Chapter 358: Reliable support

Fifteen trolls, a few short bursts of Fire, several uses of Frost and one brief activation of Heft had consumed nearly a quarter of everything he possessed.

Kael looked toward the other gates. He still had three sections to deal with, and at the same rate, clearing them would leave him completely empty again. Possibly worse.

The eastern gate shook beneath another impact. Kael could see through his mini-map trolls gathered below the mage’s section, while the western entrance looked even worse. His own northern gate had also begun receiving pressure again now that the ruined terrain around it had cooled.

Kael exhaled. "Not enough."

Then he remembered something and opened his status.

[Status Screen]

Name: Kael Ardent

Level: 62

Kael paused when he saw the number. Seeing anything other than Level One beside his name still felt wrong.

Sixty-two.

He had jumped from the absolute beginning of the Tower’s progression to a level that should have taken an ordinary climber a considerable amount of time and a great deal of effort to reach.

His eyes moved lower. The release of his deferred experience had also provided stat points from every accumulated level. Kael had intentionally left those points untouched during the first integration because the automatic rewards from his Titles and Achievements had already rearranged his body violently enough.

Now, those unused points looked far more appealing.

Kael glanced at his internal energy before examining his attributes. Strength improved the vessel, while Dexterity improved his control over it. Both should reinforce the physical structure through which his internal energy circulated.

Increasing either should expand what he could contain.

Probably.

Kael stared at the available points. "Forty."

He selected Strength first.

[Allocate 20 Stat Points to STR?]

"Yes."

Then Dexterity.

[Allocate 20 Stat Points to DEX?]

"Yes."

That left him with twenty-one unused points. Enough for an emergency, and enough to adapt later if he discovered that Intelligence or Stamina offered something unexpectedly important.

The system confirmed both allocations.

Kael immediately regretted doing all forty at once.

His arms seized. "Fuck."

He caught the battlement before his legs could buckle. The change was not as overwhelming as the first integration, but it was still brutal.

Most climbers gained a level, received a few points and distributed them gradually. Their bodies adjusted through increments small enough that some probably barely noticed.

Kael had just thrown forty points into himself within seconds.

His shoulders convulsed as the muscles beneath his armor tightened. Once again, the change was not visibly dramatic. His arms did not swell, nor did his chest expand. The Fist King had already pushed his physical structure toward an ideal complete state.

Instead, that existing structure became denser.

Kael felt the fibers inside his muscles contract, reinforce and rearrange. His tendons tightened without losing elasticity, while the joints connecting them became more stable.

Then Dexterity followed.

His fingers twitched, and every movement suddenly felt too responsive again. Kael squeezed his eyes shut and waited as a shudder passed from the base of his spine to his shoulders, followed by another.

Gradually, his breathing steadied and his body settled.

Kael slowly flexed one arm. His gauntlet creaked beneath the pressure, prompting him to open his hand again.

"Careful."

He rotated his shoulder and found no pain or stiffness. The increase felt enormous.

Then he checked his internal energy.

Kael smiled.

His reserve had risen beyond half again. The increase had not come from natural regeneration. The system had expanded his capacity and filled the newly formed portion of the reservoir as part of integrating the additional attributes. His body now possessed wider, tougher channels and could circulate far more energy than it had before.

That gave him room.

Kael dismissed the status screen. "Good."

The gate below him shook again. Now he needed to make certain this section remained secure.

Kael dropped from the inner side of the wall, landed inside the gatehouse and immediately pulled Brokk’s Hammer free.

The southern gate was in terrible condition. Several cracks had reopened where the trolls had struck it, one metal reinforcement had twisted away from the wood, and the upper hinge had partially torn itself free from the surrounding stone.

There were no trolls outside anymore, however, and that changed everything.

Kael struck the first fracture. The split wood pulled together beneath the hammer, while another strike straightened the twisted reinforcement. He moved upward, alternating between repairing damaged material and correcting pieces that had been forced out of position.

Workers brought him replacement planks, and Kael fitted them into the sections where too much wood had been destroyed to restore. Brokk’s Hammer accepted the additions. Fibers shifted, separate pieces joined, and the gate gradually became whole again.

This time, there was no tree trunk crashing into the opposite side seconds later to undo his work. Goblins struck it with smaller weapons, but Kael barely noticed.

When he finished, the gate stood stronger than it had before the troll assault.

"Hold this," he told the soldiers.

Then he moved.

The mage’s section came next. Kael ran through the inner streets rather than along the walls, and the difference in his speed startled him. Every stride carried him farther than expected. His boots struck the stone in rapid succession, and his body adjusted automatically whenever he needed to turn.

He reached the eastern gatehouse quickly and discovered that the situation there was better than he had expected. The gate remained relatively intact because the mage had poured a ridiculous amount of mana into keeping it that way.

A broad magical barrier covered the front of the entrance. Every time a troll struck it, shimmering cracks spread through the translucent surface instead of the gate itself.

The problem was the mage.

She stood on the wall above with her staff raised in both hands. Her breathing had become ragged, and empty potion bottles covered the stone around her feet.

The trolls had realized who was stopping them and begun attacking her directly.

One lifted a rock and threw it toward the battlement. The mage shifted the barrier, causing the stone to explode against the magical surface.

Another troll threw a goblin.

The creature sailed over the barrier entirely. A soldier intercepted it when it landed, but three more followed.

Then came a tree trunk.

The mage swore and raised another shield. The enormous piece of wood struck the barrier, buckling her knees and causing the magic around the gate to flicker.

Kael looked down from the wall. "Annoying."

He jumped before the mage even noticed he had arrived.

Kael fell directly toward the group of trolls harassing her and landed on the first one. Both boots struck its shoulders hard enough to force the creature to its knees. A Frost-covered fist crashed into the back of its skull, spreading ice through its neck, and one more strike shattered the frozen section.

The troll’s head rolled away.

An orc rushed him. Kael punched it once, sending the creature flying backward before turning toward the troll swinging a club in his direction.

He stepped inside the arc and drove Fire directly into its stomach. The resulting explosion bent the creature around his arm before he pulled away and allowed it to collapse.

Another troll reached for him. Kael caught one of its fingers and pulled, forcing the creature to stumble forward. He stepped around the extended arm, punched the elbow from the side and broke the joint.

The troll screamed.

Kael struck it beneath the jaw, and the scream stopped.

The mage watched from above. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Kael looked up at her. "Long story."

"You’re faster."

"Also a long story." He turned toward another troll. "Drink something."

The mage did not argue. She sat against the battlement, pulled two mana potions from her inventory and began drinking while Kael cleared the creatures below.

With the trolls distracted by him, the fortress weapons regained the freedom to fire. Ballista bolts struck the monsters from above while lightning arced through their armor.

The railgun on the eastern wall finally finished charging.

"Clear!"

Kael heard the shout and jumped sideways.

The railgun fired.

A straight line disappeared through the enemy army. Three trolls died before the projectile continued into the distant plains, and the pressure around the gate collapsed almost immediately.

Kael cleaned up the survivors and returned inside the fortress. Brokk’s Hammer repaired the damage the magical barrier had failed to prevent, though the eastern gate needed far less work than the southern one. Within minutes, he had restored the worst cracks and reinforced the lower sections.

He looked upward. The mage had finished her potions, and some color had returned to her face.

"You good?"

"Better."

"Then hold it."

"You’re leaving?"

"Two gates left."

The mage nodded, and Kael ran.