Somnium Online

Ocean of Code

It was cramped in the watch post that Eric had picked out, but it afforded them an excellent view of the surrounding terrain while also keeping them hidden from plain view.

The attack came just before dawn. Eric was the first to spot the line of torches rushing towards their position.

"Incoming." He whispered to Abby who drew her wand and began chanting.

Balls of fire streaked towards the moving torches, and there were screams as they hit their marks.

Eric and Anne rushed out and began advancing on the incoming enemy forces. Abby maintained a steady barrage the forced the bandits to continue moving forwards or beat a hasty retreat.

There were roughly twelve remaining bandits, and Abby was still firing. Eric clashed with the nearest one, and found himself completely underwhelmed by their fighting abilities. The bandits wore hoods so it was impossible to see their features clearly.

Eric kicked a bandit to the ground and finished them with a short chop of his sword.

Anne was fighting three to one and each swing of her massive broadsword was calculated and precise.

The bandits couldn't touch her, and she was constantly inflicting wounds of various levels of severity. After a few short seconds she had demoralized and defeated them.

Then a second wave of bandits arrived. They just kept coming. Abby fired a wave of fireballs and Eric and Anne engaged the survivors. Eric found himself separated from the group and completely surrounded.

"Surrender kid!' One of the bandits yelled.

"We have you surrounded!" Another cheered.

Eric rolled his eyes and changed his stance. "Didn't anyone tell you?" He shouted back. "Surrounded is when I'm at my best!"

And it was. He whirled, ducked and dodged. He was right there in the middle of the circle but it felt more like the bandits were the ones at a disadvantage. They couldn't maneuver properly for fear of hitting their allies, but Eric could slash and jab wherever he wanted.

He was a force of nature. You could see him taking hits but whenever slowed down form paused. There was no hesitation in his movements and he fought to kill.

Despite this, bandits kept coming, it was as if they had unlimited reinforcements

Meanwhile Anne was defending Abby and Reagan. Abby was their only hope by now, as her explosive fire magic rained down on the bandits.

"How are there even this many bandits?" Anne yelled over the noise.

"I have no idea!" Abby yelled back.

"Can you please just focus on killing them!" Reagan shrieked as a volley of arrows nearly hit them.

Eric was like a rabid animal, he fought with savage efficiency. Sometimes his foes didn't realize they were dead until the swords fell out of their hands. He prioritized immobilizing his enemy, hamstringing, blinding, and knocking the wind from them. Once they were down he dispatched as many as possible before they got to their feet.

A man with a spear came at him and he twisted to dodge it's path. Stepping inside the man's reach he slid his sword between the man's ribs.

The bandit's backed off and regrouped, this time coming at him in a unified front. Eric sheathed his sword, and in a smooth practiced motion threw a blindingly fast barrage of knives. Bandits fell away clutching their eyes and hands as Eric threw knife after knife.

When his supply was exhausted he switched back to his shortsword and resumed cutting down the confused bandits.

After a few minutes Eric was beginning to tire, and the bandit's ranks were beginning to thin. The bandit's weren't used to this sort of extended combat, and many turned and fled. Slowly but surely the bandits began to retreat.