Hunters & Dragons by Nick Venom (some good books to read .TXT) 📖

Thatcher and Noah’s bodies out of the water and onto land.

“Does anybody have healing magic?” One of the Night Devil adventurers shouted. Jean turned around and waved her wand around.

“I don’t know any of the high-tier healing skills, but I do know some of the mid-tier ones,” Jean said. The Night Devil adventurer waved her over.

“You’re in the same party as them right?” He asked. Jean nodded before beginning to chant her healing magic. The adventurer nodded and looked over at the racekiller and noticed that it was getting close to Ashley and the others.

Juggernaut took another step towards Ashley, who was busy charging up her skill, Rapid Fire. Juggernaut took notice of Ashley’s intentions and began to charge towards them. The other member of Katelyn’s security detail, a mage named Ryder, was able to chant a fireball spell to divert Juggernaut’s attention away from his comrade. He pointed his wand at Juggernaut and released a fireball the size of a minivan. The fireball moved swiftly, making contact with Juggernaut. The fireball dissipated upon contact with Juggernaut’s armor, however, stunning Ryder.

Ashley, utilizing the time Ryder gave her, finished charging her skill and released it through a barrage of swift slices and jabs. The attack tore small pieces of Juggernaut’s armor off his torso but didn’t reveal any weak spots. Though it was enough for Ashley. “Mages, attack!” She shouted while taking several steps away from the beast. 

The mages from Blue Knights released their fury at Juggernaut to no avail. He, simply, brushed the attacks off. However, he was now more irritated than ever. He immediately focused his attention on the closest people to him, being Ashley and Ryder. He charged towards them, throwing all of his weight at them. Ashley quickly prepared her second skill, Invisibility, and turned invisible, which threw Juggernaut towards Ryder. Unfortunately for him, since he didn’t possess any skills, he couldn’t escape with ease. He, instead, turned around and sprinted away from Juggernaut, who chased after him. The adventurers of Blue Knights released their fury at Juggernaut, but none of them dealt damage. All of their magical and physical attacks received no results against Juggernaut. 

Ryder attempted to turn around and fire off a spell but was interrupted by Juggernaut, who reached out and grabbed his head. He raised Ryder into the air and slowly increased the pressure he put on Ryder’s head.

Russ grabbed a poison from his belt and rushed to the front of the group, passing the Blue Knights, who cowered in fear. He threw the potion at Juggernaut’s head, making contact with it. The potion slowly disintegrated Juggernaut’s helmet, allowing the adventurers to see part of his face. Juggernaut’s face resembled an orc, but also resembled a robot’s structure. 

Juggernaut roared at Russ, dropping Ryder in the process, and chased after him. “Blue Knights! We’re here to defend Atraciral from racekillers! Don’t allow one to defeat us or else we’ll become a laughingstock!” Russ shouted. The Blue Knights looked at each other and immediately recovered their strength. Becoming a laughingstock is similar to sending one to death.

The Night Devil adventurers also rose, leaving Jean and one of their own to deal with the wounded bodies of Noah and Thatcher. The leader of the Night Devils, Mike, raised his sword and pointed it at the heavens. “We will protect Atraciral with our lives!” He declared. Blue Knights raised their weapons and proclaimed the same. Ashley, who revealed herself after sneaking Ryder out of the battlefield and dragging him to where Noah and Thatcher laid, fed into the hype.

“We will protect the kingdom from the racekillers! Juggernaut will not be killing us here!” Ashley declared while raising her longsword in the air. Ashley prepared another skill while the other mages did the same. All of the fighters prepared themselves for a final confrontation with Juggernaut. By this point, Juggernaut stopped charging towards the adventurers and started roaring at them. The fierce roars did not deter the adventurers who decided to pounce on him. The fighters ran towards Juggernaut while the mages remained behind to assist with their spells. 

Jean, meanwhile, stayed behind to look after the wounded. “Noah; fractured ribs and internal bleeding. Thatcher; fractured ribs and broken bones. Ryder; his mind is completely fractured, nearly to the point of no return.” Jean whispered. She received the injuries of the three via a spell known as Medical Insight. “I don’t think I can save them,” She whispered while tears began to fall from her cheeks. “They’re dead.”

***

   Noah awoke from his slumber and looked around. He only noticed darkness, no light being revealed anywhere. “Where am I?” He asked nobody in particular. He spun on his heels to turn around, scanning his surroundings. “My eyes are open, but I can’t see anything.”

“Do you want power?” A voice asked him from within the darkness.

“Who said that? Reveal yourself!” He shouted.

“Do you want power!” A voice boomed. “I can grant you that.”

“Power? Wh-Why do I need that?” He asked. The voice didn’t respond instantly.

“Your friends are being torn apart by the racekiller! In ten minutes, they will be all dead!” The voice declared. Noah’s body began trembling for no reason. What’s wrong with me, I don’t know this voice. It could be tricking me. However, he knew deep down inside him that the voice was speaking the truth. “If you don’t need power, then I’ll let you return to reality. You’ll see the dead bodies of your friends and soon you will succumb to your injuries.”

“N-No! I want power! I want the power to protect everything I cherish!” Noah declared.

“I will grant you the power then… “

“What do you need in exchange?” Noah asked, slightly skeptical about the voice.

“I see that you understand. All I need is… “

TBC…

Episode Ten "Overpowered"

Blue Knights and Night Devils charged towards Juggernaut and attempted to fight against him. Juggernaut’s beady red eyes scanned all of the adventurers, one at a time - as if he was inspecting their worth. 

A large syringe, hiding within a compartment in his armor, had its contents injected into Juggernaut, who then started shaking violently. The syringe was holding onto some kind of steroid-like substance. 

The beady red eyes turned bloodshot and his face began to twitch. Juggernaut raised his battle-ax and then swung it at the adventurers. The swing got Ashley in the gut and threw her into the pond. Russ sidetracked himself and went to retrieve Ashley. 

Meanwhile, the Blue Knights, aside from their mage, attacked Juggernaut with physical attacks but were swept away by swings of his battle axes. Mike led his team into the fight and managed to tear away at Juggernaut’s armor, but a swing of the battle-ax threw him into the woods. The rest of his team charged at him and tore more of his armor off with their attacks, exposing parts of his torso, legs, and arms, but no fatal wound could be made with such little manpower. 

Juggernaut brushed them off, throwing their bodies into trees and the pond. He continued forward, aiming at Jean and the wounded bodies of Noah, Thatcher, and Ryder. Jean stood up and pointed her wand at Juggernaut. She began to chant while closing her eyes. Once she finished her chant, she opened her eyes to see that Juggernaut stood in front of her. He shot a smirk at her, only a part of it exposed, before raising his battle-ax and bringing it down on her. The battle-ax smashed Jean into bits and pieces while her blood splattered everywhere, landing on blades of grass.

***

“Your precious girlfriend was killed moments ago and everybody, aside from one member of your party, is fatally injured. Your life will be extinguished next if you don’t agree to my deal.

“Fine, I agree. Give me the power to turn back time and the strength to defeat the racekiller!” Noah shouted, his breathing becoming erratic while his heartbeat exploded within him.

“Time control? I can’t grant you that power or Father Time would scold me. I can, however, grant you enough strength to topple a country. I will revert time a minute, but that’s all I’m giving you. If you truly agree with the deal, then… I need your blood to sign the contract.” The voice said, with a malicious intent hiding intertwined with the words.

“I will get you my blood, but… after I solve my current problem.” The voice didn’t respond instantly.

“Fine… Welcome to your second chance at life Noah and to your newfound strength, Overpowered!” The voice shouted. Noah looked around wildly as the darkness began to be taken over by the light. In a faint split second, Noah noticed a beautiful woman dressed in a blue dress that went down to her toes with pale skin and bright pink straight hair that went down to her chest. She whispered something, but Noah couldn’t make out her words. She then smiled at him as the light overtook him.

Noah jerked to life, scaring Jean. “Noah!” She shouted. She then reached in and hugged him, clinging to him for dear life. “I-I-I… was so scared that I lost you.” She sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Noah looked around, confused, and startled. He looked past Jean’s shoulder and noticed Russ running past adventurers while shouting to them.

“Blue Knights! We’re here to defend Atraciral from racekillers! Don’t allow one to defeat us or else we’ll become a laughingstock!” Russ shouted. The Blue Knights looked at each other and seemed to regain their confidence. Noah then snapped his attention onto the Night Devils.

“We will protect Atraciral with our lives!” Mike declared while pointing his sword at the heavens. Noah then noticed Ashley coming from the left of him. She laid Ryder on the ground next to Noah.

“Take care of him!” She ordered. Jean nodded. Ashley then glanced over at Noah. “I’m surprised that you’re still alive.” She joked. “Get out of here and call for help at the capital. Everybody else here will contain him for as long as we can.” She ordered. Noah shook his head violently.

“N-No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You’re all gonna die!” Noah shouted, panicking.

Ashley shook his head and put her hands on his shoulder, staring him in the eyes. “We will survive.”

“No, you won’t!” Noah shouted while shaking his head. He looked over at Juggernaut and the Blue Knights, who were at a standstill. “Only I can!” He shouted as he stood up.

Jean’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “Where are you going? You’re injured!” She shouted. Noah shook her arm off him before sprinting away from them and towards Juggernaut. 

“Noah!” She shouted, now frantically chasing after him. Noah ran past the Blue Knights, who attempted to hold their hands out to stop him, and charged towards Juggernaut. Juggernaut looked down and raised his battle-ax, intending to squish Noah. The battle-ax swung onto Noah, making contact and letting out a gasp of breath from Noah. Unlike Jean, however, the swing didn’t kill him. Instead, Noah ended up stopping the momentum of the battle-ax and held it up with both hands. He grabbed one side of the ax and pulled it towards him. The sudden pull matched with Noah’s new skill ended up taking the battle-ax away from Juggernaut. Noah then discarded the ax and charged