There were four undead watching the flames lit by the [Undead Assassin] he’d killed. Even now, with all his new levels, he thought just one alone would be a hard fight. What could he do against four? But he had to do something. Running would just cause him more problems later.

He rose from his hiding place and rushed them. They turned around casually, as if unsurprised to see him.

Running, he held his blade to the side, as if he was planning to cut into the middle one with a sideways slash. The one he was aiming at readied a parry with its broadsword, while the two to the side of him made ready as well.

Right before he reached them, he stopped. The feint worked; the middle undead hit only air with his parry, and the two undead next to him stabbed out with black spears, missing Brin by inches.

He dropped his sword, jumped and tackled the middle undead into the fire, then rolled through it to the other side.

The fourth undead struck down with an ax, and on instinct Brin put his hands up and caught it. The blow was strong enough that he didn’t stop it completely, but to his surprise, he was able to stop the majority of the momentum, so that the ax didn’t even break through the armor of his shoulder.

Brin pushed, knocked the undead off balance, and then wrenched the ax out of its hands. Was he actually stronger than these things now?

He spun with the ax and knocked away another stab with a spear; the blow was so solid that it left his hands ringing, but he still knocked it away. He could do this. He was strong enough now to actually fight them.

The next undead stabbed into his thigh, and rather than step back to avoid it like any sane fighter would, Brin accepted the blow and traded it for a swing at the undead’s exposed neck, severing it.

He kept the momentum up and dispatched the unarmed undead behind him. The sword-wielder rose from the fire, stumbled and fell back down again. The places on its back where the flame had touched him burned straight through like tissue paper.

He got notifications for the three kills, and blinked them away along with the notification that he’d gone up to level fourteen. There was still one left.

This time, it approached more cautiously. He tried to bait it into an attack with a wide swing that left him exposed, but it danced back and used the spear’s greater reach to poke his armor. It had seen that Brin was willing to trade wounds for kills. It planned on staying cautious, keeping a distance, and using the spear’s greater reach to wear him down.

Brin didn’t have time for that. More undead could arrive any second. He charged, swinging wildly, the undead stepped back, warding him away with sharp slashes, but Brin ignored them and kept coming. Frustratingly, the undead was faster, even running backwards.

It didn’t have eyes in the back of its head, though. The undead tripped, and Brin swung down with the ax. The undead blocked it, but no matter. He swung again and again, beating the undead into the mud, until finally the spear was knocked from its grasp and he ended it.

Alert!

You have defeated: Undead Warrior [15]