"See? Not so hard…" Lanelc nodded with a small, fairly unpleasant grin, pulling his arm away all at once. Turning, he adjusted his coat collar and went ahead walking forward to where Blychert had been trying to go as well. Lanelc waved a dagger over his shoulder, and said, "You run along now, back that way, I've got bodies to count."

"What—no way!" Bly shouted after him, jogging to catch up. He wasn't going to back down now, not after all that. He could still be useful here. "I can help you—"

He didn't even see it coming.

Before Bly knew what was happening, he was laid out flat on his back, two daggers gently pressed along the skin of his neck. His sight was blurry for a moment, but it adjusted well enough to see Lanelc hunched over him, a disconcerting expression etched across his face.

"I don't remember asking." Lanelc muttered, an almost sinister tone of voice, "You know? The next time I catch you trying to steal a kill—trying to steal a single point of experience from me? I'll slit your gods damned throat. These bodies are mine."

"I'm—I'm sorry…" Bly conceded, angrily.

He could have tried to fight this, but there was no telling what else this man was capable of at the current moment. He was quick, if nothing else. Probably quicker than Bly was at casting a spell at such close range. And besides, he had an aura about him that Bly wasn't sure he wanted to test, especially given that bronze amulet hanging around the man's neck.

"Hm." Lanelc grunted, "Piece of advice, newbie? You see Silent Stray Blade coming? You run the other way. My blades don't discriminate, and neither do the rest of my party. Giant blood, human blood… we really do love it all."

Blychert blinked, and Lanelc was gone in a flash, leaving Bly with a very puzzling question as he sat up straight.

That man said Bly was trying to steal what… kills? Experience? As far as Bly understood it, you didn't get experience for random killing of non-spawned creatures? A thing like that would have all but certainly wreaked havoc on the world ages ago.

It was impossible, unless…

A shiver suddenly ran down the back of Bly's spine.

There was no mistaking it, that man…he was a bonified killer. A murderer, perhaps. Why? Because there was only one type of person in the world who benefited from killing anything other than spawns, the kind of person who must have surely racked up such a significant body count that the system itself had deemed him worthy of the right to earn experience by enacting violence upon others. Blychert had never met one before, but Irvin's older brothers talked about them plenty, about the kind of people who leveled up solely from killing other humanoids.

In other words, a Slayer.

Blychert rubbed his neck where those daggers had just been pressed. He couldn't help but think for a moment about that bronze chain hanging around Lanelc's neck. It was identical to those that the Guild gave out, unmistakably. He had seen plenty of adventurers back home with their emblems. But Calvergia had its own sort of adventuring guild, so why did this man have a Guild emblem?

Either way, it was a bronze emblem, which meant one of two things: either that man was a certified bronze-ranked adventurer, or he had taken it off an adventurer that he had killed for the purpose of gaining experience.

Bly thought about Bold Arrow. Thought about Xander's own bronze emblem that he'd earned.

Would a man like Lanelc be content to kill any of them without thinking twice about it?

Blychert looked up, glancing farther down the street to where the bodies of soldiers, citizens, and now giants alike lay strewn about in every which way. Flames and smoke still ate away at the outskirts of town, but the sounds of the once bloody raid grew fainter and fainter, as more help from town came out to driver the raiders away.

The damage had already been done though.

Lanelc, Silent Stray Blade… Blychert wasn't going to forget this interaction anytime soon.

He knew that adventuring parties competed for all kinds of things, rewards and experience chief among them. But if this was the kind of threat or competition amongst other parties that he could look forward to in Frostwall? Even for just trying to help innocent people? Maybe such a reality check wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to Bly today.

Maybe, just maybe, he really was in over his head.