Tycoon May: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

The rush of monsters parted around Grant like he was a boulder in a stream.  Flipping his air friction marginally increased his speed, but it was his skills that kept him alive.  His sword danced in a smooth series of swirls, only slowed when it dragged through the dense badgers that tried to swarm him.  He was using a calculated mixture of Peach Flower Petal Flurry to deflect the attacks aimed his way, and Begonia Chop to remove limbs and heads.  Eleven more beasts fell to his Uchigatana in ten breaths.

Everyone else didn’t fare quite as well.  Doug acquitted himself well, his staff breaking bones and crushing skulls, but the weight of the forces arrayed against them was too much.  He disappeared under a giant badger that fell on top of him, its fangs worrying at the armor protecting his forearm.

The people standing behind Doug mostly held spears, along with the three scouts wielding bows.  Grant ignored their screams of pain as the two sides collided, instead making sure the monsters he had wounded were finished off before they could get back up.

<Excellent!  Now, you should finish off the rest, before they get into the city.>

Grant did as Sarge suggested, lunging to kill the large beast still on top of Doug.  It died as his sword stabbed through one ear, and out the other.  A quick glance showed the mercenary was still alive, but the closing gates would crush him if he didn’t get up.  Unwilling to let the brave man get killed, Grant levered the impaled head to the side to give him room to crawl out from under the monster.

“Thanks.  I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be walking away from this one.”  Doug grunted in pain as he shifted out from under the oversized badger.  “Arm’s broken.  I won’t be able to fight for a bit.”  The sound of a scream from inside the gate entrance caused the two warriors to look over.  Doug blanched, seeing how poorly the fight was going.  “Don’t worry about me, go help them!”

Spinning to respond, he ran at top speed.  The gates were over halfway closed, and Doug struggled back to his feet as Grant ran on.  He slipped his sword through the lower back of a beast, dropping a monster that was about to kill a spear wielder.  A one-handed side swing intercepted a downward swipe from another monster, giving one of the scouts enough time to bury an arrow in the neck of the badger.  Beside him, a badger managed to sink its fangs into his calf.  Grant used Oleander Thrust to shove his blade through the top of its thick skull, but was immediately dropped to his knees when it collapsed without letting go.  As he looked up, Grant saw the gates closing, and he realized he was still just barely inside the range of the doors.  He was about to be crushed.

Limping through the opening, Doug managed to squeeze through the narrowing gap just in time to tackle Grant out of the way.  A booming slam shook dust from the ceiling, coating everything in a thin layer of grit as the gates slammed closed.  The creature that had been holding onto his calf was crushed into jelly, only its upper half still attached to him.

“Well, that was a close one, huh?”  Doug winced as he got off of Grant, his arm flopping uselessly at his side.  “Glad we both made it inside.  It wouldn’t be fun to get stuck out there until the next time someone important decided to order the gates opened.”

“Thank you for tackling me.  You probably just saved my life.”  Grant had to use both hands to pry the jaws of the badger off.  The fangs that had penetrated his leg left deep punctures, but he had avoided any broken bones or torn flesh.  “It definitely was pretty close.”

“Looks like they finished things up in here.”  Doug looked around at all the dead monsters, their bodies clogging the tunnel through the thick city wall.  Mixed in were far too many people who had stood and fought while others ran.  “Although, this is quite a mess.”

“Too many humans died.”  Grant stood, testing his leg to see if it would hold his weight.  “This was completely avoidable.”  He flicked his sword clean of gore, and sheathed February Twenty Nine, the Wielded Weapon gleaming in the dim light.  “Even a little bit of training would have made a huge difference in how they reacted.”

“It’s their own fault.  They were here for a quick boost to their badge ranking.”  Doug used a scrap of cloth he pulled from a pouch to make a sling for his broken arm.  His smooth and self-assured motions made it obvious he was practiced at field medical care.  “All those gate-climbers are just looking for a chance to get to the next level the fast way, instead of doing it like they should.”

Grant had no idea what he was talking about, so he just shrugged noncommittally.  This District was already shaping up to be the most dangerous, and showing his ignorance would only increase the risks he might face.

<It’s good to see you are learning.  Think how much easier District February would have been to get through if everyone hadn’t known you were from somewhere else just by looking at you!>  Grant looked down at his well-defined arms and flat stomach.  <That wasn’t an invitation to start admiring yourself.  Now, meditate to heal some of your damage before it’s too late.>

Not wanting to limp around for the next several days, Grant immediately plopped to the ground and closed his eyes amid the death and destruction of the tunnel.  He replayed the events of the battle inside his mind, and Live by the Sword activated, closing up the bleeding wounds on his lower leg.  It was obvious to him now that he had positioned himself poorly toward the end of the fight.  If he had put his back to the wall, there would have been no chance for the uncaring badger to have hurt him.  The only downside was that the spear wielder he had saved would have certainly died.

<Sometimes, you will have a choice.  Your suffering, or the suffering of others.  Deciding which to face is entirely up to you.>  Sarge paused while Grant slowly got back to his feet, testing the strain it put on his leg.  It still hurt, but it was well within his limits.

“I know that now, Sarge.”  Grant grimaced, images of what had happened in District April flashing through his mind.  “I just need to learn which times are worth it, and which times aren’t.”

“What was that?”  Doug took a few steps closer to Grant, his arm now properly secured in a sling.  “You were too quiet for me to understand what you said.”  Grant opened his mouth to answer, but Doug talked right over him.  “Was it about the smell?  I bet it was about the smell.  I gotta get out of here.  The stink is terrible in this little tunnel.”  He turned to walk away, and almost tripped over the corpse of a monster badger.  Doug grunted in pain, the stumble jerking his arm in its sling.  “And I really need to find a healing potion.  Fat chance any of the amateurs in this group had any.”

“This place has healing potions?”  Grant perked up, and followed closely behind the mercenary.  “I could use a few for emergencies myself.  There are only two left from the last time I resupplied.”

“You were able to get more than one?  How many dens did you clear to make that happen?”  Doug shook his head in disbelief.  “It must be really different in the other cities.  Here, it’s hard to even have enough to get a single common-tier potion.  Anything higher is reserved for the inner sections of the city.”

“Common-tier?”  Grant mentally kicked himself for asking the question out loud.  He had just said to himself not to show any hint that he was new to District May.

“Yeah, I know.  Common-tier is pretty low, but it at least stops the bleeding!”  Thankfully, Doug didn’t understand that Grant had no idea what he was talking about.  The two of them started making their way out of the short tunnel, stepping carefully over the bodies littering the ground.  “One of these days, I am going to get my hands on a Rare-tier potion, and explore some of the really dangerous monster dens.  There are probably all kinds of hidden things inside!”  Grant only nodded silently in agreement, making a mental note to check out a monster den.  First, he would need to get some potions, and preferably something stronger than the Common-tier kind Doug had mentioned.

<They base the strength of their items and materials by the effectiveness they provide.  Common-tier is pretty weak, and doesn’t give any bonuses.  What you got from Suki were Uncommon healing potions, which boost your healing twenty percent.>  Sarge paused when Grant stepped out of the tunnel and into the bright afternoon sunlight.  After his eyes adjusted, Grant had to force himself not to react to what he saw.  <Wow.  That’s not what I expected.>