Chương 220: That was metal as f…

"Hey, everything's fine?" asked Rhea as I was lost in my thoughts after reading the notifications.

"Yes, yes, I was just thinking about the guild. We still haven't managed to level it up once. I was wondering what we could do to speed up the process. The notification said that we would have guild traits in store for us. I was wondering how to get those." Rhea wasn't fully convinced, but the discussion that my statement caused was enough to distract everyone from my internal musings. The toads... they killed humans. I was not going to kid myself.

Those were names of classes, and diverse enough not to be related to some strange species of monster around. Those were two people, a mage and a fighter, who stumbled upon the farming toads I made and died. But how? The toads were not harmless, of course, but they were far from the most dangerous monsters around. I chose them just because they were the perfect predator for the mosquitoes, and it allowed me to passively earn hundreds of thousands of points. How did two Tier III people die from them?

The real question was: what should I do? Should I go and fix this thing? But if I did, the others would know I was responsible for the actions of the monsters, and along with that I would be held accountable for the deaths of those people too. On the other hand I was currently free of the curse of the False Saint... I was not compelled to help anyone. I had the freedom to act the way I pleased. What should I even accomplish by rushing there? Those people were already dead.

I would only create trouble for myself if I went. On the other hand, now we were making good progress as a group, fighting the drakes and honing our skills and teamwork. Well, it wasn't a really hard decision, all things considered. I would check on the toad situation later. I was planning on creating more anyway... I would just have to warn the people in the city of the dangers somehow, just to avoid needless deaths.

"I think we should help him." Chloe's words suddenly registered a moment before I heard cursing coming from not far away. Frederick was still tangled with the drake. The man was literally shiny both with sweat and that defensive skill of his, tanking a water jet directly that was marring his skin whenever it touched him. Though, the damage was clearly just superficial. It made me think of how much our bodies changed due to traits and the increase in stats.

Seeing a man in rags tanking an attack that could shear through a vault door made you reconsider what you knew about the world. I grabbed Tom's shoulder when he was about to march forward.

"No, let him deal with it. If he manages it, it would give him a great boost," I said.

"Blitz attacks are not his forte, but look at him. The more he fights and gets injured, the stronger he becomes, and until now he has only suffered superficial wounds." Everyone now looked at Frederick. The man was a canvas of red paint, but I could see it clearly. He was not done with this fight. On the contrary, the fight for him had just begun. A tremor shook the ground as he blocked a downward strike of the drake's tail.

His legs sank into the mushy terrain with ease, making the not-so-tall man look even smaller. A growl escaped his throat, then, using both arms, he pushed the offending appendage to the side and pulled his legs out of the swamp. The drake, though, didn't patiently wait for him to be done. No, it clawed him, making his situation even worse, adding injuries on top of the ones he already sported. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

A gush of blood and a scream followed as the drake's relentless attacks hit home, but something was building up together with the injuries. A silvery shine was coating Frederick's whole body now, and after enduring three more strikes he finally managed to free himself. The next one he caught with his forearm. The monster got stopped dead in its tracks while Frederick advanced and clocked it in the face.

A crunch of bone was audible even from here, and we saw the monster's jaw hanging only on one side, blood and flesh coming out of its mouth. Frederick didn't waste time admiring his work, and the undead certainly didn't care about the pain, so the fight continued, but in a very different way. Because now the silvery man was paying back all the damage he received.

First he snapped its front paw at the elbow, then, not satisfied, he tore off the limb in an incredible display of raw strength, swinging the appendage like a bat into the monster's face with enough strength to completely tear off the already ruined jaw. After discarding the improvised weapon he proceeded to break the other healthy limb and work on the hard skull of the beast.

The drake tried to use its back legs and tail to smash the man, but its wounds were impairing it too much, limiting its mobility, and Frederick used that to great advantage. In the span of half a minute his fists cratered the monster's head until finally, after a mighty swing, its brain got splattered everywhere. Unfortunately, this drake had a core, so we patiently watched as he systematically dismembered the monster.

Then, after having transformed half its insides into outsides, he grabbed the core and tore it out. A scream of victory pierced the silence as the heavily wounded warrior claimed his prize.

"Mary, if you please," I said, breaking the spell that had fallen over all of us. Looking around I could see many different emotions painted on everyone's faces: admiration, worry, respect, acceptance. After this display I was sure that even the old members would gladly recognize Frederick as one of the Vanguard.

"Daaamn, that was metal as fuck!" Quinn shouted as Mary tended to our tank's wounds.

"That was great, Fred. For a moment I thought you were done for," added Tom.

"Yeah! Especially when it planted you in the ground like a pole! That was crazy!" Frederick smiled at the teen.

"That had been a tad difficult, I have to admit." Mary shooed the teen away as she proceeded to clean the wounds both with mundane disinfectants and with her skills.

"You are lucky to be alive. If you had performed this stunt by yourself, you'd have died of blood loss by now..."

"Thanks, Mary. It's because you're here that I dared to even try it." He said, his gratitude and relief clear for all to see, especially the latter. Given how badly he was wounded, his reaction to the pain was impressive. I always thought he had potential, but now I was wondering what made him push so hard. I knew his son was the first reason, but if he wanted just that he could have it by staying in the guild. He didn't need to join the Vanguard for that...

but maybe something changed in him since he made his "coming out," telling me that he was a fighter and not a crafter. How did a man who was too scared of monsters go from that to literally clawing an undead drake to death in a couple of weeks? If what Miflin said was true, and we were somehow remembering our past experiences, what happened to him in those lost timelines? Well, I could see a couple of scenarios where that fierceness came from. In any case, now we had a proper tank in our midst.

If Melissa was our magical tank, then he was the physical one. With a rogue, a couple of powerful fighters, support, and healing... our group was shaping up to be quite diverse, but powerful, especially because each of them was starting to accrue more and more achievements. Actually...

"Frederick, did you open your notifications yet?" I asked.

"No, I'll do it now."

"Stop!" said Mary. Then she continued, "If you get a boost now it's possible that some of your wounds will mend without proper disinfection, and it would make my job even harder than it is. I've never healed someone with such high Vitality and Constitution. It's draining my mana like crazy, so wait until I'm done." Her look stopped whatever protest he had. In the end he just nodded and waited patiently for the process to end. I turned to look around.

If I wasn't under the effect of the stupid bracelet this moment would be much more enjoyable. I was genuinely happy with how things were shaping up, and after seeing Quinn subtly gesture for me to approach, my mood soared even higher.

"Quinn, how about we go together next? I have a thing I wanted to test, and I would appreciate your input." He grinned and got up from the rock he was sitting on, one of the few things that were dry enough to use as a seat in this place.

"Of course! You know me, I'm always ready to help." Good, let's hear what you discovered.