16 Three Destined Friends

The town center turned battlefield looked like an imbalanced war game, where one side completely dominated the other, and the humans were losing. James Tarker's arrival had brought the valiant adventurers out of the pit of depression and demoralization, however the feeling was short-lived, and they were quickly dragged back in.

"Fall back! Fall back!!"

"We can't handle this many!"

"Leader!!"

"Take them with us to hell!"

James Tarker paused, after his sword completely snapped in half against the sturdy bones of the skeleton, and made his way over to the townspeople who were helping them resupply and re-equip. He pitied them, as he watched their sweat-drenched clothes sticking to their bodies. They were working hard.

"Tarker, m'boy!" a man called out to him. "Potion or weapon?"

"Weapon," he replied. "I need a sword."

"We're running low on those, but I'll go take a look."

The man went over to a bin that had once been filled with swords. He looked into it and let out a sigh.

"None left?" James asked him, having seen the man's face.

"One left," he replied, reaching into the bin to grab it. "I recall that the boy who handed this to me said it was a family heirloom. Pity that it's to be used on these foul undead."

"I'll treat it well," James said, swapping his old sheath to strap the new sword's one on.

...

A blaze of fire blew through an alleyway, and out into the street, leaving nothing in its tracks. Coming out from the alleyway, Jun Long ran as fast as he could to reach the town center. He had heard from the old adventurer that his partner, James Tarker, was seen making his way over there. Wishing to gods that don't exist in this world, Jun Long prayed that his first and best friend, since he arrived, would be uninjured. The thought of someone of James Tarker's caliber dying, while he did nothing, was dreadful.

Skeletons and zombies could still be found, making clickity-clack sounds or groaning loudly, up and down the streets. The closer that Jun Long was getting to the town center, the more he was finding. Amazingly, even after casting his 'Flame' spell non-stop, Jun Long had yet to feel any strain on his body - only being out of breath from all the running. According to the way that 'Mana' worked in this world, especially for newbies, 'Mana' was exhausted quickly.

Was Jun Long's mana limit higher because he was from another world?

Jun Long had next to no idea as to how much mana an average person could house. He had no idea what sort of magics were widely used. He was absolutely clueless about something that he had already been praised for being a genius at!

After rushing down a few more blocks of houses and shops, Jun Long finally found his way to the town center. His immediate thought was something along the lines of: "Oh, shit..."

The entire area was overrun by clickity-clacks and terrifying groans!

It didn't take long for the skeletons and zombies closest to Jun Long to notice him. As though they were following a command, a group of 20 undead branched away from the rest of the army, to engage the only one in that area with living flesh.

The skeletons moved faster than they had been, on the way from the Adventurer's Guild to here, and Jun Long was startled at the change. Although it was not the first thing that he noticed, even the zombies had changed from the incessant groaning to more of a grunting each time they stepped forward.

A skeleton at the front of the group raised its bone sword above its skull, preparing to slash at Jun Long's shoulder, but was incinerated in a flash. Bone swords and arms with rotted flesh flew at Jun Long from every direction. Casting 'Flame' over and over again, Jun Long mowed the incoming mob down, leaving no trace of the undead in his wake.

The army of undead continued to charge at Jun Long's lone body, as he pressed on with an unending fiery blaze gushing from his hands.

Standing above the town center, with their clothes flapping in the wind, the commander of the army of skeletons and zombies watched over the skirmish between the Jovial Town adventurers and their minions. The petite figure tossed its head back, laughing maniacally at the adventurer's desperate struggles.

"Foolish, puny insects!" the shaded figure belittled them. "Despair, as my army of skeletons and zombies rip your limbs from your bodies! None of you deserve to live - bunch of hypocrites!"

As the figure in the sky finished its short monologue, a flash of flame caught their attention. There was a single mage shooting flames from his hands against the sea of white bone and pale rotten flesh.

"A lone maggot mage dares to challenge my army? PAH! These ants are more foolish than I thought! I pity my past self, thinking that they were existences that towered high above mine own! HA HA HA!"

Down below, amongst the countless undead, Jun Long had just disintegrating a small group of skeletons and zombies when he heard something that sounded like laughing. It was a gay laugh, that would make people believe that the person laughing was smug beyond belief. He followed the source of the laughter and looked to the sky.

There, floating above the town center, was a small figure basking in the moonlight. In a way, Jun Long could appreciate the serenity - the solemnity - of how the figure seemed to be praying to the night sky, the stars and the moon. This could be said with sincerity... if only there wasn't that obnoxious laughter accompanying it.

Jun Long used his 'Flame' spell, to push another group of undead away from him, before looking back to the skies and shouting at the person standing there.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Are you an adventurer? Could you come help fight these things?"

"Huuuuh?" the figure breathed out condescendingly. "'Help' you? Why the hell would I want to do that, ant?"

"What?"

"Take this!"

The figure in the moonlight threw their arm at Jun Long's position, and blasted a small area around him, knocking Jun Long off his feet and sending him crashing into a nearby building. Jun Long's body slid down the side of the build, as he coughed out blood. The impact from both the blast and hitting the side of the building left Jun Long unable to breathe for a moment. He gasped for air, when the shock to his body subsided, and sprawled out his body on the pavement.

Lying on the ground, panting heavily, Jun Long felt like his body had been hit by a bus. He wasn't able to confirm whether or not he was bleeding, but he wouldn't be surprised if he were.

"Haa aaa..." he groaned, clutching his chest. "W.. why did y.. you do that?"

"Whaaaat?" the figure exaggerated, leaning their body closer to his. "Did you say something, ant? I can't hear you over you dying! HA HA HA!"

Jun Long's body wasn't listening to him. He tried to push himself up, but was unable to muster any strength. His breathing was ragged, sometimes only being able to get a wisp of air in him before he coughed out another mouthful of blood.

"James..."

...

At the other side of the town center, five minutes ago...

The night air fell to freezing temperatures, but James Tarker was only feeling the heat. Relentlessly slashing at the skeletons and zombies in front of him, he only had a single goal in mind: protect the people.

Beside him stood a tall and muscular woman, crushing the skull of another skeleton with a huge hammer, covering his blind spots as he pressed the attack. There were others around James Tarker, fighting alongside him against the horde of undead.

"James-y boy," the woman's sensual voice called out to him. "Are you doing alright? Do you need to swap with me?"

"I'm doin' fine for now," he replied, feeling a little uncomfortable toward the woman. "Don't get too close to me with that hammer of yours, now."

"Yeah! Haha!" a stumpy drawf wielding a spear chuckled. "The boy be scared-a yer manly hands, lass!"

"Shut it, dwarf!" the woman snapped. "You wouldn't know a woman if they came up and slapped you on the face!"

"Aye, lass! But I know a man when I see'un!"

James Tarker smirked to himself, half-listening to the banter between the people around him. The life of an adventurer was one wrought with grief and pain. Seeing that these veterans, who were clashing with the undead from every angle, being able to laugh it off like this...

The thought of Jun Long's first experience with having to kill, inside the goblin cave, popped into his mind. Though the dark haired boy had only just stepped into his life, it felt like they had been friends for a lifetime.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have just left him at the gate," he thought to himself.

BOOM!

James Tarker was interrupted mid-thought, and he looked towards the source of the sudden explosive sound. He watched as the body with a human figure flew out of the sea of skeletons and zombies and crashed into the side of a building.

"James-y boy!" the woman warrior called to him. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah," he replied, cutting down another zombie. "Was that a townsman?"

"I'll use my Skill: 'Eagle Eye' to see," an adventurer using a bow said. "It's... a boy! A boy with black hair!"

"What?" James exclaimed. "Did you say 'black hair'?"

"Yes," the bow user replied. "He's being swarmed by the undead."

"That's Jun!" James shouted. "I need to go save him!"

"James-y boy! How are you going to get over there? It's too far away - you'd be going to your death!"

"Aye, lad. The lass be speakin' the truth. Dinnae be jump'in to yer death!"

James Tarker looked at the group of adventurers, all of which were veterans years above his own. His face showed a displeasure that made reading his mind easier than eating pie. The three adventurers looked at each other, giving one another a knowing look.

"Alright, James-y boy! We'll help you break through!"

"Aye, lad! Ye'll have me spear!"

"... and my bow."

James Tarker and the other two adventurers looked at the bow user as if to say: "Really?..."