The bell rings, sending a shockwave of sound to every forgotten part in the light shroud. Isaac freezes mid swing and looks at Mercer, who is already pulling out a ring of keys and shouting, "Kid, it's time for you to spill blood." They run up the stairs as people funnel into there rooms in a rushed yet calm order, as Isaac looks at it he is reminded for fire drills done in school, no one know if the drills were just test or the real deal, but these people had an aura of dreed and we fully focus on there safety to the point where no one gave Isaac a disdainful look.
As the last person funnels into there room, Mercer closes a metal hatch over the hole to the room and locks it before chucking the keys away, and looking away before it land, he speaks "we throw the keys so that puppet master's can control us to show then the keys, there is at least 3 guards down there to stop any problems, and get this in your head, this is not a drill, only life and death, if you ever wish to head home you have to push on, even if you loss a limb."
Isaac steals himself and nods. They run to wards the gate, Isaac's sword is now on his right hip for easy access, Mercer's axe seems to exude an aura of them dammed, maybe it could be the souls of all he has killed trying to curse him only for his strength to push past them, cutting the very spirts of the dead but this aura does not make Isaac calm down, he know that he only has him self in this fight.
They arrive at the gate that is wide open, around 20 people stand there, around 6 of them Isaac recognise as the people he bumped into yesterday at the wall and the training ground, a few smaller people are here, they couldn't be any older than Isaac and yet they were risking there life for people who will forget them at a moment of peace, it left a bitter taste in Isaac's mouth, knowing that these people didn't fight for recognition but to live in a way and to die in a way of pride, if he was them he wouldn't be here and would be in his room hiding, but that wont get him home.
Mercer looks at the horizon and sees hundreds of beetle like monsters, their shells are jade with black pinchers scuttling across the dunes. Mercer shouts, "Hundreds of beetle like things are coming, we have never come across them before, so be careful in case they are running from something more terrifying." Mercer inwardly curses as these beetles were most likely attracted by the smell of the newly dead woman, even if she was turned to ashes and buried.
The people who could cast spells take a step back and begin chanting, and small glimmers of light pour out of them. Those with bows are farther ahead with the people who fight close up in front of them. Isaac channels his core power as he feels a rush of power flow through him, and he draws his sword.
The beetles enter the view of all people with normal sight, the beetles are around a half a foot in length, with the pincers taking up 4 inches of that length. Isaac hears a murmur in his head and looks at Mercer to signal something. Due to Mercer being the only person that semi knows about Isaac's core power, they made a set of signals in case Isaac needs something. This signal in particular has to do with core powers.
Mercer give Isaac a thumbs up and Isaac speaks loud and clearly despite the situation "These Beetles are called Meat Scarabs, they have 4 racial powers, there pincers and they can cut a leg clean off, they are also blind but can sense the change in the air clearly due to hairs on there nape so arrows wont be good, they have egg sacks around 2 inches from the bottom of there bodies, and finally, they are being commanded by one big Meat Scarab."
Mercer nods subtly, telling the other that what Isaac is saying is true. Mercer does not know how or why Isaac knows this, but he is forced to believe him. In truth, the way Isaac knows this is because his core power voice told him about the racial power, even if he can't learn them the now, and by asking why powers are needed by the scarabs and where they would appear on him, he was able to determine all that information.
Before anyone can adapt to this new info, the beetle are on them, Mercer goes running toward them as he swings his axe in a pendulum motion in order to kill as many in one fell swoop, The others follow suit, using there core powers and techniques that they have learned over years, Isaac hesitantly takes a few steps before breaking out into a sprint towards them.
Isaac throws his sword into the face of one of the scarabs before running and picking up his sword, using his core power he jumps and lands on a group of the scarabs turning them into sludge, one of the scarabs run towards Isaac but he stabs down into its head, while distracted with that one, another scarab bites into Isaac's legs and he feels his skin part like the red sea as blood pours down his leg, with his other leg he kicks the scarabs away, its pincers snap off at the force of the kick and Isaac's leg barely stays attached thanks to his new trait 'hard shell' making his body tougher.
Isaac jumps backwards and lands first with his non injured leg before gently putting down his injured leg, the small kid that took care of Isaac for 3 days while he was past out runs over and patches up his leg and stops the bleeding, Isaac gives a nod to express his thanks before running back out to the battle, silently wishing for a core power that can give him healing powers so that he can fight without worry but that has to wait for now as a big 6 meter wide scarab walks on top of the closes dune to the the village and seemingly looks down at the fight with a thrilling screech.