Low-Fantasy Occultist

Some survivors hesitated about being left alone, but Nick knew how important it was to follow a trail while it was still warm. Unless he wanted to wait for the next attack—and there definitely would be one—he had to get moving.

Still, he wasn’t heartless, so he promised the villagers he'd clear the path for them.

They hadn’t been happy, but there wasn’t much they could do about it, so they accepted it, gathered what few belongings they could salvage from their burning homes, and headed toward the nearest friendly settlement, which turned out to be a town known as Long Reach.

Orion led his team ahead of the group, casually swinging his staff whenever a monster dared to cross his path, or even entered his senses at all, really.

The Shard provided him with so much range that he could eliminate entire colonies of monsters without detouring or slowing down, and this was eventually noticed by the others.

“What was that?” Yvonne asked warily as the Shard’s orb flashed with yellow light, and a moment later, she got her answer, as lightning descended from the sky, hitting a flock of vulture-like monsters that had caught their scent.