Earth Tactics Advance: Volume 1

by Scottie Futch

  His full mobility returned, Scott reared back and stabbed outward with his weapon once more. He did so at a slight angle that tore past its face to the left. Scott wanted that to happen as the creature left itself open to the completion of Scott's attack. He side-stepped slightly, not a full-step by any means, and jerked his weapon hard. It allowed him to use the hook portion of his weapon to drag the monster sideways even further.

  Once the ghoul could move, it found that its prey used its last minute dodging ability to continue the motion from before. Scott moved with the beast's momentum and leveraged his weapon in a way that made the ghoul fall over.

  On the ground it was far less of a threat, as Scott now had free-reign to move again. He lashed downward with a wild series of hard strikes that beat it around the head and shoulders whenever his turn came up. He never pulled his blade completely back up before his turn ended, a tactic that allowed him to keep the beast on the ground by leaning down against it when it was the ghoul's turn.

  Scott's wildly desperate strikes did little damage. He needed to be certain that the thing would die, or he would have tried to make his escape. Nearly one-third of his life was torn away in the first exchange.

  Over a dozen strikes later, a familiar shimmer rippled along the creature’s badly mangled body. Scott stepped toward his door, his only safety. There was no need for escape. The ripples stopped and the creature ceased all movement. Black blood leaked out from its many wounds.

  Scott nudged it with his weapon, but it did not move. Had he really killed the unkillable monster? It had taken a lot of effort, even if the battle had been surprisingly easy, but was it actually true?

  He did not get the chance to celebrate his victory, however. Two more ghouls staggered out of the wood line nearby. They were drawn by the noise of battle, but were still too far away to engage him in a fight.

  Bush axe in hand, he quietly closed his door then took a few small steps away from the monsters. He would take two minutes to heal completely, but did not know if that would be the case if a battle started. Either way, he could not risk them attacking his door.

  He had only one hope. He had not used it, yet, but it was his only chance. He took a few steps away from his front porch and down to the ground proper. The shark-toothed bastards snarled at him then trotted toward him with their bloated and swollen tongues hanging out.

  Scott conserved his energy by taking slow steps backward. Simple small steps did not lower his stamina, but they did keep a little extra distance between himself and the monsters that had come for him.

  He did so in the hopes that the passing seconds would allow him to become closer to a recuperating instance. It required a full minute for his hit points or stamina to replenish to a small degree.

  The pattern repeated itself for a moment, not quite the minute that he had hoped for, until the blue light of battle overtook him. The ghouls were a dozen steps away, and staggered a little. At this point, one was several steps in front of the other.

  "Scott Keen versus Undead Duo! Fight-O!" announced the battle voice. The frenetic background music pounded away while the squeal of the electric guitar gave way to an intense pressure. A blue screen appeared in the air.

  [Warning]

  Ghoul racial ability [Horde Mind] now active. All ghouls within the combat area are now five percent stronger per ghoul participating in the battle.

  Ghoul racial ability [Fear of Death] now active. All non-ghouls within the combat area are now one percent weaker per ghoul participating in the battle.

  [--]

  "Well, fuck," said Scott as he felt a trickle of fear worm its way along his spine into the primal parts of his brain.

  Scott waited several turns for the monsters to approach while he focused on one of his two special abilities, and how it worked. Once the foremost ghoul came within two strides from his current position, and it was his turn, Scott raised his bush axe into the air and cried, "Burning Soul!"

  For a brief moment nothing happened. But then, like a sudden explosion, bright hot flames burst outward from his body and flowed up along his blade. The flames did not damage him or what he wore, but they would also not last long. "

  The ghoul, hungry and foolish, stepped forward upon its turn. It was now within strike range of Scott's weapon. He lashed out with his blade and kept moving forward before taking a half-step quickly to the side. His maneuvering range was highly limited, but he could move as he fought. He simply needed to stay within the range of a single full step without leaving his tiny space. Stepping outside that small range would take away his ability to attack or even move for one turn.

  His maneuver was designed to take into account his currently good position to strike at the closest ghoul’s neck. It dodged back at the last moment and avoided most of the blow, but a line of thick black blood formed at its throat and began to pour down.

  Scott's eyes widened briefly before he froze in place. A bright red number twenty-four flared above the ghoul's head. With his Burning Soul skill activated the difference in damage dealt was extraordinary!

  Pressure, attacking pressure, was the key. He had to keep his movements swift and his attacks certain. He had to attack with his strongest abilities, and move as he fought in spite of his limited mobility. He could not afford to stand still and simply trade blows, not in his low-level state.

  The monsters’ movements were slow compared to his, but the nature of combat mitigated a lot of those issues. They had as much of a chance to reach him as he did them. Case in point, when he tried to fend off the next attack from the beast he attempted to stab at it, but his blade glanced harmlessly off of its side.

  The creature's claws tore into his shoulder with great ferocity, though it too received damage from the flames radiating from Scott's body. Scott lost seven hit points, but the beast lost only one.

  Scott's vision faded in and out a little as pain racked his body. He was close to death after that strike. He could feel his body weaken as he was on the verge of total collapse. Blood poured freely from the gouges in his chest and shoulder. He found that it was difficult to wield his bush axe with two hands, so he was forced to attack with only one. His next attack was a single-handed whipping strike that tore across the monster's chest.

  A bright red number twenty-six appeared just before the ghoul screamed out a horrible cry, and then fell to the blood soaked earth in defeat. Scott had no time to rejoice, however. The second ghoul was four turns away from his position.

  It moved forward, and Scott gripped his bush-axe so tightly that the knuckles turned a brilliant white color. He gritted his teeth, but did nothing. He could do nothing at the moment but wait for the monster to arrive unless he wanted to waste stamina.

  After his third combat turn ended, so too did his fiery aura. The ghoul made its move after Scott's turn ended, and Scott waited once more. The undead monster approached once again. Just as before his foe was a single turn, a panel's length away in game terms, before Scott focused on his power once more. He had a plan. It was all or nothing.

  His chest and shoulder felt like they were on fire long before he cried out, "Burning soul!" in order to reactive his fiery power. His breath came heavy, and his shoulders drooped as he felt the loss of blood keenly. It was surprising that he was still on his feet, but he ignored that in favor of what he needed to do.

  The ghoul stepped forward then moved into an attack position, a feral snarl on its hideous face. Scott knew that he would not do enough damage with a simple attack. If the beast hit him, he would die. That was all there was to it. So, he put everything he had left into his next strike.

  An incredible surge of energy rushed through his badly injured body. "Power Cleave!" snarled Scott hatefully as he unleashed his maximum force. If the attack did not kill the ghoul, Scott would die in the next exchange. It was a nearly unavoidable truth.

  The blade arced down with burning fury and slammed into the monster's right shoulder. It kept going through the rotting meat of the shoulder,
exploded through its clavicle, and tore through the beast's chest. The incredibly powerful attack continued downward at an angle until it ripped down and out of the ghoul's left side.

  The ghoul went down in two distinctly separate pieces as a bright red number forty appeared above its head. Black blood spurted out onto the uncaring earth to emphasize the end of the battle. Scott stood there for a moment as the music died away, and the blue light disappeared. His breaths came hard. His blood continued to leak from his terrible wounds, and yet, he smiled a little.

  Life was not that forgiving, however. The sound of battle had drawn the attention of several more ghouls. He was certain that most of the noise was not heard outside of the battle field. If it was easily heard, the place would be teeming with ghouls at that moment. That did not stop other monsters from hearing the growls of the ghouls that had come for him previously, however.

  Scott grimaced at the small pack coming for him. He was not certain that he could take that many at once, even if he was at full health. He counted at least seven of them. In his current state, it would be quicker and more merciful if he stabbed himself to death before they arrived.

  He stepped away from the downed ghoul then looked around quickly. He could not risk his house. One of the nearby houses had a porch with a narrow step and a thick railing. That would have to do. He could not just run back inside when monsters knew he was there. He would be in deep shit, even deeper shit than he was currently.

  Scott ran over to the neighboring house and checked to see if the door was locked. Thankfully it wasn't. He could only hope that there were no monsters inside. He moved inside and locked the door behind him. The house was not reinforced like his home, and would not last against a concerted attack. Still, it would give him a moment to rest.

  Moving as quickly as he could, Scott made his way toward the back of the house. It was not long until he heard the growls and snarls of the hungry ghouls at the front door. A yellow light flared outward and encompassed the house. They were hunting for him. At this rate it would only be a matter of time before they found their way inside.

  Chapter 3

  It was a strange, terrible, thing to wait in that house while who knew what wandered around outside. Scott leaned against an interior wall for a while as the ghouls continued to take their turns. After what must have been a few dozen turns passed, he started to feel a little better. He did not bother before, but now he checked his stats out of curiosity. He was intrigued to notice that his stamina had completely recovered, though his health and mana had only regained a single point.

  The light remained yellow for several more turns. Scott decided to simply stay where he was while the ghouls did their thing. Every so often he checked his stats and noticed that another hit point was restored. From what he could tell, it seemed like he regained a hit point every few minutes while he was in the combat zone. It was a much slower rate of regeneration than when he was outside of a fight. If he survived this situation it would be a good thing to keep in mind.

  Eventually, his mana and hit points reached full once more. Heavy cracking sounds came from the door in front not long after. The ghouls were close to breaking into the house. It was only slightly surprising that they had not decided to move toward the side of the house in order to break through the windows before now.

  Scott opted to head out the back and leave the combat area rather than stay inside. Either choice was a risk, but it was no longer safe to remain inside the house. He was not certain, but it was a good possibility that seven ghouls was a number of opponents that would be too high to deal with at the moment. At least they were too many to deal with if he fought all of them directly.

  Three of the rotting bastards put him near death, and even one of them could have easily killed him. Seven together would increase their powers by thirty-five percent, and reduce his by seven percent. Those were not the sort of odds that made him happy. He would not risk it unless he had to do so.

  Once out the back door, he closed it behind him then moved to a point just outside the yellow area. Unlike the blue light that faded once he escaped the battle, the yellow light continued to persist. The ghouls still thought that he was inside the house. The yellow light was a cautionary light as far as Scott was concerned. It seemed to denote the fact that something was hunting for something else, and had a strong reason to suspect it was close by.

  Scott used that to his advantage and moved toward a low wall behind the house. Once he passed by it, he crouched down and waited for a moment. He peaked around the side of the wall and noticed that the light was still up. He could no longer hear any noise, but he knew that the monsters were trying to get into the house. The yellow light kept the noise that escaped to the outside to a minimum, allowing him confirmation of his previous suspicion. The battle field energy curtains did reduce noise that came from within the battle area.

  He waited there for a time, and was rewarded with the sight of the yellow light fading away. The ghouls had gotten inside the house, but found nothing. He could hear them now as they loudly shuffled around. The occasional sound of breaking glass or the clatter of something hitting the floor echoed through the area. Less than a minute after the light faded away.

  Scott began to move, but to his horror something unexpected happened once again. A brilliant fanfare erupted from his position and a column of light rose up around him. Energy raced throughout his body and he felt a profound strength rise up within himself. A blue screen appeared that explained the situation.

  [Level-Up!!]

  Hit Points: + 7

  Mana: + 5

  Stamina Points: + 9

  Speed: + 1

  Counters: + 1

  Movement: + 1

  Load = 30

  [--]

  His growth was decent, certainly higher than recent training methods, but recent events made it obvious that he needed to train harder to handle the situations that would happen in the future. He checked his status to see what it looked like now.

  [Status]

  Scott Keen

  Age: 20

  Level: 2

  [HP: 12][22/22]

  [MP: 5[6][26/26]

  [SP: 45][55/55]

  COMBAT

  [Attack: 1][5] | [Arcane Attack: 0[1][5]

  [Defense: 1][3] | [Arcane Defense: 0[1][3]

  [Evasion: 1] | [Arcane Evasion: 0[1][2]

  ABILITIES

  [Strength: 3] | [Agility: 1] | [Vitality: 3]

  [Durability: 1] | [Reflexes: 1] | [Arcane: 0][1]

  [Intellect: 3] | [Charisma: 1] | [Luck: 1]

  MANEUVERING

  [Speed: 2]

  [Counter: 2]

  [Movement: 2]

  [Jump: 1]

  [Load: 30]

  [—]

  Most of his stats had not increased at all, though increasing strength and vitality had helped with several of them. He did not voice his thoughts aloud, but he did wonder what increased speed and movement would mean for him in the future.

  It would not take long to find out. While he was busy with his level-up a ghoul he had not seen previously staggered around the corner. A yellow light flared outward. It sensed his presence, but did not know where he was.

  Scott tried to get away by slowly moving forward, but it was too late. It spotted him. The yellow light turned blue immediately thereafter and the battle music returned. "Scott Keen versus Hungry Ghoul! Fight-O!"

  "Shit," snapped Scott as he turned toward the beast. He took a step away from the ghoul and moved further along the wall. He blinked when he noticed that he did not freeze up immediately. He could take another step as well. He could now take two steps in a battle!

  Scott froze long enough for the ghoul to step toward him. Afterward Scott stepped away two more steps, one away and the other to the right to give himself room to fight. The ghoul continued its slow approach. Only one more step was taken to the right while Scott waited for the battle to truly commence.

  When the ghoul was within striking dis
tance, Scott struck out with a hard overhand strike even as he stepped back out of range of the beast's counter-attack. Without his burning soul skill activated, the damage was another three measly points.

  Thus began the battle of attrition. Scott would strike as the ghoul moved into place, his speed and movement capacity allowed him to strike once and then step back. Between his new maneuverability, and the length of his weapon, he no longer had anything to worry about when facing a single ghoul if he was careful.

  The battle waltz continued for several turns, forward and back, forward and back. Scott whittled the ghoul down to nothing with his weak strikes. Eventually, it dropped to the earth defeated.

  Unfortunately, the growling of the monster prior to the battle had alerted other nearby ghouls. A few of them trickled around the corner. It was not long before Scott realized that the ones in the house had left it in search of prey as well.

  The three ghouls trotted toward him, one a little faster than the rest. It reached a space roughly one dozen steps from Scott. The customary blue light flared out. "Scott Keen versus Dead Trio. Fight-O!"

  He received a message citing the fact that the monsters would be fifteen percent stronger and that he had been weakened by three percent. "Well, ain't that just neat."

  The lead ghoul took two steps toward him. Scott immediately tightened his grip on his weapon. It was a stronger ghoul than the others; that much was certain.

  Whatever the case, Scott took a deep breath then prepared. Running would be pointless. The ghouls knew where he was. He waited out his turns until the lead ghoul was three steps away then activated his burning soul attack. A few seconds later the ghoul rushed forward two steps.

  Scott did not even pretend to hold back. He immediately unleashed a brutal power cleave against his opponent.

  The ghoul was not only stronger, but a little more agile than its compatriots as well. The attack Scott unleashed was easy to read, even for an undead monstrosity. The beast leapt sideways a little and mitigated some of the damage while taking the brunt of it with its outer shoulder. Too bad for it, Scott was able to follow up with a reverse strike across its torso. Improved movement ability was definitely interesting. The second strike was more effective since the monster was caught in the midst of its first defensive maneuver.