The spear crashed into an area down the line, and I think I managed to see someone flying backwards out of the smoke.

  It didn’t end there.

  More spears and even arrows came flying towards us with increasing intensity. It was chaos. Everywhere you looked there someone screaming, whether it was curses, complaints, or both.

  Not to mention all the movement from things flying back and forth, some people choosing to run away, some repositioning and dodging, and a few running towards the enemies now.

  If there was one thing that surprised me, it was the fact that all of the magical attacks were only coming from our side.

  I half expected the black armored red people to be the ones that would be spewing all manner of catastrophic magic all over the place, but there was no such thing. It wasn’t until the point when both groups were about to finally get in range for a proper melee that the black armored red people finally made their move.

  One of them quickly ran ahead of the group and it looked like something out of a superhero movie. It was coming with such speed and power that sounds from its stomps could be heard even above the chaos around us.

  Then…

  Swoosh!

  Boom!

  Grandpa flung one of the many spears he had prepared over the last couple of days straight at the approaching enemy.

  Grandpa’s aim was true, and the spear hit its intended target dead on.

  The result of the throw was alarming.

  The bastard caught it. Even though he was pushed backwards a good margin, it didn’t change the fact that he had caught that monstrous spear throw.

  Swoosh!

  Then out of nowhere another spear came flying and this time it pierced straight though his head.

  “Was he stupid?”

  I could hear Grandpa ask a question directed at no one in particular. Couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. Why the hell had it just stood there after catching the first spear. It was like it was trying to prove a point or something.

  Hopefully the rest of them were the same.

  No time to dwell on that though…it was finally time for me to jump into the fray.

  I gripped my spear tightly then quickly activated two consecutive Surging Steps to close the distance at the nearest red person and before it could react I drove my spear straight into its neck.

  Blood sprayed like a fountain as the sky itself seemed to turn red before my eyes. I’m certain that I was a subpar fighter, but these red people were worse for some reason.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Once I gained a bit of confidence in my attacking decisions thanks to three different Dungeon runs, it became a bit easier to fight with the conviction needed to kill the opponent across from me.

  These were enemies to be killed.

  Jumping back slightly to dodge the stab of a sword I spun on my heels and delivered a stab to the side of the enemy. Honestly I almost fell doing that damn spin, but it worked. The spear caused the red person to convulse, and I stumbled slightly as I pulled it out.

  Quickly regaining my balance, I activated Ripple Guard as my I blocked the downwards slash of another one, and as the effect took him by surprise, I pushed him back as well for a greater effect.

  Then out of nowhere an arrow flew past me and landed in his chest.

  Another ball of fire landed somewhere else to my left, and more and more things continuously came flying all around me.

  Yeah, I wasn’t alone.

  From there, it was nothing but carnage on both sides.

  We fought with the spirit of man pulsing in our hearts. I’m pretty sure I once saw a meme about the indomitable human spirit or something, and although I thought it was cool, this is the first time I genuinely agreed with it.

  If it was one thing we were good at throughout history, it was adaptation.

  Whether it took us a long time, or we figured it out overnight, humans would adapt. Someone in our collective species would learn something, another person would then take that and add it to something else and this process would repeat itself until we had overcome whatever set us on this path.

  That behavior was on full display here.

  A lot of people had died since the start of this whole thing. I don’t even want to think too deeply about all the people who were probably still present back in town when they started making their camps.

  Yet here we are.

  Just a few days later and we are casting magic and throwing spears at them.

  But that didn’t mean we weren’t currently taking losses. I could hear it all around me, people were dying. Gruesome deaths at that. While modern war had its fair share of bloody scenes, there was something truly brutal and barbaric about taking a sword and driving it into the neck of someone in front of you.

  This was war.

  One my family and I had no plans of losing.

  I continued to dance around the battle field as best as I could, with casting well timed Surging Steps, and mixing in Ripple Guard when I couldn’t block an attack.

  Though it wasn’t like I was invincible. I could fight the normal red people just fine, but it would take more than a few days to become so good enough at fighting that I could perfectly dodge every attack coming my way.

  I picked up my fair share of wounds as the battle continued to rage on, but thankfully nothing was apparently fatal as I was still able to ignore the pains I was feeling and fight at what felt like top capacity.

  It wasn’t until a particular point in the battle where I truly felt like I could die.

  One of those black armored ones had made its way to me. I suppose it was only a matter of time.

  I had only just dodged the attack of another, when I turned to find a sword coming at me from the side faster than any other attack thus far. I raised my spear in a hurry to block, only for it to snap under the impact of the sword, allowing it to finish its path and cleave a very deep gash into my arm.

  “FUCKKKKK!!!”

  I screamed out loudly, as my right arm dangled to the side. No amount of adrenaline was enough to numb the pain I know felt. It was like someone took a thousand knives and shoved them into my arm rapidly.

  Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

  Even though I knew I should focus on the battle around me. Even though I knew that the black armored red person was likely already coming at me with a follow up attack intent on taking my life, even though I knew I needed to move or do absolutely anything else.

  My mind kept being pulled back to my arm as the pain seemed to overwhelm all of my senses.

  I’ve never in my life received a wound like this. Never in my life have I ever been in such pain.

  So much pain that I barely registered when a few different pairs of hands grabbed on to me, and then the next thing I knew I could hear the booming voice of my Grandpa.

  “I’M GOING TO FUCK YOU UP!!!”