Goblins moved across the clearing ablaze and in pain. Kenan rushed at them with a roar as the longsword in his hand flashed from left to right, cleaving heads from shoulders. It was total carnage—enough that he was no longer paying attention to how many of these monsters they were bringing down. With the flames and scent of burning bodies filling the air, instinct took over.
A quick sidestep to the left as a goblin with its head on fire moved past him. By this point, Kate had already abandoned her shield, and the wand was held in her left hand while the shaman staff was held in her right. She fired off a Basic Earth Bullet, blasting the fiery goblin's head apart, then leveled the staff at the goblins beyond the fire line they'd created, blasting off a Basic Fire Bullet this time with greater power and impact. Kenan, on the other hand, just moved like a man possessed—and perhaps maybe he was.
He tore into the goblins like a wild animal, the longsword flashing only once to reap the lives of the few that had been separated. In no time at all, the goblins on their side of the fire line were dead, leaving those beyond who were rather wary of crossing the blaze. But only for a moment. Without any fuel to sustain them, the flames had quickly started to die down, and the goblins beyond—ever the monsters—were wild and manic with bloodlust. Kenan looked at them with a grunt, then proceeded to jump over the line, sword and shield held close.
"Kenan, no!"
Kate tried to call to him. It just seemed as if he was being rather reckless right now, but he was already lost to the throes of a battle song only he could hear. There were more than a dozen goblins waiting for him on the other side, and Kenan rushed at them, angling his body low as he charged, shield held at the ready. Kate felt a moment of intense panic as Kenan crossed over, but that quickly changed to shock at the bloody display that followed.
The first goblin leaped at him, only to get smashed out of the air with the shield as Kenan pulled the longsword back. A haze of blue mana seemed to crawl up the blade as Kenan slashed in a half circle. And as he did so, he called out the name of his newest active skill, desperate to see it in action.
"Cleave!"
The results were chilling to say the least. Three goblins were slashed in half, while the fourth escaped with its lower jaw nearly sheared in two. Kate couldn't help the startled gasp that escaped her lips, even more so when Kenan didn't slow down. Four more goblins charged at him, fearless in their pursuit. He took three steps backward, then jumped back over the line again. The flames by this point had died down, leaving behind smoldering bodies with patches of burnt skin. The goblins that had been chasing after him tripped over the bodies, piling onto each other after being caught unawares by Kenan suddenly jumping back.
Kenan made sure to give them enough space as a Basic Fire Bullet from Kate streaked across the distance to smash into the pile of goblins. She followed it up with another fire bullet, ensuring the whole pile was caught ablaze before ending it with an earth bullet. The fragments from the skill's impact still exploded outward to completely eviscerate their enemies. Kenan then took a deep breath, using that opportunity to observe the longsword. It was so chipped and even lightly bent that he couldn't use it anymore. He hissed in annoyance as he flung the ruined weaponry aside. It had served its purpose.
His eyes roamed ahead, searching for the remaining goblins and only finding three of them left. They were trying to go around him, aiming to cross over and go after Kate instead. Kenan shrugged as he pulled out his gladius, the blade ringing as it escaped its sheath. He turned to look at Kate. "Let's finish this."
She gave him a nod in response as Kenan turned and flung the shield in his hands like a discus. It flew across the clearing to catch one of the goblins by the legs, bringing the diminutive monster down to the ground. The other two didn't stand a chance as both Kenan and Kate leveled a finger and a wand at them.
"Basic Wind Bullet!"
"Basic Fire Bullet!"
Both goblins crashed to the ground, already dead before their bodies hit it. The final goblin that had been tripped gingerly picked itself up from the ground. It was a little dazed from what they could see, but that didn't matter as Kenan walked up to it. It reoriented itself quickly enough, then charged at him with a manic scream. He met its charge head-on. It slashed at his right side, only for Kenan, in one brutal move, to Cleave the goblin in two—splitting it like a hot dog from the crown of its head to its groin, a blue shimmer clinging to the body of his gladius as they brought this wave to a very definitive close.
"That was easier than I thought it would be," Kate said, trying her best not to look at Kenan as he stood covered in blood. There was something about the ease with which he stood covered in the guts of monsters—he seemed right at home on the battlefield... if this was a battlefield.
"Don't jinx us, woman. We should be thankful we were able to deal with all of them. Without the circumstances of having bodies and your fire skill, we would both be dead. This isn't a book or a movie—it's real life, and it's bloody."
Kate frowned. It almost seemed as if Kenan was berating her. The tone with which he used to speak was not something she liked, but considering he was covered in blood and she wasn't, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let this one slide... just this time, though. If he used that tone with her again, she would put him in his place.
[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 2/3 completed.]
[Wave 2: Defeat 30 Basic Goblins 30/30. +300 exp, territory increases by 20 meters.]
[Wave 3 (Boss Fight): Defeat 1 Basic Goblin Shaman, 5 Basic Goblin Warriors, And 1 Goblin Chief. 0/7]
[Time Until Next Wave: 0:30:44]
"Umm, Keys?" Kenan paused as Kate called out to him. He'd been trying to move the extra bodies they'd gotten back to the burnt pile. Since they still had a wave to deal with, it was better to utilize them as barriers—the first attempt at this strategy had been quite effective. He moved toward her and the system pylon. "What is it?"
Kate raised a shaky hand to point at the notification screen in front of them. "It says the next fight is a boss fight."
Kenan left what he was doing to come stand beside Kate. He quickly read through the notification. It was strange that there were no hobgoblins, as he'd assumed they were the stronger species. But a basic goblin shaman, along with warriors and a boss—he couldn't tell if they would be a harder fight than the one he'd had with the hobgoblin warrior and shaman. Regardless, though, the fact that the system had called it a boss fight meant they had to get ready for something far more intense than before.
"You don't have to worry. I believe we can get through them with little difficulty. But right now, I'd advise you fully get all your stats to level two. The level up to two gave us fifty percent advancement to our stats, so it should cost less to raise those stats. Then maybe use what you have left to raise a skill to the next level. Let's do it quickly—our earlier strategy won't be very effective when faced off against a shaman. They can create barriers to defend their allies and can attack from a distance far better than you can. After all, you've only had magic for a day. These things are made of it."
Kate did as Kenan had suggested. The level up to level two gave them what was pretty much a fifty percent discount on raising their stats to the next level. Unfortunately, because her stats weren't all at the same level, it was Kenan who benefited from it the most. Still, it was enough for Kate to spend 50 exp each to level her Soul and Physique stats to Basic level two.
The moment she did so, it felt like lightning had gone off in her body. She couldn't explain these sensations any better than she could understand how they really felt, but it felt as if something had clicked—like her body found an equilibrium and was now more balanced. Her mana surged stronger through her body, and her body felt strong enough to hold it. Perhaps she was feeling too confident, but she felt as if she could challenge Kenan to a bench press competition.
With that done, she still had 280 exp to her name—enough to raise one of her skills to level three and some change. Basic Fire Bullet was her most used skill, and her skills, especially in the last fight, were all feeding off each other in a sort of feedback loop. Her new Elemental Mastery skill and her Basic Magic Mastery skill both grew every time she used her skills, and they in turn empowered her skills. In just that short engagement, the Basic Earth Bullet skill was almost out of level zero and into level one. It almost seemed like a shame to use her exp on them when they were all so close to actually leveling up on their own. But Kenan was right—better use the exp now and be aware they were fully prepared than to hold onto it and end up dead or injured. There was no need to be complacent. This was life and death.
[60 exp Spent! Basic Fire Bullet Has Reached Level 2! Range, cast time, and damage have been increased. You can now easily infuse more mana to empower this skill.]
[200 exp spent! Basic Magic Mastery Has Reached Level 2! +5% to all skill damage, skill costs reduced by 5%, you now have a deeper understanding of magic]
At the end of it all, Kate was left with just 30 exp. But that was fine—she felt... powerful. Right there under her skin, she could feel the onslaught of mana as it seemed to become a deeper part of her physiology. New channels and vessels that never existed before subtly carved themselves in her body, giving her greater control, range, and clarity. And with the increase to her stats, her mind seemed to have been opened to understand her skills far better than before.
Whatever this next wave held in store for her, she was ready to face it, come what may.