Max unclipped his crossbow’s sling and loaded a drill-bolt. He also pulled out the other eight charged bolts. Despite the hundreds of monsters coming this way, he doubted that he would get to use all of them. It just took too long to reload. Even with practice, it took about fifteen seconds between each shot. In a battle that was an eternity.

  He had a hammer and circular saw hanging on his belt. Hopefully he wouldn’t need them, but he wasn’t going to let anyone die to protect his secret. He checked his mana. Eighteen points left after making the two pairs of gauntlets. That meant he had just enough to make one more hammer. He hated how slow his mana regenerated on the second layer. He placed a branch at his feet. He would wait until he saw what tool was needed before he used up the last of his mana.

  Karl had led the group over to a grove of pine trees to make their stand. The plan was to use the trees to slow the monsters down. One of the Paj had knocked the trees down in the center of the grove so they could form up and see better. He accomplished it with an oversized hammer and judicious use of his Weight stat. It was like a car ran into a tree with every strike.

  The monsters appeared then, dozens of them screaming in rage. Inspect told Max they were Bark Fowl. They looked like five foot tall chickens with wooden feathers and copper claws. Their red eyes locked on the armored humans and they charged forward, like clucking velociraptors.

  As they threaded through the pine trees, the ranged fighters were already attacking. Max shouldered his crossbow and fired. It went into and through a bark fowl, killing the one behind it as well. Other elemental attacks joined it, along with arrows and thrown trees.

  Four summoned monsters joined the fray. Lily’s mushroomantis appeared on the edge of the crowd, focusing on delaying and distracting instead of killing. Two feathered serpents materialized in the trees and swooped down to pick off unaware bark fowl. The final blue summons was a weird plant bulb that floated in the air and spun spikes around to attack.

  James stood next to Max and sent everything he had. He sent dozens of glass shards into the air, spoiling their approach. Then he tossed a bottle of acid, freshly made from his blood. It shattered on the ground and burned through four nearby monsters. Gus was in the front line and used Warped Mirror before he downed his Troll Form potion. He lifted the human size hammer Max made for him yesterday.

  Between Max’s first and second shot, more than twenty monsters were killed. Double that were forcing their way through the trees. They seemed endless.

  Another dozen monsters fell before the mob crashed into the line. The charge was blunted when a long red shield appeared in front of the people. The shield broke a moment later, but the monster’s momentum was gone. The front line fighters showed their worth by slicing and bashing, smashing and piercing. Dozens of yellow vines appeared, wrapping around monsters and tightening until they burst. One woman shattered every monster she touched. Gus managed to kill three of them at once by using his hammer’s super strike and knocking one bark fowl into two more.

  The swarm slowly started to slow down. Injured fighters on the front line were replaced. Max surprised himself by firing his sixth drill-bolt. Working together, the caravan had managed to hold off the swarm for a minute and a half.

  That was when the trees started shaking. Then they fell to the ground, revealing the monster that knocked down multiple trees with a single swipe of its claw. Max’s Insight triggered as he stared at the newcomer.

  Steel Roc

  It looked like an evolved version of the five foot chickens, but made of metal and twenty feet tall. It was like the small one’s vengeful mother. The huge monster pecked at the people, like a car crash going eighty miles an hour. Two of the front line jumped out of the way, but a third held up his shield and stood his ground. A flicker of magic covered the shield an instant before the impact.

  Whatever magic he had used, it wasn’t enough. The tank was hit and thrown backwards, ragdolling through the air until he hit the trees behind them.

  The steel roc’s attack threw up a wave of dirt and left a large crater. All that happened in a handful of seconds. Then it reared back and did it again. And again.

  When it paused, the front line was decimated. Even Gus in his Troll form was knocked to the ground. He was weakly struggling to get up, but dozens of broken bones were slow to heal.

  Karl took a running leap, a borrowed spear in hand. The tip glowed a sickly green, bright with magic. It looked like he was going to reach the monster’s head. At the last moment, the steel roc flinched back and knocked Karl away with his wing. A clang rang out as the metal wing hit the armored human. He was thrown up and over the monster, landing in the distance with a thud.

  Max dropped his crossbow. He knew it would be useless against something so big. It was time to bring out the big guns. He didn’t know what the augmented hammer would do, but it was time to find out. The only problem was that he couldn’t get close without getting killed. He didn’t have the Resistance or armor to survive running up to it.

  He focused on pushing Levitate into the hammer. Desperation lent him focus and he shoved the stat into the metal, willing it to take. It took more time than he had hoped, but less time than it should. The stat clicked into place and Max tossed the hammer. Now that it was less than forty percent of its original weight, the hammer flew straight at the giant chicken sixty feet away. It spun end over end as the spell started to activate.

  The blue light around the hammer’s head created a tracer in the air, a looping line leading right to the monster’s chest. It held up a wing to bat the hammer away. It was a second too late and the projectile hit the monster’s metal covered breast.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  As the hammer impacted, the spell went off in spectacular fashion. A blue half dome smashed into the chicken’s chest and knocked it back. The hammer fell to the ground. Then another magic dome struck the same place. It stumbled backwards, knocked off balance by the two hits in quick succession. Another strike knocked it to the ground, and a fourth one cracked its ribs. The fifth super strike hit the same spot like all the others. This time it sent metal shards into the monster’s lungs. The sixth strike sent a spray of blood into the sky.

  Max stared in shock. He looked around to see if everyone else had seen that insanity. Had he really killed the bane of Colonel Sanders? The world answered him with a blue box.

  He slowly blinked. Apparently he had killed it. The augmented version of the hammer spell created six different impacts in the same spot. Useless against a hoard of monsters, but very effective against a metal covered giant.

  A monster core formed above the corpse. It was a little smaller than the one from the titan on the third layer, but it was still big. Silver and gold colors covered its surface, moving about. It roiled like an out of control lava lamp.

  Max really wanted to grab it, but he had other priorities. The injured were all around him. He dropped his pack and pulled out his first aid kit. When he had packed it on Earth, he wondered if he was going overboard. He hadn’t been here a month yet and it was already half gone.

  His first stop was to help Gus get into a good position for his bones to heal. His potion would be wearing off soon, but Max was pretty sure he would be healed by then.

  The next person he helped was a guy with shards of his spear stuck in his Belly. Max removed the spearhead and clamped down on the wound. The lack of a bad smell told him the man’s bowels hadn’t been punctured.

  By the time he was done dressing that wound, everyone else was being taken care of. From what he could tell, no one was dead either. About eight of them were heavily injured, but their health points should pull them through. The worst was past. Max’s eyes were drawn back to the corpse of the steel roc. The monster core was gone.

  He briefly wondered if someone had stolen it and run off, but then he saw the core. Karl was holding it. He was limping around with only one working arm, but that arm tightly clutched the monster’s huge core.

  At this point, Max should say he didn’t begrudge the leader his due. He had told them this would happen, and he had put his life on the line to fight a giant.

  The truth was, Max did begrudge Karl taking the core. If Max hadn’t used his super awesome hammer, everyone would be dead. He should get the core, damn the useless leader’s rules.

  Bisrat clapped her hand onto Max’s shoulder. “Wow, Max. Thanks for killing the roc. I know it must have hurt to use that consumable dungeon artifact, but you saved our lives.”

  Max resisted the urge to say what artifact. He realized what she was doing, giving him an excuse for how a newbie had such an amazing power. This way no one would expect him to do it again, and no one would want to kill him for his cards.

  “I’m glad everyone is alive. I wish I didn’t have to use it. But if I had to do it again, I would use the dungeon artifact every time,” Max said.

  Karl limped over to them as they were talking. With his enhanced senses, he had of course heard the whole conversation.

  Karl gave him a nod of respect and said, “Thanks for doing that. I don’t know if I would have been able to kill it in time before someone died. I owe you one.”

  Max ignored the obvious lie that Karl would have ever been able to kill the steel roc. Instead, he glanced at the colorful monster core he was holding. Karl turned, oblivious to Max’s hint. He started yelling instructions to the uninjured. He got them to build travois to carry the wounded and assigned a few to butcher the giant for dinner.

  The caravan was moving again within a half hour. They didn’t want to stay anywhere near the site of so much blood. Karl didn’t lead them too far away. Once they were out of the area, he found a spot for them to camp and they stopped several hours early for the day.

  Max assumed that most everyone would be good to go in the morning. Mana and health points were amazing things. He also saw a few people smearing clay on their wounds so healing paste must be a thing here too.

  He set up his sleeping bag and covered it with a tarp to protect him from the morning rain. Gus collapsed into his bag shortly after he set it up. His troll potion had really taken it out of him. Max was tired too, but didn’t feel like falling asleep just yet. Maybe someone would want to play cards again.

  Before he could put a game together, Yang found him. The short woman had a serious look on her face.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said.

  “Sure. Let’s go over by those bushes so the others can sleep.” Max led them over to the northern side of the camp.

  Unlike most of the foliage in the area, these bushes weren’t from Earth. They were deep red, almost brown. They were made up of thick vines with long thorns. The only leaves were on top of the bushes, creating a flat layer, almost like a table.

  Max sat in their shade and said, “What’s up?”

  Yang looked away. “I want you to know I am thankful. You have been a great leader. You saved our lives many times. I would follow you into danger any day.”

  “Thank you,” he said, touched.

  “But. I don’t think you need my help as much as Lily does. She is young and impulsive. She needs a friend and a mother. I am neither, but I feel I must do what I can for her. Call it professional pride or misplaced motherly instincts, but I will be there for the young princess.”

  Max nodded. “I get what you are saying. Your goal has never been to fight monsters or gain magic. You were sent here for her and want to protect her.”

  “Yes, and it might cause you problems. If you do not make up with your friend, the party will split. She will follow James and I will follow her.”

  Max sat back, stunned. That was a very likely scenario. He swore softly.

  Yang got back up. “I hope that you change your mind about him, but I understand if you do not. I have not forgiven James, but I will protect Lily regardless.”

  She walked away. Max couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen this one coming. His party was falling apart. James was leaving because of his own mistakes, but he was pulling Lily and Yang away with him. Gus had already threatened to leave the party if Max didn’t pay him more. It was entirely possible that Bisrat would leave him when she found out. She wanted to join his party, not team up with one guy.

  He didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t imagine forgiving James’ betrayal, but at the same time, he didn’t want to lose everyone over it. He didn’t know if he was being stubborn, or if he was the only sane one.