Author Note:
Was only just now brought to my attention that authors are not notified of comments on their chapters, so I've missed all these wonderful comments so far. Thank you all for showing interest, I know now to check through the chapters every couple of days to find new comments.
----------------------------
Rather than speculation, a pure confirmation from the culprit itself had established Dungeon's as a well known anomaly in the universe. The effect of the notification affected people very differently.
The governments were most concerned by the 'reduced reward', and scrambled to find any dungeon entrances open currently. The US wasted no time in using Dos to fund kill-squads, having learnt their lesson from the previous failure. Other countries, regardless of their previous involvement, were now pulled along by the tide of progress.
China and Russia, two of the USA's main competitors, could not allow either of the other two to gain a military advantage over them, especially when the same opportunity was within their grasp as well.
Nobody knew where these dungeons were, and the widespread search spawned a new sense of terror in the populace. If the military was rushing around to find them, what was stopping any random civilian from wandering into one?
Some of the monsters found in the dungeon had been brought out, revealing pictures of grotesque insects, larger than a human hand. Stirred on by the discovery, the thousands of families missing friends or lovers grew frantic. If they had disappeared into a dungeon, no one could guarantee they were still alive.
Dustin was busy scrolling through the hundreds of thousands of online threads discussing the notification as the world lurched forward onto the first step of the staircase that was Dos.
'If the patch was aimed at weakening the monsters to match our strength, does that mean that it was set-up to match the strength of a race stronger than us?'
'If the dungeons are disappearing in 30 days, what happens to anyone trapped inside?'
'Does the 30 days until the dungeons close match how long they usually last for?'
'I went inside a dungeon and found something awesome!'
Some of the thread were very thought provoking, and had hundreds of pages of replies, each person tuning in to give their own thoughts on the matter. Dustin flicked through a couple to see what the people were saying.
To their credit, some of them had very solid points. In the case of the patch, the strength of the monsters was calculated for humans, but had been overtuned. Dustin still didn't know how the creators of the system had worked through the process of judging how strong dungeons should be, but he certainly had a couple of words to say to them.
And maybe a fireball or two.
The last thread on the page that caught Dustin's attention was a claim from an anonymous user that they had entered a dungeon and conquered it, bringing out rewards.
To his surprise, it was true. They showed a picture of several items acquired from inside dungeons, which were not available inside the store, as well as a slideshow showing the dungeons information, which included the terrain, and usual monsters to come across.
Judging by the tier of monsters listed, it wasn't a surprise that the person had conquered the dungeon. The boss was a big slime, which moved incredibly slowly, was only able to attack by touching pioneers and sucking them in, as well as being easy to hit.
Compared to Dustin's gear, the pieces dropped inside the users dungeon were terrible. If Dustin could grab more materials from the higher-level dungeons before they disappeared, the gear he could craft from them would surpass a lot of the stuff pioneers could find.
To do so, he needed to find them in the first place. The fortunate part was that with governments searching for entrances, he could leave the hard work up to them. Regardless of their attempts at secrecy, leaks were bound to get out when an entrance was found.
Anything close enough for Dustin to drive to comfortably, he would take. Regardless of police or military presence, it was crucial for him to grow strong now, and focus on others after the patch.
At a minimum, he needed to reach level 18, and clear out the eclipse forest. Only then could he really relax, as the quest that loomed on the horizon, threatening to claim is pioneers status, would be completed, and a certain reward acquired from the devil.
Dustin wouldn't have made the quest conditions difficult for himself unless the reward was two items. Devils were consistent in their nature, as well as their belongings. Certain spells, items, and information could be taken, but only when using the Dos system's D3V1L protocol.
What seemed unnecessary now would become mandatory in the future.
Until something rocked the spiders web, sending shock waves through the media and internet, Dustin had to wait.
The process took four days to occur, and in the mean-time, Dustin had been visiting the gym to adjust to his new power levels gradually. When one experienced a leap in power, whether it was strength, or speed, they would need time to adjust.
Luckily for Dustin, increasing intelligence had a much milder form of adjustment, generally minor headaches and bouts of anxiety. He had already experienced the feeling of it in the past, and was barely affected by it.
His strength and agility were increasing slowly, as they were not his main priority, so it only took a couple of hours of practice to catch up to his new values.
At the end of the four days waiting, Dustin had heard news of police surrounding a block of public housing apartments, refusing to let any of the inhabitants enter their homes. Dustin wasted no time in preparing to head over. The longer he left it, the closer a squad sent in to clear it would be.
He had no doubt that the government was watching him intently, having already noticed the two rotating agents permanently placed outside his house. So he drove a short distance towards the dungeon, stopping to park at the train stop.
The two agents had to jump out of their car and ride the busy train with Dustin, but were pushed further inside by the torrent of people getting on. When they failed to find him on the train, they got off at the very next station, intending to double back.
What they failed to notice was that Dustin had merely hidden on the train, and continued his journey towards the dungeon. The train wasn't going directly towards it, as the line was wrong, but got close enough that he could walk.
Just to be safe, Dustin pulled up a chat box, tapping on the third name listed.
[Dusty says: Do you still remember what I look like?]
--------------------
Chris scanned the well-lit and poorly maintained lawn at the main entrance to the apartment blocks. The previously disgruntled inhabitants had been happily relocated to a warmer and properly maintained temporary housing commission whilst the police were investigating the building.
The building was made from brick, and coated in a layer of grime and weeds. The windows were covered in metal bars, and the glass had long since been shattered. Police presence at the housing commission was a regular occurrence, whether they were called to a suicide attempt, or to bust someone for possession of narcotics. Only this time, the police weren't itching to leave.
The empty building was why Chris' workload had increased dramatically.
The missing peoples reports that had been piling up, and were largely ignored by the police station, were now a number one priority for the officers. It wasn't primarily about finding the missing people, but locating where they lived, were likely to have gone during the day, and at what point they would have gone missing.
These were all cross-checked with other reports. There was no concern for the missing people to have been kidnapped by the same culprit, or caught in an accident, but rather, they wanted to triangulate where a dungeon might have occurred.
The police officers were fairly low on the rungs of political power, and were sent on the whims of those above them to find and report any dungeon locations. Chris had been the second officer on scene at the building, and looked at the run-down apartment with confusion. How was this supposed to be a dungeon?
But sure enough, the inhabitants who were supposedly inside, were not answering calls, ignored the police sirens, horns, and loudspeaker repeatedly.
The final conclusion was that the inhabitants were not actually inside, but had been transported inside a dungeon. None of the officers had been willing to test the theory, and set up a boundary along the outside perimeter, where they knew it was safe, and waited for backup.
According to the chief, a swat team was being organized to enter, carrying some heavy duty weaponry.
Chris had once dreamt of joining the SWAT team, but after settling down and having some kids, he grew to appreciate the mundane things in life.
Looking around and spotting no one in the vicinity, Chris took the opportunity to relieve himself. The entire complex stunk to high heaven, so adding a little extra urine to a tree outside would make no difference. He pulled down his zipper and hid behind one of the trees, blocking view of him from the street.
A yellow trail splashed against some leaves as Chris sighed, wondering when his replacement was going to show up. He had been posted to the entrance for four hours already, and the end of his shift was quickly approaching.
When the bushes had been thoroughly saturated, he zipped his pants back up and scratched his backside before walking back over to his spot, facing outwards towards the mailboxes.
What he had failed to notice was the figure that had dashed across the lawn, climbed up onto one of the bottom story balconies, then slipped in through the empty window, successfully infiltrating the dungeon.
--------------------
Dustin slipped into his shiny new chestplate as the dungeon formed around him. He had barely made it a step into the foul apartment before it fell away. It had been night outside, but the world forming around him was filled with daylight.
[Welcome to the Killen Raid dungeon. Uploading current information to mini map.]
To his surprise, he did not find himself alone, but in the middle of a medieval era village. Rather than humans, child-sized creatures ran around hurriedly, carrying weapons and armour around. Only one was looking at him, and beckoned for him to follow.
"Welcome Pioneer, you have arrived at a most pleasant time. We are currently facing an attack from bandits terrorizing the countryside. Would you lend us your aid?
The creatures were known as Killen, and reminded Dustin of teddy bears. They were furry, had short and stubby legs, hands that looked like mitts, and eyes like black beads.
The Killen talking to him had the status of 'Village Chief', and was in charge of preparing the defense for the incoming bandit attack. Dustin nodded to the chief and took a quick look around. There were no other humans around him, just fluffy teddy bears travelling in groups, carrying crude spears and pitchforks, or handling home-made bows and slings.
"Excellent! I will assign you to 3-F, please prepare your troop, as the enemy is advancing!"
Without even having to move, Dustin was teleported to a walled-off section beside the village, and a platoon of Killen awaited his command.
[3-F, Dusty's Platoon.]
A platoon of Killen militia, untrained in the ways of warfare, but determined to defend their homes.
30 Killen available.
Weapons available:
Spear (5)
Pitchfork (15)
Bow (3)
Knife (10)
Sling (15)
Bark Shield (5)
Dustin looked down from the notification to the steadfast teddies saluting him. They were all currently weaponless, and a timer in the corner of Dustin's vision indicated how long he had until his platoon was sent out in defense of the village.
Rather than a joint defense between all the platoons, each one was sent out on their own, facing up against an equal number of bandits.
Before preparing his own, Dustin went up onto the walls to watch the battle. He finally realized where the humans had gone, as the wave that came out were wielding a myriad of weapons. All of the pitchforks and spears had been used up, providing a formidable front line, but pitiful support unit. Alongside the Killen wielding spears and pitchforks, were another four wielding knives. Only six remained, with three using bows, and the others with slings.
A man appeared at the back of the platoon, wearing nothing but a loose shirt and shorts. He looked around confused as his platoon marched forth, meeting the bandits in the center of the valley.
It was difficult to tell the difference between friend and foe, though the bandits were wearing red tabards, whilst the villagers had their regular monotonous grey clothing on.
When the first Killen attacked another, it was not fluffy wool, or feathers, that came out, but dark red blood. A villager had lost its arm as a bandit swung their scimitar down, easily removing the appendage from the shoulder down.
Beside them was a similiar scene, as bandits met villagers. Very few of the villagers could keep up with the bandits aggression, and even fewer managed to score a lucky hit. Three pitchforks sliced through fur and bone, folding the bandits in half, whilst the rest dealt minimal damage, or none at all.
The man commanding his platoon was sick to his stomach at the violent acts being committed, and looked away. His troops were steadily losing at the front line, and even their numbers advantage couldn't win.
The bandits had chosen to provide more ranged support, rather than commit a large portion of their force to the front. This was an advantage they could afford to play, and the mans limited ranged Killen resembled porcupines within seconds.
The frontline was subjected to volleys of precise arrows shortly after, and when the last Killen died, the man was left to face against the bloodied bandits by himself.
Dustin tried casting a storm bolt at the encroaching wave, but his spell was cancelled before it could even cast. Some kind of wall blocked the spectators from interfering, and he was helpless to watch as the man screamed, running away from the waist high enemies.
The battlefield area was quite small, so he quickly found himself running into the boundary. Just like any other dungeon, attempting to leave was futile. The man hadn't bothered to check where the bandits were behind him as he kept running, not realizing that he wasn't moving, and the bandits were right behind him.
He finally checked when the sounds of footsteps approached, but it was too late.
The scimitars screamed as they sliced through his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. A couple of arrows riddled his back on the way down. He was unable to get back up as the Killen surrounded him, ruthlessly slashing at him. Human flesh and bone was more resistant than Killen's, but the weapons they wielded were potent enough to cause serious damage.
When the screaming stopped, the nightmarish teddy bears stepped back, revealing the mangled corpse of the man, lying in a pool of his own blood. The bandits retreated back to their camp, having no notions of continuing the slaughter by entering the village.
The timer for Dustin continued to tick, and he quickly returned to his own platoon. Now that he knew how the bandits fought, it would be a little easier to design the formation to his benefit.
There was no time to mourn the mans death as Dustin fell into a calm state of mind. He was used to fighting losing battles, seeing men die before him. He was confident in his own leadership, and in his own strength.
The waves in between the man and Dustin had all been other Killen, sparing whomever had unintentionally entered the dungeon alongside them. Only one of the villager waves had won, giving Dustin some ideas after seeing the villagers looting whatever weapons and armour the bandits carried.
When his timer reached zero, and he felt himself teleported onto the battlefield, he took out his staff, pointing it towards the bandits across the small valley.
"Lei-Lei!"
The lightning spirit popped into existence beside him, whirling around his head excitedly. When she saw the stalwart Killen beside them, she immediately went into battle mode and vibrated beside his head.
"Focus the ranged units."
Author Note:
Was only just now brought to my attention that authors are not notified of comments on their chapters, so I've missed all these wonderful comments so far. Thank you all for showing interest, I know now to check through the chapters every couple of days to find new comments.
----------------------------
Rather than speculation, a pure confirmation from the culprit itself had established Dungeon's as a well known anomaly in the universe. The effect of the notification affected people very differently.
The governments were most concerned by the 'reduced reward', and scrambled to find any dungeon entrances open currently. The US wasted no time in using Dos to fund kill-squads, having learnt their lesson from the previous failure. Other countries, regardless of their previous involvement, were now pulled along by the tide of progress.
China and Russia, two of the USA's main competitors, could not allow either of the other two to gain a military advantage over them, especially when the same opportunity was within their grasp as well.
Nobody knew where these dungeons were, and the widespread search spawned a new sense of terror in the populace. If the military was rushing around to find them, what was stopping any random civilian from wandering into one?
Some of the monsters found in the dungeon had been brought out, revealing pictures of grotesque insects, larger than a human hand. Stirred on by the discovery, the thousands of families missing friends or lovers grew frantic. If they had disappeared into a dungeon, no one could guarantee they were still alive.
Dustin was busy scrolling through the hundreds of thousands of online threads discussing the notification as the world lurched forward onto the first step of the staircase that was Dos.
'If the patch was aimed at weakening the monsters to match our strength, does that mean that it was set-up to match the strength of a race stronger than us?'
'If the dungeons are disappearing in 30 days, what happens to anyone trapped inside?'
'Does the 30 days until the dungeons close match how long they usually last for?'
'I went inside a dungeon and found something awesome!'
Some of the thread were very thought provoking, and had hundreds of pages of replies, each person tuning in to give their own thoughts on the matter. Dustin flicked through a couple to see what the people were saying.
To their credit, some of them had very solid points. In the case of the patch, the strength of the monsters was calculated for humans, but had been overtuned. Dustin still didn't know how the creators of the system had worked through the process of judging how strong dungeons should be, but he certainly had a couple of words to say to them.
And maybe a fireball or two.
The last thread on the page that caught Dustin's attention was a claim from an anonymous user that they had entered a dungeon and conquered it, bringing out rewards.
To his surprise, it was true. They showed a picture of several items acquired from inside dungeons, which were not available inside the store, as well as a slideshow showing the dungeons information, which included the terrain, and usual monsters to come across.
Judging by the tier of monsters listed, it wasn't a surprise that the person had conquered the dungeon. The boss was a big slime, which moved incredibly slowly, was only able to attack by touching pioneers and sucking them in, as well as being easy to hit.
Compared to Dustin's gear, the pieces dropped inside the users dungeon were terrible. If Dustin could grab more materials from the higher-level dungeons before they disappeared, the gear he could craft from them would surpass a lot of the stuff pioneers could find.
To do so, he needed to find them in the first place. The fortunate part was that with governments searching for entrances, he could leave the hard work up to them. Regardless of their attempts at secrecy, leaks were bound to get out when an entrance was found.
Anything close enough for Dustin to drive to comfortably, he would take. Regardless of police or military presence, it was crucial for him to grow strong now, and focus on others after the patch.
At a minimum, he needed to reach level 18, and clear out the eclipse forest. Only then could he really relax, as the quest that loomed on the horizon, threatening to claim is pioneers status, would be completed, and a certain reward acquired from the devil.
Dustin wouldn't have made the quest conditions difficult for himself unless the reward was two items. Devils were consistent in their nature, as well as their belongings. Certain spells, items, and information could be taken, but only when using the Dos system's D3V1L protocol.
What seemed unnecessary now would become mandatory in the future.
Until something rocked the spiders web, sending shock waves through the media and internet, Dustin had to wait.
The process took four days to occur, and in the mean-time, Dustin had been visiting the gym to adjust to his new power levels gradually. When one experienced a leap in power, whether it was strength, or speed, they would need time to adjust.
Luckily for Dustin, increasing intelligence had a much milder form of adjustment, generally minor headaches and bouts of anxiety. He had already experienced the feeling of it in the past, and was barely affected by it.
His strength and agility were increasing slowly, as they were not his main priority, so it only took a couple of hours of practice to catch up to his new values.
At the end of the four days waiting, Dustin had heard news of police surrounding a block of public housing apartments, refusing to let any of the inhabitants enter their homes. Dustin wasted no time in preparing to head over. The longer he left it, the closer a squad sent in to clear it would be.
He had no doubt that the government was watching him intently, having already noticed the two rotating agents permanently placed outside his house. So he drove a short distance towards the dungeon, stopping to park at the train stop.
The two agents had to jump out of their car and ride the busy train with Dustin, but were pushed further inside by the torrent of people getting on. When they failed to find him on the train, they got off at the very next station, intending to double back.
What they failed to notice was that Dustin had merely hidden on the train, and continued his journey towards the dungeon. The train wasn't going directly towards it, as the line was wrong, but got close enough that he could walk.
Just to be safe, Dustin pulled up a chat box, tapping on the third name listed.
[Dusty says: Do you still remember what I look like?]
--------------------
Chris scanned the well-lit and poorly maintained lawn at the main entrance to the apartment blocks. The previously disgruntled inhabitants had been happily relocated to a warmer and properly maintained temporary housing commission whilst the police were investigating the building.
The building was made from brick, and coated in a layer of grime and weeds. The windows were covered in metal bars, and the glass had long since been shattered. Police presence at the housing commission was a regular occurrence, whether they were called to a suicide attempt, or to bust someone for possession of narcotics. Only this time, the police weren't itching to leave.
The empty building was why Chris' workload had increased dramatically.
The missing peoples reports that had been piling up, and were largely ignored by the police station, were now a number one priority for the officers. It wasn't primarily about finding the missing people, but locating where they lived, were likely to have gone during the day, and at what point they would have gone missing.
These were all cross-checked with other reports. There was no concern for the missing people to have been kidnapped by the same culprit, or caught in an accident, but rather, they wanted to triangulate where a dungeon might have occurred.
The police officers were fairly low on the rungs of political power, and were sent on the whims of those above them to find and report any dungeon locations. Chris had been the second officer on scene at the building, and looked at the run-down apartment with confusion. How was this supposed to be a dungeon?
But sure enough, the inhabitants who were supposedly inside, were not answering calls, ignored the police sirens, horns, and loudspeaker repeatedly.
The final conclusion was that the inhabitants were not actually inside, but had been transported inside a dungeon. None of the officers had been willing to test the theory, and set up a boundary along the outside perimeter, where they knew it was safe, and waited for backup.
According to the chief, a swat team was being organized to enter, carrying some heavy duty weaponry.
Chris had once dreamt of joining the SWAT team, but after settling down and having some kids, he grew to appreciate the mundane things in life.
Looking around and spotting no one in the vicinity, Chris took the opportunity to relieve himself. The entire complex stunk to high heaven, so adding a little extra urine to a tree outside would make no difference. He pulled down his zipper and hid behind one of the trees, blocking view of him from the street.
A yellow trail splashed against some leaves as Chris sighed, wondering when his replacement was going to show up. He had been posted to the entrance for four hours already, and the end of his shift was quickly approaching.
When the bushes had been thoroughly saturated, he zipped his pants back up and scratched his backside before walking back over to his spot, facing outwards towards the mailboxes.
What he had failed to notice was the figure that had dashed across the lawn, climbed up onto one of the bottom story balconies, then slipped in through the empty window, successfully infiltrating the dungeon.
--------------------
Dustin slipped into his shiny new chestplate as the dungeon formed around him. He had barely made it a step into the foul apartment before it fell away. It had been night outside, but the world forming around him was filled with daylight.
[Welcome to the Killen Raid dungeon. Uploading current information to mini map.]
To his surprise, he did not find himself alone, but in the middle of a medieval era village. Rather than humans, child-sized creatures ran around hurriedly, carrying weapons and armour around. Only one was looking at him, and beckoned for him to follow.
"Welcome Pioneer, you have arrived at a most pleasant time. We are currently facing an attack from bandits terrorizing the countryside. Would you lend us your aid?
The creatures were known as Killen, and reminded Dustin of teddy bears. They were furry, had short and stubby legs, hands that looked like mitts, and eyes like black beads.
The Killen talking to him had the status of 'Village Chief', and was in charge of preparing the defense for the incoming bandit attack. Dustin nodded to the chief and took a quick look around. There were no other humans around him, just fluffy teddy bears travelling in groups, carrying crude spears and pitchforks, or handling home-made bows and slings.
"Excellent! I will assign you to 3-F, please prepare your troop, as the enemy is advancing!"
Without even having to move, Dustin was teleported to a walled-off section beside the village, and a platoon of Killen awaited his command.
[3-F, Dusty's Platoon.]
A platoon of Killen militia, untrained in the ways of warfare, but determined to defend their homes.
30 Killen available.
Weapons available:
Spear (5)
Pitchfork (15)
Bow (3)
Knife (10)
Sling (15)
Bark Shield (5)
Dustin looked down from the notification to the steadfast teddies saluting him. They were all currently weaponless, and a timer in the corner of Dustin's vision indicated how long he had until his platoon was sent out in defense of the village.
Rather than a joint defense between all the platoons, each one was sent out on their own, facing up against an equal number of bandits.
Before preparing his own, Dustin went up onto the walls to watch the battle. He finally realized where the humans had gone, as the wave that came out were wielding a myriad of weapons. All of the pitchforks and spears had been used up, providing a formidable front line, but pitiful support unit. Alongside the Killen wielding spears and pitchforks, were another four wielding knives. Only six remained, with three using bows, and the others with slings.
A man appeared at the back of the platoon, wearing nothing but a loose shirt and shorts. He looked around confused as his platoon marched forth, meeting the bandits in the center of the valley.
It was difficult to tell the difference between friend and foe, though the bandits were wearing red tabards, whilst the villagers had their regular monotonous grey clothing on.
When the first Killen attacked another, it was not fluffy wool, or feathers, that came out, but dark red blood. A villager had lost its arm as a bandit swung their scimitar down, easily removing the appendage from the shoulder down.
Beside them was a similiar scene, as bandits met villagers. Very few of the villagers could keep up with the bandits aggression, and even fewer managed to score a lucky hit. Three pitchforks sliced through fur and bone, folding the bandits in half, whilst the rest dealt minimal damage, or none at all.
The man commanding his platoon was sick to his stomach at the violent acts being committed, and looked away. His troops were steadily losing at the front line, and even their numbers advantage couldn't win.
The bandits had chosen to provide more ranged support, rather than commit a large portion of their force to the front. This was an advantage they could afford to play, and the mans limited ranged Killen resembled porcupines within seconds.
The frontline was subjected to volleys of precise arrows shortly after, and when the last Killen died, the man was left to face against the bloodied bandits by himself.
Dustin tried casting a storm bolt at the encroaching wave, but his spell was cancelled before it could even cast. Some kind of wall blocked the spectators from interfering, and he was helpless to watch as the man screamed, running away from the waist high enemies.
The battlefield area was quite small, so he quickly found himself running into the boundary. Just like any other dungeon, attempting to leave was futile. The man hadn't bothered to check where the bandits were behind him as he kept running, not realizing that he wasn't moving, and the bandits were right behind him.
He finally checked when the sounds of footsteps approached, but it was too late.
The scimitars screamed as they sliced through his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. A couple of arrows riddled his back on the way down. He was unable to get back up as the Killen surrounded him, ruthlessly slashing at him. Human flesh and bone was more resistant than Killen's, but the weapons they wielded were potent enough to cause serious damage.
When the screaming stopped, the nightmarish teddy bears stepped back, revealing the mangled corpse of the man, lying in a pool of his own blood. The bandits retreated back to their camp, having no notions of continuing the slaughter by entering the village.
The timer for Dustin continued to tick, and he quickly returned to his own platoon. Now that he knew how the bandits fought, it would be a little easier to design the formation to his benefit.
There was no time to mourn the mans death as Dustin fell into a calm state of mind. He was used to fighting losing battles, seeing men die before him. He was confident in his own leadership, and in his own strength.
The waves in between the man and Dustin had all been other Killen, sparing whomever had unintentionally entered the dungeon alongside them. Only one of the villager waves had won, giving Dustin some ideas after seeing the villagers looting whatever weapons and armour the bandits carried.
When his timer reached zero, and he felt himself teleported onto the battlefield, he took out his staff, pointing it towards the bandits across the small valley.
"Lei-Lei!"
The lightning spirit popped into existence beside him, whirling around his head excitedly. When she saw the stalwart Killen beside them, she immediately went into battle mode and vibrated beside his head.
"Focus the ranged units."
