Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

It was hours of hiking through the golden forest before they found their way back onto the war-torn battlefield, layered in blades as plentiful as trees in a jungle. Jasper willingly accepted the burden of carrying their pack of supplies, benevolently given by the old elf, though the knight did lag behind with how long the walk went on.

"Aye, mate…maybe we should slow down?" Jasper recommended.

Finn led the way across the ashen soil, "Just keep your feet moving. I'd prefer not to be out in the open here during nightfall."

Being on such frequent expeditions was something his body had adjusted to, not needing all too much rest between each journey. In fact, he felt more at ease when on the move.

"I still feel like maybe we should've asked Seung to come along. That guy is way, way strong–I mean, he took out all those wolves with one move," Nova recalled, shadow boxing as if somehow trying to mimic the brawler.

"Yeah, no, that guy is impossible to cooperate with," Jasper rejected.

"Let him do his own thing. Certain situations call for Seung, others don't," Finn said, marching through the ashen stretch.

Charlotte followed beside him with a tilt of his head, "When you say it like that, it's almost like you're describing Seung as a bomb."

"Yeah, well, not too far off there," Finn said.

"I dunno, mate. I heard you got all buddy-buddy with him," Jasper poked.

Finn brushed it off, "Not at all."

They reached the land directly beneath the floating island, traversing where its grand shadow imposed itself. Up above, the flowing waterfall stopped in the sky, seeming to instead move in reverse.

"Woah, it's kind of pretty," Nova remarked while gazing up.

Finn looked for a bit, though kept his gaze forward while marching, curious himself on what laid past the ashen battlefield.

"This place is the remnants of where a huge war was fought, right?" Jasper asked.

"What about it?" Finn responded, glancing back.

The knight was glancing at the ground while walking, "I was just thinking…that probably means there's a bunch of bodies under the soil here."

"Jasper," Charlotte said harshly.

"What? I'm just speaking the truth here, right?" Jasper said.

Finn brushed it off, keeping himself focused on the path ahead, "Even if there is, it doesn't matter–"

—Rumble.

He came to a stop, bringing the others to halt as well as he stood there for a moment.

"What is it?" Nova asked, confusedly.

"Do you feel that?" Finn asked.

—Rumble.

Again, he felt the subtle sensation beneath his boots as the soil vibrated.

"Oh, I definitely felt that," Jasper remarked, drawing his sword-and-shield. "Baddies incoming!"

Finn already called his daggers, watching the field of rusty swords and spears as the blackened soil shook more before what lurked beneath emerged.

A hand of black steel emerged from the dirt, though not before another one followed, and another, and another—

"How many hands are there?!" Charlotte questioned.

"It's totally freaking me out! I hate creepy things!" Nova squealed.

The many hands erupted from the battlefield of countless fallen, though to a perplexing result. They did not belong to many bodies, but a single being that rose from the ground.

"Am I the only one not surprised this cursed ass region has undead freaks lurking around? I sort of called it!" Jasper asked.

"Focus up," Finn responded.

A towering knight stood, dressed in cracked, sable armor with multiple heads; a helmet of a lion, a dragon, and a tiger from left to right.

The risen undead of a dozen arms, grafted to its shoulders and back, reached around to the weapons left in the battlefield. It reclaimed the old steel, lifting each blade up as it faced the outsiders.

[Enemy Recognized: "Undead Martial Knight"] [Level: 40]
Content from m-vl|em|p,yr

From what he could see, there were no openings in the armor; not a single glance at exposed flesh for him to target with his dagger. As he analyzed the imposing figure, he was greeted by it lunging at him while swinging multiple swords at him and thrusting a spear at him all at once.

Finn reacted promptly, flipping back and landing on his hands before flipping again just as multiple blades passed right by his body, feeling the wind off of each edge.

Just as he landed on his feet, he found the knight arriving to help stifle the overwhelming offense of the many-armed knight–CLANG.

["Stance: Bulwark"]

Jasper set his feet down as a glow clad itself around his body, bringing his shield to remain unmoving like a steel wall as the blades bounced right off of it. Though it seemed effective enough at first, the undead warrior responded by engulfing a pair of its blades in a black mass of miasmic energy before swinging them again–

"Hhrgh!--" Jasper strained as the impact thundered against the shield.

It was enough to blast the knight off his feet, sending him several meters back as Finn rushed in to intervene. Alongside Charlotte, he rushed the many-armed knight, only for that assembly of limbs to wildly swing each weapon in every direction.

"Gah–" Charlotte let out as a storm of swords swung towards her.

Finn acted quickly, ducking beneath a spear thrust towards his head as he grabbed the spellblade's wrist, quickly pulling her away. As he pulled her away, there was a moment of reprieve as the Undead Martial Knight stood there on guard.

It took a moment for Jasper to brush off the impact, rubbing his shield-holding arm as he looked on, "This guy hits like a truck. I know I don't have to say it, but don't get touched by those blades–it'll be a death sentence."

"Yeah, noted," Finn said.

Nova held her mic up, "I'll help you with that…Off the glistening moon, shine like silver and move like light!"

["Kiss of Elusive Moonlight"]

From the bard's words of encouragement, a guiding illuminance enveloped each of their bodies. It felt as though his body had become lighter, not just more agile, but harder to hit.

Just as Nova had issued her enchanting song, the three-helmed knight leapt up, bringing down a rain of swords upon them.

"Move!--" Finn shouted.

As he dashed out of the way, he immediately spun himself around, finding that his companions did the same as the undead warrior's blades crashed down on the ashen soil. He witnessed the grafted knight dig two of his arms into the graveyard of soldiers, causing it to rumble again–

"What's it doing–?" Nova questioned.

Finn couldn't tell at that moment, only moving by reflex as he jumped back just as the soil was ruptured by an unknown force. He witnessed interconnected arms of bones rise like ensnaring ropes, wrapping around the others who were too late to react.

'Shit–!' Finn thought.

An entanglement of bones rose where he once stood, though easily swept away by his dagger as he looked towards his ensnared companions.

"The hell is this–!?" Jasper struggled as the decaying limbs squeezed around his body.

"I can't…move!" Charlotte gasped out.

With the others bound, he was the only one left freely to move, quickly sprinting towards the closest of his companions to free Charlotte from the bindings. Though that was his intent, just as he came within reach of the blue-haired girl, he jumped back as a massive object crashed down in front of his next step.

"Dammit–!" Finn expelled through clenched teeth.

The knight of grated limbs and heads seemed to have no intent on letting him free his companions, pointing its dozen blades at him. As he looked up at the undead sentinel, he could make out the hollow eyes beneath its three helmets; sunken eyes, devoid of life.

"Finn! Don't worry about us–! I'll think of something!" Jasper assured, resisting the binding bones. "Just don't let that damned big guy kill you!"

Charlotte added in, "He's right…! Just focus on yourself right now!"

There was less conviction from Nova, who looked pale and on the verge of passing out, not from being squeezed tightly, but disgusted by the wriggling bones around her, "Get them off! Get them off!"

For the moment, Finn had to listen to the others, concentrating on facing the many-armed knight amidst the battlefield of abandoned blades and buried bones. It might be up to him to put it down alone, leaving him to analyze it as it towered over him.

'Avoiding all of those arms is going to be annoying, but I can manage. That black force it used against Jasper before looked powerful, but it's the same thing–I just have to avoid it. It seemed to manipulate the bones underneath the field, though–I'll have to watch out for that,' Finn planned.

All of it would have to be put into action as he witnessed the knight of bestial helmets sprint at him with frightening agility.

["Phantom Flow"]

He surfed atop the desecrated soil, moving backwards while moving himself side-to-side, slipping between the weapons plunged into the soil as the knight chased at him. It moved like a dancer, spinning itself around, wildly moving each limb from unorthodox positions to swing at him.

Such a quantity of attacks kept his eyes peeled, focused on each arm that moved, bringing his irises to dart around as he moved purely on reflex.

'An opening–give me an opening,' he thought, not blinking a single time.