124... 125... 126... 127...

"Hey, Julia, stop hiding behind me like a human shield!" I protest. Seriously, that's not why I'm taking risks to check on her safety.

139... 140... 141... YEAHHH!!!! FINALLY!!!!

This volley from Zara takes off the boss's last HP. Its damaged body convulses, tentacles lower and contract. With a frenzied howl, the creature twists, compresses into itself and dissolves, breaking into small particles. Combined with the most epic track in the form of an orchestra and metal mix and ultra-realistic visuals, this is one of the coolest spectacles in my life. Superhero movies don't even come close.

You have defeated the Faceless Manipulator!

Congratulations! You have reached level 9!

HP increased to 2,700.

Received 17 free characteristic points.

[Quick Strike] upgraded to level 4! The number of strikes has been increased to 13.

Hell yeah, I'm almost a proper player who can't be called a noob anymore. Just a tiny bit short of 10... Which is actually convenient, since I don't have mana yet. Most importantly—the suffering completely paid off. Just the ability upgrade by 2 levels is worth it.

On such an occasion, I can level up everything at once.

+2 STR. +2 AGI. +4 INT. +2 VIT. +3 CHA. +4 PER.

I put away my sword and look around. Julia, that sneaky mug, is right behind me. Every time I approached, she would dash behind my back to dodge the tentacle attacks. And because of her speed, this put me in quite a spot. By some miracle I managed to stay untouched... the luck blessing really is the most powerful.

Zara catches her breath surrounded by applauding guards. It's visible that she's very tired and barely standing. The party window shows that she leveled up to 10, but after such a rough shake-up she needs at least some rest. She carried us solo and didn't spare her strength—it's only fair to give her the bigger share of the quest reward.

She also used up all her mana potions during the fight. I'll definitely buy her new ones if I manage to get to Novalux through the obelisk.

As for the guards themselves—fortunately, everyone quickly adapted to the second phase and no one else died. There are some seriously wounded, but the local healer will handle it. This is really important because I "drew" them into the quest myself. Due to major casualties, the villagers could have formed a bad opinion of me, which would cut off hypothetical cool quests or events in this village. The reputation system in Enchantia is almost like in real life.

To sum up—incomparably more difficult than the fight with the Crypt Keeper, but I need to get used to this. Level 10 bosses are also considered weak. From Patrick's stories and streams, I know that the real fun only starts with bosses around level 40... if I make it that far.

Meanwhile, the Manipulator's death animation finished playing and nothing was left of it. The music changed back to the familiar mysterious tune, which means...

[Quest] "Delivery of Pies" successfully completed!

Collect the reward from Selena.

As soon as I read the last sentence, the active quest window disappeared.

Since they didn't give additional experience, there must be valuable items... But where—

I was distracted by a bright, dark blue glow on the ground where the Manipulator had died. Everyone turned to look in the same direction. After about ten seconds, it reached its peak and began to fade, a human figure becoming visible through it. When the light dimmed, before us appeared... an elderly woman lying face down. I immediately noticed the familiar purple dress, which didn't look as luxurious anymore.

Wow, so Selena really is an old lady. Cool that in the end I didn't lie to Julia, she'll be happy.

Before I could finish this thought, Little Red pushed me aside, rushing to her grandmother. She turns Selena onto her back, who seems to be conscious, and hugs her with tears.

The guards instantly turn away from Zara and line up near their boss. That same Bram started comforting Julia and patting her on the shoulder, apparently this is his second main duty. Interesting scene, but party integrity is more important.

I approach Zara, give her an awkward smile and receive the same in return. Good that we moved away from the general attention.

"How are you? Can you still play?" I ask seriously.

"I'm completely fucking mind-blown, honestly," she finds strength to laugh. "Didn't expect such hardcore in the first hours of the game. My trainer at the gym doesn't push me this hard."

Zara goes to the gym? Now I understand where she gets such a slim figure—that would take forever in the character editor... I'll remember this.

"Yeah, our party needs more people so fights like this would be easier. You're awesome, mad respect!"

"Thanks, you were awesome in the first phase too. Still, I haven't lost my drive to play—haven't felt such a rush from winning in ages. I'll take a short break, grab some of this amazing local food, and then we'll move on. Want to test out what it's like to play with a class and these two new abilities."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Okay! Did you already choose mage? What abilities?"

"Yeah, it was first among the offered classes. The first ability—Shifty Roots—was given after killing the boss, seems like they immobilize the target and deal damage per second; the second—Arcane Surge—after choosing the class, it instantly releases a beam that deals a lot of pure magical damage. Additionally, my Ice Arrow leveled up to 4, and summoning to 2. Now I can summon not only goblins, but also some... respectful kobold. That's exactly how it's written."

If comparing all this with my one ability... better not to compare, I'm totally outclassed. Putting that aside, the coolest thing received is the spell with pure magical damage. Unlike regular magical damage, this one pierces through any magic resistance, like the one on my robe. Perfect weapon against high-resistance creatures and other mages.

"The system was generous, congratulations. Arcane Surge will be the most useful, but Shifty Roots sounds cool too. I'd like to see how they work."

"Well, I'm just about to test the roots on this strange kobold. Kill two birds with one stone," she winked. "Watch."

Her staff's crystal glows brown, there's a flash, and before us appears a small, dog-like creature of the same color. It has a lean build, sharp claws, a long tail... and a very sophisticated suit jacket. The kind you'd see on business people, like lawyers.

"My joy is in serving you, most honorable mistress," the kobold said respectfully and bowed. Interesting that now the entity talks, however its voice inspires absolutely no trust.

"Haha, no one has ever called me that before," Zara smiles. "Your mistress commands you to grow into the ground!"

With these words, she points her staff at the kobold, the crystal glows dark green... But it suddenly skillfully jumps away.

"I'm afraid I disagree with you, most honorable mistress. My growing into the ground does not serve our interests," he said in the most strict tone.

"WHAT?!" she cries out in shock, trying to move the staff away. But it's already too late.

I was standing next to the kobold in the same direction. The spell had time to activate and, of course, identified me as the target. I suddenly feel that I can no longer move.

There's no pain because we're in a party, but the sensation isn't pleasant. My legs literally feel like they've disappeared.

"DEEEEAN!!! I'M SORRYYY!!!" Zara rushes to me and tries to break the roots with her staff.

"It's nothing. We need something sharper here," I take out my sword and carefully cut at the roots. Surprisingly—it works, but I still get to experience phantom pains.

It takes about twenty seconds to deal with the roots. Sensitivity returned gradually and only with the fall of the last root could I move again.

"Most honorable mistress, immobilizing allies also does not serve our interests. Be more careful in the future," the kobold noted instructively.

"FUCK YOU!" she yells with a rage-filled face, pointing her staff at him as the crystal flashes white-purple. The Arcane Surge description doesn't lie—the cast is instant: the thin curved beam leaves not even magical particles of the kobold behind. And it has quite an intimidating sound effect too, similar to lightning.

Satisfied with a hmph, Zara turns to me and blushes slightly. An awkward silence ensues.

"Well, the roots work excellently. Probably with level increases they'll capture the whole body. And with the kobold, you need to be extremely strict," I decide to lighten the mood.

"Yeah... Sorry again. And I was really surprised that the spell affected you, even though we're in a party."

"That's normal, due to the party abilities just don't deal damage, but effects remain. The game doesn't separate spells by types. Theoretically this can be used in complex combinations."

"Got it, I'll be more careful."

"And I'll only hit 10 soon. I hope I get an ability no worse than yours. Only for spellcasting I need something like your staff."

"You'll definitely get something cool! But yeah, the spellcasting item is really a tricky question. I can't imagine where to get one here..."

"Maybe it's easier. Remember Julia talking about the magic obelisk?"

Zara nodded, I explained my teleportation plan to her.

"Wow, handy thing. In that case, I'll go with you. Need to replenish mana potions."

"Better rest, I'll buy potions for you. How many?"

"Uh..." she got embarrassed, "o-okay. I'll transfer the coins now—"

"No, don't worry about it, consider it a gift from the leader. I should look after party members' equipment."

"Thanks! Then... five large ones will be enough."

Man, hope I don't blow all my money...

"Deal, let's go get the reward."

Up close, Selena turned out to be an exact copy of the Manipulator's image, just 40 years older. She barely pulled Julia away from herself, who was for some reason overacting with her joy, gave orders to the guards, heartily thanked Zara and me, and invited us inside.

For her condition—recovery from being inside the Manipulator—Selena moved unusually quickly. Together with Julia, we followed to the second floor, where Selena opened the door to a luxurious large office. Obviously, it belongs to the elder.

After rummaging behind a not-at-all suspicious painting, Selena pulled out a small key. She approached the elder's desk, pulled out one of the drawers, inserted the key somewhere into its wall, and pulled out a second drawer from within. After digging around in there, she took out two pouches and handed them to me. I hurried to open them.

Received [Starleaf Necklace], [Solar Eclipse Talisman].

HOLY SHIT!!! I thought, looking at the necklace.

Quality: Epic.

Passive ability: Twilight Aura. You receive +7 INT, +7 PER, +7% to mana regeneration speed, +7% to mana amount, +7% to spell damage, -7% to spell cost, -7% to spell cooldown time, 7 units of magical armor.

I'm holding an epic quality item for the first time, the buffs fully correspond. Notable that externally it's just intertwined blue-green leaves. Cool, cool, cool! Really want it.

"This necklace was obtained by my husband's brother, may he rest in peace. He was in the adventurers' guild and found it during a raid deep into the forest. Alas, among us locals, there are very few worthy mages, it will be more useful to you," Selena explained.

I looked at the talisman's parameters:

Quality: Unknown.

Possible hidden effect.

And... that's all. This "unknown" wasn't surprising, it's common in deep dungeons. A merchant can determine the quality, usually it's common or rare. But the hidden effect is hard to guess, it automatically manifests only under certain suitable conditions. You still need to figure those out.

"And where's the talisman from?" I asked.

"A trinket from the market, just expensive. So you won't be left without money," Selena winked.

Interesting...

"Don't worry, I'll put items of similar shape in the pouches and my husband won't notice anything. He never touched the talisman or necklace."

"Thank you very much!"

I turn to Zara. Really want to keep the necklace for myself, but I agreed to give her the better reward. Plus, at this moment I'm not a mage, and it somehow suits her better. Money for the talisman is also good.

"Here," I give the girl the necklace, "it'll be more useful to you."

She reads the parameters and her eyes light up. I hold back a smile... though inside I'm almost crying. Gave away my first obtained epic item to another player. Eh, all for party integrity.

"Thanks, it's very cool!" Zara immediately put it on her neck. "And what can the talisman do?"

Apparently didn't hear Selena's answer... for the better.

"This one's cool too, but I'll sell it in Novalux. I can get something more useful with that money. Speaking of which..."

I ask Selena about the main square, it's twenty five minutes away by foot. According to her, the obelisk is working, some archer teleported through it a couple days ago.

Time to unlock mana.