Kate couldn't hold it anymore. She turned to the side and heaved, her stomach pouring out what was left in it. She threw a withering glare at Kenan, but he was so engrossed in his task that he didn't notice. She took a step back, watching as he stacked the last of the bodies. The clearing was a little larger now than before, so even with the amount of bodies they had available to them, it wasn't nearly enough to create a barricade of any significance. But it was still enough to create something that would not only impede the incoming wave of thirty goblins but perhaps even whittle them down so they wouldn't have to deal with all of them at once.
So the same idea that Kenan had always had was put into action—using the bodies as a sort of barricade. He stacked them over each other to create a very low wall from one end of the clearing to the next. There wasn't nearly enough to create a barrier high enough to help them against the waves, but it was enough for what Kenan had in mind. With the last of the preparation done, they had roughly five minutes left on the timer when Kenan turned to look at Kate.
"We have to use the exp we gained from the last wave."
Kate nodded as they both made their way to the pylon. Considering the amount of enemies they were about to go up against, it would be wise if they used their exp. Holding onto it with their lives on the line wasn't wise in any shape or form.
"Any suggestions?" Kate asked as Kenan brought up his stat page. He pointed at one thing.
"I think we should raise our overall level. That's been lagging behind everything else, and I can't shake the feeling that leveling up is very significant or important as opposed to just raising our stats. But that's just one option. You have stats that are lagging behind your others—you might as well handle those. The feeling of all your stats being leveled is not something I can aptly describe unless you experience it for yourself." Kenan gave Kate a reassuring smile. In the end, the decision was left to her to make.
"Leveling up just costs a hundred exp. I'll use the other hundred to raise my Perception to level two. That should also help with my skills." They were both in agreement then. Kenan had no stats or skills that could be leveled up with a hundred exp. It cost 250 exp to raise skills to level two and a thousand to raise their stats to level three. He'd hold onto the last hundred exp—nothing he spent it on right now would be of any particular help to them.
[You Have Leveled Up to Level 2! +50% advancement to all stats! A new passive and active skill are available for selection.]
Kenan and Kate paused for a second to look at each other, and not a moment too soon as they felt an influx of energy suffuse them. They weren't particularly tired or injured, but the level up brought with it a rejuvenating wave of energy that seemed to wash away all of the fatigue they were feeling. It felt more like they'd just gotten up from a good sleep, ready to take on any challenge that came their way. Immediately, the system prompt shifted as a new singular list appeared in front of them.
[Please pick one passive skill from the list below. Note, you both have to pick from the same list, you both cannot pick the same skill.]
• Basic Magic Eye
• Basic Elemental Mastery
• Basic Defense Mastery
• Basic Farming
• Basic Alchemy
[Please pick one active skill from the list below. Note, you both have to pick from the same list, you both cannot pick the same skill.]
• Basic Earth Bullet
• Cleave
• Basic Water Bullet
• Quick Step
• Basic Heal
The list was astounding, and still with the same limitations as the first one. The passive skill list didn't change much, which meant any skill they didn't choose now they could still choose later. Kate was a little overwhelmed. Some of the skills she could see here had incredibly powerful synergy, and if she could properly curate her build, then there was definitely a chance for them to survive this.
"There's no time to waste. I'll take that Cleave active skill and the Basic Defense Mastery. I'll leave the Magic Eye and Elemental Mastery for you to pick on our next level up. I can see the way your eyes are shining—you're thinking of synergy and builds and stuff. I've played enough games with you to know how you think. Me? I'm just a brute. I can hit things... kill them. You handle the magic stuff. We don't have much time, baby. Make your choice."
Kenan didn't even wait for a response as he made his selection. Kate knew he was being kind and considerate. Even with their lives on the line, for skills that would obviously give him an edge, he still chose to prioritize her happiness and her wants. He read her like a book and made a decisive decision without even making it a situation where they had to compromise for each other. She just didn't get it, and even as she made her own choice of skills and the timer ticked down, she couldn't help but ask him.
"If you love me this much... then why betray me like this? Why sleep with my sister?"
Kenan turned to look at her at her question, a haunted look on his face. The only thing he could say as the timer wound down to zero was, "I don't know, baby... I don't know. I just woke up that morning in a bed with her with a bad hangover and barely any memories of the night before. Anything else? I can't say, because I don't know. All I know is a mistake was made, and it was one I had no idea how to solve or fix."
*Ragaragaraaaa!*
Their conversation was cut short with the arrival of the goblins. The sludge spilled out of the trees to form the monsters. Kenan didn't waste time—he pulled his bow and arrows and got to work almost immediately as knowledge of his new skills settled into the back of his skull. Kate followed, having chosen Basic Elemental Mastery and Basic Earth Bullet as her skills for reaching level two.
The basic goblins were a lot weaker than the other counterparts they'd previously faced, so the arrows were quite effective as Kenan dropped three of them in less than five seconds, his focus absolute as the rest of the twenty-seven goblins formed. A veritable army of two-to-three-feet-tall green humanoid monsters, all armed with rusted daggers, rushed at them.
"Kate, we have to reduce as many of them as we possibly can before they reach the barricade. And don't burn yourself out yet—we only have three mana potions."
Kate gave Kenan a swift nod as she raised the shaman staff and tried out her new skill. "Basic Earth Bullet!"
Kenan's eyes widened as an earth bullet the size of a baseball formed out of a golden-yellow spell circle and fired off with the sound of a cannon. It was a lot slower, but the moment it impacted the first goblin, Kenan's mouth almost dropped in shock as it exploded into multiple fragments that pelted and put holes into almost five of the goblins, bringing their numbers down.
"Hold!" Kenan called out to Kate.
The goblins hadn't yet reached the barricade they'd built, and her attack with the earth spell had bought him enough time to fire off three more arrows. Kate had to admit with grudging respect that his accuracy was quite unnerving. Maybe when they'd first started dealing with all of this, he'd been a little clumsy, but with the stats and the increase of his skills, it felt as if he'd gotten rusty and was now remembering how to use a bow like it was second nature to him. Every arrow Kenan fired had found purchase in the eyes and skulls of goblins. And with his second volley, six of the goblins had fallen to Kenan and three others had fallen to Kate. Nine down—twenty-one left. But by this point, they were already close to the stacked goblin corpses.
Kenan turned to Kate. "Now!" he called out as he grabbed the longsword and a shield and stepped in front of her, moving forward five to seven paces to give her enough space to attack past him and to intercept any danger before it got close to her.
But with his signal, she poured her attention to a different skill as she fired off multiple instances of it. "Basic Fire Bullet! Basic Fire Bullet! Basic Fire Bullet! Basic Fire Bullet!"
She repeated the skill enough times, firing it from the shaman's staff held in her hands until her mana had bottomed out. It was the respite she needed as she pulled out a mana potion and downed it all in one fell swoop. But her aim had already been achieved as the bodies of previous enemies Kenan had placed, creating a wall from one end of the glade to the other, caught ablaze.
If she'd been one moment too slow, it would have been quite problematic. But luckily enough for them, their plan had come to fruition. The bodies all caught ablaze at the exact moment the other goblins were trying to cross it, and that sent more than a few of them up in flames as they crossed. The others behind were halted as the fire divided the current goblin forces into two, giving both Kenan and Kate the chance they needed to pick their targets off at a much easier pace.
Kate turned to look at Kenan, who had turned to check on her. "Well? What are you waiting for? Kill them all!"