[We will need to take down the cyclones soon.] Remi noted.
Her power was beginning to exhaust her, while Hawk was unstable after his evolution.
So, it was time for the others to begin to fight again and not rely on the three of them with the largest area effects.
“The vortexes are coming down now. Prepare to face whatever is alive on the other side.” Karl warned.
There was nothing. The vortexes had killed anything that had gotten within forty metres of them. But it kept the Satyr soldiers on guard, just in case something had escaped Karl’s notice.
For the first few minutes, there was nothing coming. Then Karl saw that a few groups of the armoured Giant Boars had noticed the change in defensive strategy, and were heading for the farm.
It was only a half dozen boars and two Cyclops on their side, but the Satyrs were already looking nervous about the situation.
“Relax, I won’t let anything happen to you. You have a defensive blessing from a High Priestess of the Red Dragon, the Goddess of War. As far as Commander Rank defensive magic, there isn’t much that outclasses it.
Plus, you have the three of us here, and none of us is going to lose a fight to some boar. You’ve seen my magic, have some faith in our capability.”
That seemed to remind them of their earlier determination. At least a little bit, anyhow, and the Satyrs raised their short spears and shields, ready to defend against attack.
“Are your mounts awake and healthy? It might be easier for you if you were mounted and more agile.” Karl offered.
The Satyrs shook their heads. “The mounts are terrified of the boars. The boars are food, but they are also a predator, and these ones view our mounts as a food product, which has made them too afraid to be reliable in combat.
We’re not a battle hardened combat unit, we’re just the ones best trained to hold banners and move pedestrians out of the way of officers’ carriages.”
Karl chuckled at the description.
However, they were soldiers, even if they weren’t much to write home about. And that meant that he could use them as soldiers, and they should know at least basic tactics.
“Alright, split up into pairs and accompany the Lamia. You attack the boars from the side, and then retreat away from their counterattacks, and the ladies will do the rest. I will take care of the Giants.”
The Satyrs weren’t cowards, and they moved into position as the Lamia each picked out a pair of Giant Boars to target, while Karl charged forward before recalling that he had sold his sword.
The Maul was an option, but if he wasn’t going to be getting the soul steal effect that both healed him and helped empower him, he might as well have used his bow.
Instead, he equipped the Haint Claw, which appeared as long wooden claws over his fingers, which leaked pale blue smoke, the same way that Overlord Leafa did.
Karl flexed his fingers, feeling the power of the weapon on his hands, then flicked a single finger at the Commander Rank Cyclops on his right.
An arc of [Rend] coated in [Disintegrate] and trailing blue smoke raced across the gap, and the giant paused his advance, confused as to what was happening.
Then its knees buckled, and the massive beast tumbled to the ground as its head rolled away, cleanly severed at the neck.
The claws pulsed with power as the attack faded, and Karl sent another arc of power at the second Cyclops.
This one got its blade up in time to parry, and the attack faded as the blade in the Giant’s hand shattered.
Karl split Rend, again coated with [Disintegrate], into four arcs and the Cyclops panicked, trying to dodge to the side.
But Karl was too close, and the unfortunate creature had no weapon left to protect itself.
That was… far more effective than Karl had expected.
[Status]
Karl scrolled through the basic information about himself until he found the weapon description.
[Haint Claw] Artifact Grade. Deals 280% base weapon damage as Psychic Damage.
That was helpful, but Karl already knew that it added the ghostly smoke to the attacks. What he didn’t know was what sort of base damage it added to his attacks, or what other status bonuses he might have gained.
So, he checked his bow for reference.
[Unwavering Bow] Rare Grade. Aim Assist Level 1. Increases Skill Damage by 10%.
That was an entirely different description, and there was no mention of base damage. So Karl was on to the Maul.
[Crystal Maul of Resonance] Epic Grade. Applies the effect of spells imbued into an attack up to five times when a strike lands. Deals strength-based blunt impact damage on strike.
Again, no mention of a base weapon damage, and no numbers other than some percentage-based increases. He would have to dig into it later, when he wasn’t in combat and had more time to search through rows of numbers and possible hidden subcategories.
Whatever the actual number was, the damage he was doing to the Cyclops warriors said that it was an impressive one.
Karl crouched and leapt to the side to attack a Giant Boar whose throat was exposed, coating his new claws with Rend.
Hawk would be proud of him.
The claws went smoothly through the thick hide of the boar and left deep gouges in the heavy plate armour, leaving the boar bleeding out with a single strike.
Karl used [Flaming Body] to burn the blood off himself as the boar collapsed, and the Satyrs stared at him in shock.
“If you could do that, why are you using all these fancy skills and weapons?” One of them asked.
“One at a time is fine, but those skills deal with large numbers while they’re at a safe distance from the house. We don’t want to put the children in danger.
Besides, this method is messy.” Karl replied with a shrug.
Then he got a great idea. Maybe the Haint Claw wasn’t meant to be used as an actual weapon, for attacking, but as a supplemental weapon.
It said that it dealt a percentage of base weapon damage as a bonus, so if he kept the claws on when he used another weapon, it might give an additional bonus based on the damage that the other weapon was doing.
There were more boars in the distance, so Karl took out his bow, and adjusted his grip to compensate for the length of his new claws.
He made the drawing motion to activate the bow and charged it with [Chain Lightning]. He let the lightning charged arrow fly, and found that it was also followed by a faint trail of ghostly smoke.
The arrow sunk deep into the boar, which twitched in pain, or possibly electrical shock, before collapsing with a puff of ghostly smoke coming from the arrow hole. That was definitely an improvement on the Chain Lightning alone, and the Haint Claw seemed to pulse with power after the kill.
Perhaps it was similar in function to the sword that he had traded, but it wasn’t passing any of that stolen essence along to the wielder. According to the extended details of the description, it would gather Soul Essence with each kill, and had a chance to become a Haint Sapling in the future.
A sentient weapon like Leafa could make for quite the addition to the team, depending on the abilities that it developed, and Karl was looking forward to seeing what it could do.
