Chapter 103
“Unexpected Encounters” Part 4
“My main skill is on cooldown," Kalysto whispered, her voice tinged with annoyance. Rita, how’s yours?
“I just used it," the fire mage clarified.
“Fire creation or fireball?”
“Fire creation," Kalysto nodded. “And I’m about to run out of mana again," the young mage commented with concern as the three of them watched the huge demon crushing houses and everything in his path as he descended towards the carriage next to which the court mages were fighting.
With each step he took, he moved a little further away from them, much to their relief.
But the fear that he would change direction at any moment was reflected in their faces.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kalysto watched the next wave of monsters coming down the street and frowned, then turned her attention to the purple notification to her left.
[Warning! The skill Ice Creation cannot be used at this time. User must wait 1:30 minutes before being able to use it again!]]
“Shit!” she whispered, realizing that there was no way she could use her skill before the next wave of monsters reached them.
Kalysto ran backwards immediately, drawing the attention of the other two heroes, who in alarm immediately followed her.
“What are you doing?” Koden asked. The anxiety was palpable in his tone of voice.
“I already told you. My main skill is still on cooldown, so I must use the other one, and for that I need ice," added Kalysto, turning back to where the orcs she had frozen a few minutes ago were standing. “Rita, a mage without mana, is a dead mage! Here, and drink it!” She said loudly, pulling from her inventory one of the mana vials she had looted from the enemy army the first day she arrived in Elinor, and tossing it to the fire mage who was quick to catch it as it bounced into her hands. “Pay for it as soon as you can!”
“Thank you!” Rita hurried to say, her gaze full of gratitude as she watched the wave of monsters running towards them getting closer and closer. “I assure you I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the chance!.... But please next time don’t throw it at me. I’m not very good at grabbing things and I almost dropped it!”
Kalysto, instead of answering her, smiled half-sideways and bent down, so that her palms touched the frozen street.
“Koden, protect the front and make sure none of them get to me!” The young tank nodded his head and stood in front of Kalysto, protecting them both with his huge shield as several beads of sweat trickled down his neck. “Rita, throw fireballs at anyone who gets past my ice, but try to save the creation skill, and let me know when you’re ready to use it!”
“Consider it done!” Rita replied, turning to face the enemy army with the dagger she never returned after the wolf attack, and which Kalysto had advised her to always carry hidden inside her boots. Along with the sword she took from the fallen soldier.
Tension invaded Rita and Koden as the seconds ticked by and the enemy was now only a few meters away at the same time as the sound of the demon’s footsteps and the destruction it caused as it walked echoed in their ears.
Meanwhile, Kalysto pulled a super-concentrated mana potion from her inventory, one of the ones Caranthir had given her during the invasion, and took a sip. Then she touched the ice again.
“Ice manipulation!” she whispered, focusing on deflecting much of the ice she had created earlier and with which she had pierced the bodies of her enemies. The bodies of the orcs and panthers fell to the ground, their blood staining the street red and blue as the ice pooled around them and a shiver ran down Koden’s back as he felt the temperature around him drop.
Suddenly, the demon stopped its advance.
And instead of finishing down the streets, he needed to reach the carriage that the court mages were defending. He stretched out his hand. A thin magic circle spread out in front of his open palm and a gigantic fireball erupted from his circle, destroying the carriage and killing some of the unsuspecting wizards who had been too busy fighting the orcs and panthers to escape the unexpected attack in time.
And while the huge demon smiled at his current feat, the smile died quickly as soon as he felt a stream of mana changing almost close to where he stood. And immediately turned towards the strange source of cold air.
“I think it saw us already!” Rita announced fearfully as Kalysto impaled fifteen monsters with a single blow.
But another twenty were coming behind.
And as Kalysto prepared to execute the next group of monsters, the demon expelled a breath of fire in their direction.
“Shit!” Rita and Koden shouted at the same time, drawing Kalysto’s attention.
“Ice creation!” Conjured Kalysto quickly, erecting a large wall in front of them, protecting them from the worst of the attack.
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But the great amount of fire that kept pouring out of the demon’s mouth melted the edges of the wall protecting them, and burned most of the monsters that came to attack them.
“Not to be negative or ungrateful, but are you sure this wall can really protect us?” Koden asked with his face as pale as a hospital sheet.
“Shut up and let me concentrate!” Kalysto answered while she was running out of mana as the fire kept pounding against her ice wall. “How powerful are the lungs of that thing?” She complained, at the same time she pulled out a small mana stone with her right hand, keeping the ice creation spell with her left hand. “Absorb!” she whispered. And despite her efforts not to be heard, Koden seemed to do so, although this time he kept silent.
[Does the user wish to absorb this mana crystal?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought, on the spot.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 4000 MP!]
[The user has received a message from the fairy Hanna! Do you wish to open it now?]
[YES/NO]
Can I receive messages? She thought, filling herself with surprise. But all thought of that was erased from her mind as she received the following notification.
[Warning! The user has acquired too many MPs and has exceeded their body’s capacity to hold them! Creation of a Mana circle is recommended to increase your capacity!]]
Recalling with dread what happened the last time she received that notification, Kalysto immediately channeled much of her mana and sent it towards her palms, expelling it in the form of ice, reinforcing the wall that was getting thinner and thinner, to the point where for a few seconds it had allowed them to clearly see the fire on the other side of the wall.
“Okay," Rita whispered. “Now I understand why you curse so much," she muttered as she bit her lip and her chest rose and fell along with the accelerated rhythm of her breathing. “That was too close for my liking," she muttered and her voice cracked at the end of the sentence.
A loud cough alerted the other two young people, causing them to turn their heads to look at Kalysto, watching in terror as blood trickled from their protector’s lips.
“What’s wrong?” Koden was alarmed as Rita knelt down beside the former waitress.
“How can I help you?” said Rita at the same time.
With trembling hands, Kalysto took out the bottle of holy water her boss had given her.
Rita immediately picked it up, preventing it from falling from her hands, and tried to give it to her. But Kalysto turned her face away, coughing again and spilling even more blood against the floor as she continued to hold the ice creation spell with her trembling left hand.
“One minute! Cough! We have to wait one minute! Cough! Cough! You must wait ten minutes between potions or they will lose their effect! Cough!” Kalysto warned her and Rita immediately nodded her head, checking her wristwatch to count the time.
“What, who thought of such a stupid rule?” Koden complained, as the flames finally ceased.
[Warning! The user has acquired too many MPs and has exceeded their body’s capacity to hold them! Creation of a Mana circle to increase your capacity is recommended!]]
If it were that easy to do I’d have more than one by now! She thought with annoyance.
And the noise of battle increased, listening closer this time. The amount of mana fluctuating in the air made the hairs on Kalysto’s and Rita’s arms stand up.
“What do you think that is?” Koden whispered fearfully.
“Surely the court wizards cough! They finally decided they had to get rid of it, Cough! Cough!” growled Kalystoy. Just before the sound of heavy footsteps began to sound closer and closer.
The three young fellows turned their heads at the same time only to see about a hundred monsters finish descending the street in their direction and a gentle breeze carried the smell of burning flesh to their noses, reminding them of how close they were to having been the ones who ended up completely charred just a few meters away.
“Shit!” Kalysto complained, at the same time Rita shouted.
“It’s about time!” The fire mage immediately brought the uncorked bottle close to Kalysto’s face, who managed to take three big sips before she started coughing again.
“Shit," Kalysto growled through gritted teeth as she felt the stabbing of thousands of needles piercing her entire body.
[The passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.]
[The passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
Even with her skills activated, she managed to feel a slight discomfort in her head.
I need to spend some mana before I end up fainting again! She thought with some fear. I need to remember that I can only absorb small stones for a next time!
Immediately, she touched the ice with both hands.
“Koden, step aside!” She ordered him, and the young man, surprised by her sudden change, obeyed her immediately.
“Kalysto, are you sure you’re all right? You look very pale," Rita questioned, worried about her new friend’s health.
“Too much mana use," summed up the fairy champion, downplaying the matter. “Ice manipulation!” She conjured, causing the wall to lose its shape and slide along the ground until it reached the feet of the monsters approaching them, freezing their lower limbs and then their trunks in a matter of mere seconds.
Wanting to speed up the process, she invested more mana in it. Covering even the bases of their necks of the shorter ones, and up to half of the chest of the taller ones, in ice. Stopping the advance of at least forty monsters in a matter of seconds.
“Koden, cut off their heads! And Rita, please count another ten minutes. If I pass out, be sure to let Koden know so we can escape to where the saintess is. At least there our wounds will be healed.
“Wouldn’t it be better to escape while the others are distracted?” She questioned, not understanding why they were staying.
“Excessive use of mana is harmful to our bodies. Until a few weeks ago, we had no such thing. The saintess can heal the internal damage that its excessive use causes us.”
“Why the hell didn’t they explain something as important as that to us?” she replied annoyed.
[You have gained 2 experience points!] x2
“Because our welfare is not important to them. They just need us to do their dirty work and then they will most likely get rid of us,” she clarified.
“Why, it doesn’t make sense for them to do such a thing after all the work it took them to bring us in! Besides, isn’t it easier to just send us back?”
“Would you let someone who is stronger than you and has no loyalty to you stay in your kingdom?” she asked her instead. “And when we came to this world, did you see the army of corpses near the entrance?” Rita nodded her head. “I suspect they used them as a sacrifice so they could summon all of us," Rita wanted to plead with her. But then her brow furrowed and she closed her mouth again.
[You’ve gained 1 experience point!] x3
“You’re right in believing that they don’t shake their hand in getting rid of someone...just look at what they did with my father," she whispered. And the fire in her eyes promised revenge.