Necromancer Dreams of Mechs Chapter 75: Chapter 81

Read chapter 75 of Necromancer Dreams of Mechs by Magic on NovelPedia.

Chapter 75: The Tank’s Embrace Once I finished my little speech, I looked at Lee and Roland. “Ready?” I asked. I didn’t wait for an answer. I simply flicked a finger, commanding my Elite Archer to grab another rabbit from the pen. “You realize this isn’t some anime, Allen,” Lee muttered, grabbing a small buckler from the rack and sliding it onto his forearm. “This is the kind of bullshit my father would pull and say it was for my ‘character development.’” I smirked as Lee tested the weight of the shield. “The difference is that here, the mortality rate is real. Sure, there are rules in the cities restricting your strength, but I see nothing in the code that stops a blade from being sharp. Become as comfortable as you can with your new bodies. It’s crucial.” “I get it,” Roland said. The large man squared himself up, holding a tower shield with both hands. He was positioned to cover nearly 180 degrees in front of himself. This was a guy who used to solo-tank for 50-man raid groups. From the clips I had watched, even fifteen healers pumping aggro couldn’t break a boss from his lock. I was excited to see this—he would have made an insane Bulwark Class pilot. I signaled for the rabbit to be released. Nathan walked over to join me, arms crossed. “Sure, give them plenty of time to get ready,” Nathan complained, though a sideways glance confirmed he was grinning. I turned back to the training circle. The Tracer Rabbit darted at Roland, a blur of fur and teeth. It slammed face-first into the shield, stunning itself on the iron. Then, rather than stomping on it like a normal person, the 220-pound tank lowered his shield over his chest and belly-flopped directly onto the stunned creature. Let me tell you, it was not pretty. The Tracer Rabbit’s demise under Roland’s belly flop was less a crushing blow and more a pressurized internal event. There was a wet, muffled pop as the creature’s tiny body gave way, and a fountain of crimson-tinged internal fluids shot straight upward, splattering Roland from the shoulders up. His face, already set in a grim expression of concentration, was instantly masked in a slick sheen of blood and fragmented fur. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the wet sound of Roland slowly rolling off the remains. He sat up, completely covered in what looked like the aftermath of a tomato-based explosion, and wiped a trickle of gore from his eye. "See?" Roland said, looking completely earnest as he ignored the horrified gasps from the watching Squires. "I didn’t want to stomp on it. I didn’t want the guts on my boots." Nathan burst out laughing, a high, panicked sound. "Dude! The guts are on your face ! You look like a horror movie poster! You could have just wiped them off on the grass!" "It was strategically sound," Serhii interjected, leaning against the bone table with his arms crossed. His eyes held a hint of amusement, but his Russian tone was flat and analytical. "He maximized surface area for impact and containment. Minimal boot cleanup. Maximum facial exposure. We call this ‘The Tank’s Embrace,’ da ?" I shook my head, fighting back a grin. "No, Serhii, it's the ‘Bulwark’s Blood Baptism.’ And Roland... that was efficient, in the grossest way possible. You get your levels. Now go and clean up before you attract something bigger. You are literally wearing a Level 6 scent marker." Roland sighed, looking utterly defeated, but a small smile touched his lips. "At least it’s done. Whose turn is it?" I turned to Lee, who was looking at the gory scene with an air of clinical disgust, wiping his small buckler even though it was pristine. "Yours, Lee," I said, nodding to the Elite Archer to ready the final rabbit. "Let’s see how a future villain handles their first sacrifice." “You fit the villain role better, Allen,” Lee said, turning his back to me to face the pen. “I will be the hero. You can keep your temperamental girlfriend; I’ll get my own harem of women who can kick your ass just as hard as I can.” T