Oh my god Raina is on already Tessa hurried forward barely seeing the bodies sprawled around grasping and laughing drunkenly in the dimly lit room
A bouncer blocked her before she could rush out onto the stage and pointed her to a side door which would lead her to the general admission area Heedless of Randidly she rushed out leaving him frowning
There was something strange
Then his eyes narrowed as he realized what it was It was the same albeit more subtle and slight feeling that he had gotten around the village chieftain of Turtletown as the people of Donnyton had taken to calling it An insidious influence But while the other had been a harsh order this was a gentle cajoling
Have fun be happy Be free live enjoy yourself everything is fine
So this was why such a large town could continue on simply based upon inertia This voice could periodically wipe away their concerns Luring them towards staying
This town was home to a siren
Randidly gave the bouncer a short glance Although he seemed to be maintaining his cool much better than Tessa had he too was grinning stupidly and bobbing his head to the music Sighing Randidly sat down to meditate Once he identified the influence it was rather easy to resist But it took a lot of the enjoyment out of the concert Instead he focused on understanding the way it affected him and the other people backstage
An hour and a half later when the concert came to what sounded like a stunning conclusion Randidly opened his eyes inwardly torn
This singer Raina possessed a dangerous power Even though he knew what it was and his Willpower was undoubtedly significantly higher than hers he felt a slight unnatural lift in his mood after prolonged exposure Randidly wondered how specific the messages she sent with her songs could be
But at the same time
The positive uplifting portion of the song had side effects Randidly had gained 3 Lvls in meditation while he sat through the concert It was quite similar to that strange golden potion that came from the origin banana in that way It was an effect that if harvested
Randidly blinked He had been so focused on trying to learn mana manipulation recently that he had completely neglected to improve his potion making skills Finding the uses beyond a short term boost for that serum would be excellent
Now was obviously a poor time to realize that but later if he could find the right equipment here
The people around Randidly were still slightly dozing and sophomoric Even the bouncer was slumped in his seat by the stage Only the tech people remained lucid hurrying around with noise canceling headphones over their ears But as Randidly watched several sweat soaked people removing their ear pieces walked off the stage while talking excitedly
Last of the people to leave the stage was a slim buxom figure Her body curved gracefully almost impossibly proportioned But what drew Randidly’s eye was her face although she would never be called unattractive she would also never be called beautiful Her face currently set into a tired expression was perhaps only pretty But it was a striking face with large eyes and a mouth that seemed in constant motion
Then across the dark room they made eye contact and she smiled reflexively a tired smile of victory of a job well done Randidly had to resist the urge to smile back looking at her contemplatively
He immediately received a level in Mental Strength which made him chuckle and he stepped backwards deeper into the shadows of the musical equipment boxes So even her smile contained a skill Although she would likely be an asset to Donnyton it would be better not to interact overmuch with her
Then their gaze parted and Randidly felt the direct beam of positivity she shot towards him fade along with her smile
A second later a cloud of confusion seemed to come over her face and she turned back her gaze searching scanning across the position that Randidly had just vacated Almost unwillingly after several long seconds she turned to face a man who emerged from another back room wearing a suit
The man brought along a gaggle of other people who Randidly recognized it was the Freedom Fighters Most of them had dumb glazed expressions especially Alex who seemed to be drooling that he was so close Raina but the extremely tall man with orange hair still had a serious expression
If he was simply wearing headphones to block the noise that was one thing But if he wasn’t
Then apparently there was some strength in this town after all
Raina and the orange haired man walked up onto the stage and Randidly slipped away heading out through the passage to the area Tessa had gone
He found her almost immediately smiling and leaning against the side of the arena seemingly at peace with the world She didn’t even notice his arrival lost as she was in the after effects of the euphoria Raina provided
One more thing One last surprise for my fans tonight Raina said strutting back out onto the stage arms held high It was strange That smile of hers her entire face changed shifted Suddenly it was the only thing you wanted to look at
Randidly’s frown deepened This woman was incredibly dangerous Every day he thought deeply about his decision to forgo killing that man with a similar ability At the time the temptation of the Black Nexus Coin had been too much But now
Sure the kept dungeon had been invaluable for quickly exposing the freshly raised classers to danger But still
Tomorrow is finally the day we have been dreaming of Raina announced Tomorrow the Freedom Fighters will finally be wiping out the ant colony And afterwards With your help the Freedom Fighters will found a newbie village and vanquish the monsters
The crowd was practically frothing at the mouth screaming Even Tessa looked up with fanatical eyes Randidly supposed there would no longer be a shortage of volunteers for the mission
Chapter 73
The rain made the night an extremely long one Wave after wave of monsters streamed towards the village The mage battalion held the road but the efficacy of their magic was greatly reduced by the damp resulting in more and more of the reserve squads to be called there to reinforce them
Donny held the freshly raised southern defensive line Weeks of fighting at the front constantly had worked great changes in this teenager accelerating his growth into manhood
Meanwhile Donnyton’s scouting teams roved through the forest ambushing and retreating constantly thinning out the numbers of approaching enemies as much as they could But it never seemed to be enough and as the night stretched onward they began to tire tiny mistakes turning into fatalities
The healing division worked as fast as they could but they had a limited supply of mana potion which swiftly reached dangerous levels Non fatal or debilitating wounds were wrapped up but not healed all the way Health could regenerate on its own quickly enough even if structural damage to the body would not without the aid of spells
It was likely the bloodiest night in Donnyton’s history While Dozer and Decklan and their squads rested several Tier I Raid Bosses were able to set up shop and multiply adding to the constant flow of monsters
In their absence and the absence of the Ghosthound several individuals set themselves apart in terms of bravery and skill Of those people there were two that changed the course of the night Lyra and Annie
When the Northern fortress the most heavily fortified and the location of the heaviest fighting was breached by a rare fire belching iguana the defenders paled Monsters leapt forward squirming to get into the hole But from nowhere she appeared her typical grey hood pulled over her head
Dozens of silent birds glided forward and for the next 5 minutes the only thing that made it through the breached wall was a thin misting of blood
During that time another squad hurried over plugging the gap and stabilizing the defenses
Meanwhile Annie stood atop the watchtower on the road firing arrows like a machine gun The production focused people began to dread her glare because it could only mean one thing she needed more arrows