“Fuck, this hurts…”
Mikella cursed as she was forcibly dragged by Myra after sustaining a heavy injury at her hip.
It came out of nowhere. She was fighting alongside three other soldiers, ones who she knew to be Myra and her friends who were actually twins. They faced an inpossibly large duck monster that looked like it could eat the bear.
Yes. It was a giant duck monster. Standing on two of its flippers, its bulky feathery body looked like a cartoon bodybuilder chicken that could take any hit. Its face was exactly like a duck, a large flat beak with beady eyes, but it roared (or quacked?) at them with fury. It fully spread its muscled wings for arms wide as the feathers were sharp enough to clash with swords.
While she was trying to deal some attacks with her Heavenly Strike to deal a good blow, it suddenly turned around and slashed at her with a swipe.
It wasn’t all that fast, but it was quick on the uptake. She yelled out in pain, the winged swipe managing to slice deep into the muscle. Not even Zeke could’ve protected her from that sudden reaction time, something that she herself should’ve realized.
When the crazy duck was ready to end her, one of the male soldiers came up behind it and swung his sword down the monster’s head, splitting its skull and killing it instantly.
As the duck monster lay still, blood pouring where its birdbrain should be, Myra took up Mikella while the other two helped guard them. They quickly headed over to the emergency shelter Zeke created.
“That’s what you get for being greedy,” Myra chastised, but Mikella could tell she wasn’t upset about it. She was right that Mikella was too greedy to retreat, but the duck was a lot faster than they realized–despite it being a damn duck.
They entered inside the shelter and Mikella had this sense of security return once again. She knew instantly by the mana surrounding the air. She didn’t have Mana Perception, but she can at least feel the magic according to Val’s training. It was important for her to sense magic in case she needed to dodge a magical spell.
While it was safe inside here, It wasn’t exactly peaceful as the magic wall was transparent, allowing them to see the fight going outside. Of course, it was the same for the monsters outside, so when they saw a group of heavily injured soldiers, they tried to go after it.
But the barrier withheld all their attacks as the soldiers outside took the chance for some easy kills. It was basically baiting the monsters to attack them while the soldiers rested inside, enjoying a literal bloody show.
The healer was working overtime, having another healer, a woman this time, come in for aid. Realizing that Mikella came in, the female healer grabbed an actual chair from the ramparts for her to sit on.
Once they got into position, the healer did her magic. Mikella felt energy enter her body from the female healer’s hand on her hip. It was painful at first–not the hand on her wound, but the foreign energy entering inside of her. It was practically burning her for a sharp instant, like getting cauterized without the wound getting fixed.
Soon, her body recognized that it wasn’t dangerous as she could feel the foreign mana clawing towards her body, her health–or life energy–eating it up like mad.
“Ow!” Mikella winced and hissed, surprising the healer.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” The healer apologized. “I’m still not used to healing. You might feel some pinches and such.”
“I-It’s okay,” Mikella shook her head. “Sorry, I’m more used to Zeke’s healing.”
“Ah, yes. He told me he has a Rare rarity healing skill. I’m so envious of that. It looks like it makes healing others a lot easier.”
Mikella could tell that she earnestly longs for Zeke’s skill. Having a Rare healing skill basically jumpstarts the healing process faster, and makes it easier for the patient. Considering the slight pain, it was clear that the female healer has an Uncommon healing spell, but Mikella wouldn’t begrudge the woman for that.
She was just thankful to be healed at all, her wounds slowly closing from being a fatal threat.
“Man, this barrier is convenient,” Myra whistled, looking over at the giant barrier surrounding them. Mikella couldn’t help but flash a toothy grin at her.
“Right? That’s how we managed to survive in the forest,” Mikella said, though she frowned when she saw one of the monsters aiming for the wall next to her, slamming against it and making a loud thunking noise. “I just wished we could get rid of the noise, though.”
“Hey, take what you can get,” Myra said, shaking her head in bewilderment. “Your husband, Zeke, right? He’s a real game-changer. Even having a healing skill on top of that.”
“Right,” Mikella answered. Though she wished she had enough maturity to stop herself from blushing from hearing Zeke being called her husband. They were still feeding everyone that the two were married to avoid getting hounded about their relationship.
“Ugh, I fucking hate you,” Myra said, groaning with faux despair. “Do you have any idea how much time and healing potions you’ll save as you level? Lucky…”
For some fighters, the worst part of training is the lack of training. One gets hurt occasionally, and if they aren’t stupid, they’ll stop training and return to recover. Just like stamina and mana, health takes a while to recover, even if you have a high Meditation skill. And for some fighters, being in top shape is essential, so if one can instead have a healer by their side as they fight, they can continuously fight and level, immediately gaining more XP in the long run.
Oh, and save a shit ton of money to spend on better quality weapons than on a massive amount of potions. That’s also a pretty good deal.
Now that I think about it, I’m actually pretty lucky, aren’t I?
With all these advantages from having Zeke by her side, she can easily get stronger as time progresses. As the idea of gaining so many levels that her head was spinning, Myra took her out of her musings with some important advice.
“Hey, you got some notifications, right?” She mentioned. “Open them and level up. You’re gonna need some power ups.”
Mikella nodded and did so instantly, realizing that in the corner of her vision, a constantly blinking icon full of notifications was there. She opened it, seeing several notifications dropping one at a time.
> You have gained +2 STR from your actions.
>
> You have gained +1 DEX from your actions.
>
> You have gained +1 VIT from your actions.
>
> You have gained +1 END from your actions.
…..
> Level up! You are now Level 13. You gain 6 free points (6 FP total).
>
> You have gained +3 STR from your class.
> You have gained +3 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +3 END from your class.
…..
> Kinetic Perception Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END from your skill.
…..
> Pain Resistance Level Up! It is now Level 4.
>
> You have gained +1 VIT from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END from your skill.
…..
> Sword Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
…..
> Heavenly Strike Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
>
> Decreased stamina and mana consumption.
> Increased damage.
Mikella gaped at the sight. she was just thinking about the idea of gaining so many levels when it already happened right in front of her.
She gained not only three levels, making her level 13, she gained a plethora of skill levels, including her Heavenly Strike. It was surprising to see that it didn’t give her attribute increases but instead told her of its improvement. It was a blessing considering just how costly the skill was.
Though she did feel a bit ashamed that she never actually landed a proper hit onto anyone yet.
But she quickly changed her mind as all those improvements rushed to her body, the adrenaline filling her like no other. Power was literally flowing all over.
“Whoa, you okay?” Myra asked, putting a comforting hand on Mikella’s shoulder. “How many levels did you get?”
“T-Three, with a lot of skill levels” Mikella managed to say, shaking her head slightly as she felt a headache coming on.
“That figures,” Myra nodded understandingly. “You’re low level, so this much killing should net you a lot of XP!”
Mikella smiled. “Looks like I’m getting that much closer to kicking your ass once and for all.”
Myra scoffed at the idea, but Mikella could tell that she was actually happy with her success.
She smiled, comforting Myra that she did a good job looking out for her as she checked her status again. She decided to use her free points to up her Endurance and Vitality, just to be safe since she didn’t want to get sucker punched like before by some stupid duck.
> Name: Mikella Ashton (Opportunist)
> Race: Human
> Dragon Warrior: Level 13
> STR: 31
> DEX: 35
> INT: 7
> SPI: 7
> VIT: 20
> END: 32
> Free Points: 0
>
> General Skills:
> Kinetic Perception (U) Level 2
> Sword Mastery (U) Level 5
> Pain Resistance (U) Level 4
> Meditation (C) Level 3
>
> Acquired Skills:
> Acrobatics (R) Level 3
> Hawk Eyes (R) Level 2
>
> Class Skills:
> Heavenly Strike Level 2
>
> Title Skill:
> Not-Lucky Shot (T), Level 1 (Maxed)
Her Hawk Eyes definitely saved her a few times, often finishing a fight early by attacking the weak point for increased damage, and continuing to do so for each weak monster she encountered. The less time she can deal with the small fry, the more she can help the other soldiers taking down the bigger foes.
She did notice the barriers obviously helping her around her vicinity. Instead of trying to protect someone, they instead get in the way of the monsters, actually helping the soldiers by taking them down by distracting them. That also included protecting them from attacks that would’ve been troublesome to deal with, such as the giant gorilla planning on destroying the earth with its fists.
Everything seemed to be according to plan, but then she noticed something in the distance. She saw a monster she hadn't seen before, a large furry thing.
Compared to the ape, it was wiry in form and taller than wider, but it had compact muscles that could wrench steel on their own.
That brought some shivers down her spine, the kind that made her nervous. That isn’t an ordinary creature, she was sure. And her Identify made it all the more clearer.
> Big Boss Monkey, Level ??
Oh fuck.
“Myra, look over there!” Mikella called out, but it looked like it was futile as pretty much everyone saw the creature coming in, their faces turning pale.
“What is that thing?” Myra said. “I haven’t seen that come around before. Why is it here?”
Before they could tell what exactly it was doing here, the giant monkey, the Big Boss, picked up something that looked like one of the trees that fell over during the assault. They created some mayhem not just for the monsters, but for the surrounding areas as well.
Then the monkey looked as though it was shaving the top end of the broken tree log, actually… sharpening it with its claws. It was a huge monkey, so it looked like it was trying to sharpen a stick with its bare hands.
The monkey hoisted it up over its shoulder, not being seen by anyone else other than Val who ordered them loudly, using her very lungs to call them out.
“Watch out! It’s–!”
Then the monkey threw the log turned into a spear, with a force that was equal to a tank shooting out a missile. The monkey’s surroundings were blasted apart from the shockwaves it produced, pushing away both the soldiers and even the monsters surrounding it.
Mikella felt something was wrong. The log spear was nowhere near where the soldiers were, nor even to the special barrier surrounding them. Instead, the log spear flew high into the air, aiming somewhere behind them. Her heart froze as she turned, finding the target herself.
“Zeke!”
…..
It was just for an instant. Zeke, with his understanding of his Barrier Craft skill to the point of becoming instinctual, conjured his barrier in front of him with as much mana as he could produce.
But it wasn’t enough. The log spear crashed into the barrier, exploding right in his face.
His vision flashed in white hot pain as the area around him broke and shattered apart. Broken wood and stone, splinters raining like snow as dust and debris filled the air.
It took him a moment to reconfigure his senses, finding himself bleeding from his cheek and forehead, his robe shredded with bits of blood staining them.
The other mages at his side were downed, some even bleeding around their limbs and torsos. He looked back at the log, half of it looked as though it was squashed, broken in smithereens.
Then he realized it did break in smithereens, his barrier managing to stop the impact. However, it didn’t stop the resulting force that charged along with it. His barrier broke, leaving the rest of the force to blow everyone away. The log, however, fell to the still-stable rampart flooring.
If he hadn’t put up his barrier at the time, he would’ve been skewered along with the rest of the mages around him. That thought alone got him to breath heavily, his heart pumping overtime, trying to calm his rising panic.
It wasn’t over yet. There were a plethora of noises coming from the clearing. Zeke forced himself to peek over the ramparts’ half-broken walls, noticing the monsters becoming roused.
Each one was channeling all their efforts to throw large rocks and broken wood that they could find. While their aim was terrible, it was clear–they were aiming for the mages.
Or… was it to him?
“Shit!”
Zeke flinched when he noticed one of the mages coming up near him, the other mages trying to help the injured from the ground.
“They picked up where you were!” The male mage turned to Zeke, not angry but concern shown in his eyes. “They found out you’re the main target!”
Zeke wanted to do what everyone would obviously do–haul ass and run away. But his mind brought him back to reality as he faced the mage, making sure to keep hiding from the monster’s vision.
“What do I do?” Zeke asked. “Should I put up a barrier?”
“You think you can make a stronger barrier?” The mage asked, ready to cast a spell as he summoned a fireball in his hands. “Enough to last us a few strikes?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Nodding, the mage threw his fireball spell with a roar, causing the ball of flames to land and explode. It burned a circle of monsters that were conveniently huddled together for him as a target. As the sweet sound of explosions echoed in his ears, Zeke gathered up the remaining mana but grimaced. His earlier barrier sapped him of his remaining mana, barely leaving a trickle to make a proper one.
Thanks to his practice, he could tell that making anything stronger that could handle another attack like the log spear would put him at zero, something that he wanted to avoid. But in the corner of his eyes, he saw another mage, a female one, handing something over to him.
It was a bottle, colored blue from the liquid inside. He took it without really thinking, and his confused eyes Identified the flask in his hand.
> Mana Potion
> Restorative liquid distilled from magically charged herbs. Restores mana at a significant rate.
“A Mana potion,” She answered his query. “Drink up, it’ll restore your mana.”
The female mage left it at that, turning to the crowd of monsters before her and summoning her own spell. She created a blade of wind that circled around her and cloned itself three times. Then, each of the blades made entirely of air swooped in and began slicing the monsters apart.
It was of a lower potency compared to before, but it allowed her full control as each blade avoided the soldiers fighting off the other creatures, reaping their lives like a flying god of death.
Zeke turned back to the potion in hand. He didn’t even know what it would taste like, but he uncorked the top of the flask and drank it whole. He didn’t care what it tasted like, or what kind of side effects it would bring.
If he doesn’t do anything, people will die. That was the only reason he drank it full heartedly.
For a moment, the liquid was intensifying his taste buds, but he didn’t really pick up any flavor as a microsecond later, the taste was just gone. Now it was just bland, like drinking water that was colored.
But he also sensed something else. A warm feeling spread throughout his body. Compared to eating the attribute fruits, this rush of warmth burned him from the inside. But in a good way. It sizzled his insides, burning his stomach that made him wince.
As soon as the liquid was consumed, the burning feeling in his chest vanishing, he checked himself to find that his mana recovered to at least half of the entire whole.
Deciding to do what’s best, he poured as much Mana into his next barrier, draining all of the recovered mana he just received back to its original state–but it was enough.
Zeke turned up in front of the monsters behind the roof’s walls, somehow rousing them to try attacking again. He balled his hand into a fist before spreading his fingers wide, conjuring a powerful barrier right in front of the mages.
It spread all around the ramparts, making sure that if he wasn’t the target, then the other mages would be covered. This got the mages to stop attacking, and instead focus on the spells with better control now that a barrier was right in front of them. Thankfully, none complained about having a barrier shoved into their faces–probably because they didn’t want another log spear flown right at them.
The monsters continuously tried to throw projectiles at them, but the barrier kept pace. Soon the projectiles grew larger, such as flying boulders and heavy logs that weren’t sharpened.
But none broke through so far, his strong barrier keeping pace. The other mages couldn’t seem any gladder as they happily used more controlled spells to go around the barrier, attacking the monsters as best as they could.
Meanwhile, Zeke focused his mind on the battle. Despite surviving that horrid surprise attack, he had a feeling that this wasn’t over yet.