It only took a few moments for Darius to make short work of the rest of the undead by blinking behind them and casting Sparks as many times as needed to end their lives.
It might seem a bit repetitive at this point, but as long as it worked, he didn't care about the aesthetics.
Darius noted that he a Gunner got a few bits of experience, around 7 points in the end. It was far from enough to send Gunner over the top and to the level cap, but neither Darius nor he were stressed.
After entering the Journeyman band, they would certainly have their fair share of tough fights with more rewarding experience. As such, Gunner only rested for a few more minutes before standing up and walking across the tangible border.
The duo's expressions changed once more. Darius still had the effects of the Purification Potion in his system, but he felt the strain of the land pulling on its effects, weakening it.
Gunner also felt the same. Even though his Earth Guardian made him immune to the effects, it was sapping slightly more mana than the skill typically used. If it took 15 points before, it was draining 17 points now.
The duo shared a look before trudging on silently. Unlike the Amateur band which had been greatly populated as well as full of conflict here and there thanks to various weaklings trying to safely farm points, the early parts of the Journeyman band were a bit barren and empty.
Darius and Gunner walked on for an hour or two before they discovered a group of undead… this time, not of the humanoid form.
[Detected target is of an Enemy affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Dark Horse
Race: Undead
Class: Charger
Subclass: Mount
HP: 700/700
MP: 437/437
Level: 23
Strength: 28
Agility: 26
Endurance: 25
Intellect: 19
Charisma: 10
Luck: 0
Abilities: Charge, Stomp, Headbutt, Stampede, Gallop
Weapons: Hooves and Body]
[Detected target is of an Enemy affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Dark Salamander
Race: Undead
Class: Breather
Subclass: None
HP: 483/483
MP: 528/528
Level: 24
Strength: 23
Agility: 21
Endurance: 21
Intellect: 22
Charisma: 5
Luck: 0
Abilities: Firespit, Slash, Tongue Slap, Burrow, Crunch
Weapons: Tooth & Claw]
Darius passed this info on to Gunner and the fellow's eyes narrowed. Understanding that they would be remiss to play around as they had before, Darius cast Spawn.
From a chilling portal, Mikey and Joneson appeared. Since they were tied to Darius' system and could see his Database at all times, they were aware of what he was dealing with. As such, they didn't hesitate to summon all their collected minions so far.
Darius nodded to Gunner, who roared and jumped in the air with all his strength. It was so powerful that the ground around Darius and the Liches cracked.
The undead horses and salamanders all looked up to the sky, seeing a large form that almost blotted out the sun - from their point of view - hovering in the air for a split second thanks to g-force.
From up high, Gunner used one of his most powerful skills, Earthen Stomp!
Like a meteor, he suddenly went from stillness to maximum velocity as his legs collided with the earth in the center of the undead enemies.
This caused a quake so powerful that even Darius had to blink upwards to avoid it, while the undead minions under the two Liches were tossed around.
Luckily, the summoners themselves were permanently hovering above the ground, otherwise they'd have been tossed about too.
As for the undead Gunner struck, those closest to the epicenter were rent to almost nothingness.
It had less to do with Gunner's Strength and more to do with the force that came as an outcome of his maneuver. The rest were either flung away and thrust into mini craters where they struggled to get up.
Seeing a chance, Darius blinked into such a crater and spammed Sparks on as many dazed enemies as he could.
Meanwhile, Mikey and Joneson also sent their minions into the fray, those who could move jumping into pits to lay into their fellowmen without remorse.
Mikey and Joneson themselves didn't have much of an offensive capability, so they opted to let their minions do the work, only healing them. Soon enough, the dazed undead overcame their disability and began to fight back.
Even though Darius, Gunner, and the minions had killed off more than 80% of them in this time, it was not enough. One of the salamanders leapt back and used its Firespit ability, spraying a form of ember attack on the minions charging at it.
This instantly sent them to the ground as they screeched and tossed, their bodies set alight and their HP draining quickly. Even though the duo of Liches tried to save them with Heal Undead, the salamander was no pushover.
It used Tongue Slap to extend its rotten tongue over to the area of the fallen minions, thrashing it about and killing many of them at once.
The summoned minions were capped at the tip of the Amateur stage while this was a Journeyman monster. It wasn't something they could handle.
On the other side, Gunner was currently locked in battle with a Dark Horse.
It had sneakily used its Charge ability to build momentum before trying to crash into Darius who had been busy electrocuting an enemy to death.
Darius's sharp perception had noticed the monster in due time and just as he had wanted to blink away at the last second so that the undead would trample over its own kin, Gunner had roared and had come before him.
With a solid jab, he had used Earthen Punch!
The Dark Horse had seen Gunner's intrusion and fueled its momentum into a Headbutt! The fist and head collided at the end of the charge, creating a small shockwave that stunned all fighters nearby minus Darius who once again blinked away.
As for the duo who collided, the Dark Horse was blown away a few meters, crashing into the earth and creating a gully.
However, Gunner remained unmoved, roaring in triumph as he bolted forward to where his fallen enemy lay, landing upon it and delivering a consistent train of blows upon its scalp.
