DAY 2.
TIME UNTIL NEXT WAVE: 1 HOUR
"Are you sure about this?"
Kate asked as she gave Kenan a rather worried look. He shrugged.
"I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Just wave the wand and use it to cast your skill. You're not going to glow, and you don't need to scream Avada Kedavra."
"Seriously?" She gave him a deadpan look.
"Just cast the damn skill, Kate. Your mana is going to need time to regenerate. A single cast each, for the wand and for the shaman staff. They might be the edge we both need for the incoming waves."
Kate rolled her eyes but didn't argue anymore as she held the staff up, pointing it in the direction of one of the face-trees.
"Basic Fire Bullet!"
The telltale fiery red spell circle came to life in front of the staff. In an instant—and in that same instant—it fired off the fire bullet at a speed that was most assuredly bullet-like. It flew across the clearing, leaving a blazing trail of light before smashing into one of the trees. From what was once a finger-sized fire spell, Kenan could tell it had grown from a 9mm to a .45 magnum. And very much like bullets when fired, the spell now expanded on impact with the force and power of a small explosion—or with the force and impact of a shotgun blast.
"Try the wand now," Kenan called out to Kate as she handed him the shaman's staff and held the wand out in front of her. She held her ground for a few seconds, then took a deep breath.
"If you say anything like Leviosa, I'm going to riot," Kenan commented with a deadpan look.
Kate turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You're trying too hard to be funny."
Kenan blinked. "Is it working?" he asked with a hopeful tilt to his voice, but Kate responded with a scowl.
"No!"
Kate turned and pointed the wand, able to raise it easily due to its smaller form. "Basic Fire Bullet!"
Kenan wasn't sure how to explain what he just saw. The skill had gone off like a laser, leaving a more focused trail of fiery destruction as it traveled. It bored a hole straight through one of the face-trees. The damage was more concentrated than the shaman staff's. This was made for piercing, while the shaman staff was meant to give the skill a wider area of effect and more power on impact.
"It seems at the end of the day, it's a matter of preference," Kenan remarked as Kate dropped her hand.
"Indeed. The mana cost seems to be relatively the same—maybe with just a slight difference—but the staff and wand themselves seem to alter and empower the skill a bit. I think I'm getting a better effect now because it's at level two than if it was at level zero or one." Kate held out the wand to Kenan. "Would you like to give it a whirl?"
Kenan shook his head. "I don't think I'd achieve the same result as you. You also have the Basic Magic Mastery skill to help you out. And I don't think you've ever brought up its description, have you?"
Kate shrugged at Kenan's query. "A few times when you weren't looking. And the boost isn't that much, but it does make it extremely easy for me to control and manipulate my mana. Outside of the display you just saw, I can increase the amount of mana I pour into the skill to make it a little bit stronger, or use less mana to make the skill less powerful. I think I can even shape it a bit—maybe instead of it being a bullet, it could be a ball... or perhaps try and split it so it's two bullets instead of one. These things are awesome. It's like software to help me alter, empower, or simply put, program my spells."
Kenan couldn't help the hot feeling of envy in the pit of his stomach. All his youth, his training in combat had been about being as efficient and deadly as possible. As it had shown in his previous fights, he was not one for flourishes or fancy moves. In his head, the first move was the single opening he needed to end a fight, unless he was dealing with an enemy he didn't understand.
The Basic Magic Mastery skill was, simply put, efficient. If he had it, perhaps it would have been far easier to cast the Wind Bullet skill on his arrows—or even on his melee weapons. In gaming terms, the style he'd be going for was a battlemage or a spellsword. The clearing wasn't that large, and almost every attack had ended up with them having to engage in close quarters with the monsters.
So one way or another, even in a state of defeat, the monsters had to get close to be finished off. That might change in the future—the hobgoblin shaman had proved monsters could attack at range too. Since there were no guns here... yet. He couldn't discount the fact that perhaps it would be possible to go after these monsters with the power of the 21st century. That would make so many things a lot easier.
Nevertheless, Kate was nothing if not efficient in all her dealings. Simply put, a control freak—but he would never say that out loud. Nobody was perfect, and she'd been hurt too much to be anything but that. Still, he knew she was going to be far more dangerous now than before. Without a doubt, he could see the potential of the skill. As long as they didn't die in the next wave, Kate and her skills would only get stronger. And so would he.
"Well, we still have some time. Is there anything we should do?" Kate asked, but Kenan shook his head.
"Before a hit, it's always important that you're in the best shape—not just physically, but also mentally. I'd usually meditate before going after my targets..." Kenan's words faded into silence as he realized he'd slipped up.
"A hit? Targets? What are you talking about, Kenan? You sound like we're going to assassinate the monsters or something."
He shook his head quickly as a nervous look passed through his face, but the expression was gone just as quickly as it had appeared—not so fast that Kate hadn't picked up on it, though.
"Nothing of the sort. Those words just slipped out. But then again, it's not as if I'm wrong. We do need to be prepared for what comes next. So just take this time to rest. We'll be neck-deep in monsters soon enough."
With that said, Kenan turned away, moving toward the well, while Kate watched his back.
She couldn't help the feeling that he was hiding something from her—something even more massive than him cheating on her. She could tell because the exposure of his infidelity hadn't shaken him this much, but when she'd called him out about his choice of words, she'd seen nothing short of horror cross his features. It wasn't just highly suspicious—it was also extremely worrying.
Did she get married to a serial killer or something?
Was that why he was so good at fighting? But based on his words, it didn't sound to her like he was a fighter of any sort. If she had to be honest, it sounded more like Kenan was a killer. She shuddered at the realization, but then again, maybe she was being paranoid.
This was Kenan she was thinking about—the guy couldn't even fix a leaking faucet in their home or drive properly even to save his life. The idea of him being a killer of any sort was just absurd and nothing more than baseless worry... she hoped.
They spent the next hour in relative silence, and it was rather awkward too. Kenan tried his best to act normal, but Kate's eyes tracked him across the clearing with suspicion she was unable to hide, and that made it a little bit more difficult for him to act as if everything was normal. It was so bad that Kenan was actively counting the minutes until the wave would begin, which was why when the timer finally ran out, he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth.
[Quest 4: Welcome Party III: The system has siphoned excess corruption and will be discharging it into the clearing for the heroes to purify. Wave 0/3 completed.]
[Wave 1: Defeat 10 Basic Goblin Riders 0/10]
Kenan and Kate quickly took their places in front of the cabin. Kenan had his bow and quiver ready. Kate had the spear planted on the ground, a shield on her left, while she held onto the shaman staff. Against multiple enemies, it was the best option—its wider area of damage meant she could possibly hit more. The wand was a precision casting tool.
"Are you ready?" Kenan asked as he kept his focus ahead.
Kate shrugged and responded, "It doesn't matter. They're coming whether we're ready or not." She paused, then added in a softer voice, "Just don't die... no one and nothing gets to kill you but me."
Kenan smiled at Kate's response, a warmth spreading through his chest despite everything. But that smile vanished just as quickly as the familiar sludge started to escape from the trees. Kenan nocked an arrow and pulled it back, waiting for the first monster to spawn.
It was time to fight.