After Zeke and Mikella picked up their gear, they returned home so that Zeke could say goodbye to Clara, leaving her with Mikella as he went out to work.
He honestly felt like leaving his wife and child to go and make a living for themselves, and the way they waved back at him when he left made a funny feeling in his chest he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with.
The only thing he can think of to compensate for that feeling is to come back safe and sound–only after getting his bread.
He went along with Val who left with him to the entrance. All the while, Val informs Zeke on what they plan to do, and even discusses her worries about the incoming horde.
It was strange how the horde wasn’t coming back like usual, and even stranger that despite going out and training for a whole month hunting the remnants, they still haven’t found a direct cause. Cloud was still speaking at length with the General about the plan, something that was made clear how Cloud often comes back with a grumpy look on his face.
The general, known as Zacharia, is also going through some things. It wasn’t like he was a bad person, according to Val, just that he is adamant in his duties. While Zeke wanted to agree with her, the idea of meeting the man still frightened him. Apparently he wanted to meet the new visitors, and something told him that he might be persistent on figuring out where they truly came from.
Putting that horrific thought aside, they reached the entrance of the town. The studded star in the sky was bright with clear blue sky behind it, making it another good day to traverse the forest. There were a few times where rhe clouds overhead would gather and make things difficult for the group. And when it rains, it would be one of the days where they have a day off. It was one of those days where Zeke realized just how antsy Mikella was, and only realized now that her agitation was due to her not getting her fix of fighting for the day.
The other soldiers paid attention and straightened themselves to a salute to the captain who arrived with the mage in tow.
“Everyone!” Captain Val spoke up, her voice loud and clear. “I have an announcement!”
Everyone gathered up around the captain immediately, knowing full well not to ignore her orders. Once they did, a large number of the soldiers paid attention to Zeke on his side, making him feel their stares drilling straight into him. Did Mikella go through this too?
“As you know, I was forced to suspend Mikella off the expedition,” Val said, her tone implying a tough but fair decree. “Due to several circumstances, it was revealed that she was suffering a case of Class Madness. Something that occurs when a warrior delves too deep into leveling. That’s not to say it made her incapable of fighting, but it should be noted that taking care of your mental state is just as important as taking care of your physical state. But for now, I have some good news.”
Val turned to Zeke, getting him to pay attention. “Today, we’ll have Zeke in our expedition, and I’ll have him come and switch groups every so often to help support the team with his skills. As you know by now, his barrier magic is top notch, his healing skill is extraordinary, and better yet–he had been improving his runecrafting. I’m certain he will be a great benefit for all of us.”
The other soldiers exclaimed in delight, turning to each other in shock and surprise to find that they’ll have the barrier mage on their side. Even more so now that he can heal and do runes. This clearly made Zeke more nervous than he should be, despite doing his best for the past month to increase his usefulness in combat.
Still, if being a support mage made him regarded this much, he worried just how much expectations were being placed on him.
However, Val’s reassuring pat on his back made him look back to see her smiling gently at him.
“Don’t worry about it. All you need to do is do your best and your abilities will come through.”
Despite Zeke trying his hardest not to show so much nervous energy, it was clear that Val could read him like a book. Still, her words echoed in his head as he nodded in agreement. The only thing he can do is to try his best, and nothing else.
And so, the expedition started in earnest, with Zeke being put in a rotating schedule every few hours while being put in different groups across the forest.
…..
The expedition was as Mikella said it would be. It was, to put it mildly, pretty boring.
But truthfully, that’s just how most expeditions into the forest go. Sometimes they wander around, discovering little snippets of information that could have told them why the hordes gathered up as they did. On the other hand, they also do their best to gather as much wood and herbs as possible to make resources for fuel and salves for the smaller injuries. Healers need to save as much mana as they could for future dangers, so making salves and medicine for nearly free was a priority.
All the while, Zeke continued with a clear focus in mind. His barrier is always there, that much he knew, but he also needs to recognize that sometimes fights can turn dangerous once his barriers don't work anymore.
That’s when his runes come in. Well, almost.
He had some ideas during the past month, possible arrays that he saved into his Runic Library.
Though he worried whether he would end up focusing so much into trying to make runic spells that he forgot to do his job as a supporter. He feared of losing someone because of his carelessness, so he opted to just do exactly that–supporting others.
Before he realized it, Myra came up to talk to him. He was in her group first, with her being the lead for now. She did her best to keep up with Mikella during her solo hunting, so she ended up promoted into a lead soldier for the group to follow.
“Hey Zeke,” Myra spoke up. “How’s Mikky doing? Is she doing alright?”
“Oh, yeah,” Zeke nodded. “She’s doing fine. Better, actually. She gets to play with Clara which was a long time coming,” He smiled, remembering how happy Clara was to have Mikella back to stay for a while.
“Oh, that’s great,” Myra said, her exclamation the same as letting out a breath of relief. “Still, I gotta apologize… I’m not sure what happened, but I should’ve been more aware of how Mikky’s been doing.”
“It’s okay,” Zeke shook his head. He still felt uncomfortable recalling how upset he was when he first found the knocked out Mikella. “Things got pretty intense, but in the end, nobody got really hurt. Well, Mikella did, but she’s a tough girl so she’ll be fine.”
“Ain’t that right,” Myra cackled, but she quickly doused her excitement as she cleared her throat. “W-Well, just make sure to tell her that we’ll be happy to have her back.”
“Thank you” Zeke nodded, recalling something. He grimaced as he spoke. “About Mikella’s behavior… I hope nobody thinks of her badly. She’s just… well…”
“It’s fine,” Myra waved it off with a small smile. “Class Madness happens sometimes, even worse if she had a rare class too. Considering how you guys were like, I’m not all that surprised she didn’t know about it.”
“Yeah,” Zeke looked forward. Putting his thoughts into words. “I’m sure Mikella would be happy to hear you say that. She said that she feels really shitty for how she acted, and especially over what she said. She told me that she never meant a single word, but still deserved to be punished for them.”
Especially the words turned to Val, but that much was to be expected after getting her ass handed to her.
“Thanks,” Myra grinned. “But make sure to tell her that if she takes my kill again, she won’t have to worry about Val punishing her– I’ll be the one teaching her a lesson.”
Myra spat out a loogie to the side, her face distorting slightly into annoyance. Zeke flinched at that. He heard about that one and as a gamer, that much was to be expected. He would be pissed off too if someone came along and killed his prey.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Zeke apologized, for some reason. “She’s not… uhh…”
“Don’t get me wrong, I like that girl,” Myra explained, lifting her hand. “I knew she was a little loopy, but still, manners are manners.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I’ll make sure to tell her that. I actually agree to having good manners when slaughtering monsters just chilling in the forest.”
Myra laughed it off as well as her two buddies, the twin brothers, who heard him. Zeke grinned, glad that his shitty joke did wonders. It was a strange experience. It was sort of like having a studious classmate hanging out with a bunch of sport jocks from school. Still, despite their way of progress, the soldiers treated Zeke well… but he also couldn’t help but think they’re only doing that because he’s a support mage.
I remember some parties favoring their healer all the time so they won’t leave the group. Nobody wants to play a healer as often so they’re pretty rare.
He heard there were classes for healing, but they were either Clerics, Priests, or Paladins belonging to the church. The church doesn’t have their influence in Eve Glade, so the healers here only got the common Heal skill–a rather difficult skill to learn that takes time to learn after a long time working in clinics and medical institutions.
He wondered whether he should learn that himself, considering his Recovery skill, but Cloud assured him that having the skill already was good enough. As for the religious classes, they have Class Skills that makes healing easier and more effective, even having barriers like he did.
In a way, Zeke was already like a Priest or Cleric, except his main focus is runes. All in all, he thought he got ahead when it came to having a good kit. That did make him worried whether his only purpose is to be a healing bot, though.
But soon his worries were put to the side once their group met a group of monsters. A big number according to their estimates. The shrubbery shifted about as a bunch of bird-like creatures flew out from the confines of the crowns on the trees, constantly moving about in the air.
They were huge birds, their wings flapping and shifting the air around them like vibrations. His Identify caught that they were Dire Hummingbirds, and that already made it strange just how many dire type beasts are out there. Hummingbirds, though, was a new thing for him.
Then again, Mikella did mention that she fought a swan instead of a duck, so that was something.
“Alright boys, get ready!” Myra shouted, getting everyone to unsheath their weapons. “We got some flyers!”
“Goddamit, I hate these things,” Jackie, the twin brother to the left, shouted. “My shield can’t do jack shit to these things!”
“Watch out for your eyes, they like to peck ‘em!” Maxie, the twin brother to the right, shouted to the other soldiers.
The other three soldiers beside the main three Zeke knew also stood guard. There were three men, each one carrying a bladed weapon of a spear, a dagger and short sword combo, and a large axe.
One of the flyers, the Dire Hummingbird, somehow picked out its opponent as it headed straight for the axe-wielder. The man grimaced as he tried to swing at it, but the bird was just too fast to catch.
“Goddamit!” The axeman growled. “Stay still!”
The bird, however, refused to do so as it used its large beak to jab at its hands, causing the axeman’s skin to get cut apart while blood flowed.
“Fuck!”
“Get them! Don’t let them flank the heavy-attackers!” Myra shouted. “And for gods’ sake, don't let them attack the mage!”
Zeke was left flabbergasted at it all. The other soldiers moved around him, forming a somewhat guard around him, protecting him from the birds around him. His mind was still catching up since there was so many soldiers around and so many monsters to face.
But once his mind cleared of the initial attack, which he was embarrassed to say that it made him flinch after being out of battle for so long, he focused on his surroundings He saw one of the flyers heading straight towards the axeman who gathered up in front of Zeke for protection. Figuring that he can’t hit for shit, he’ll at least use his body to guard the mage.
Zeke can’t let that happen to him. He raised his hand and casted his spell.
A wall of turquoise energy was conjured right in front of the charging bird, stopping it in its flight. It came up so suddenly that the bird slammed into the wall of light, surprising the other soldiers as the bird fell to the ground. It got so stumped by the wall that it flitted about on the ground.
Zeke just stood there waiting for the soldiers to react, but instead they just looked at it as though they didn’t know what to do.
“What are you guys doing?” Zeke ended up shouting. “Kill the thing!”
Zeke wondered whether he took it too far by demanding them to kill the monster like some sort of pompous son of a noble leader, but that proved to be wrong. The soldiers immediately jumped on the chance, using their bladed weapons to slash and stab the poor bird on the ground, probably still dizzy from the hit.
Now Zeke felt a little bad for it. Then again, it did peck the axeman’s fingers to be a riddling mess of wounds, so it deserved to die a cruel death.
The other birds realized that one of their own was down, so they started ramping up the attacks by attacking the spear-wielder, Myra.
She was doing well, but she specialized more in her power than speed, so she often missed her attacks. Being the first battle of the expedition, she wanted to conserve her energy, but at this point, she’s going to get her eyes pecked out.
So Zeke did his thing and put up walls around the birds, stopping their flights as best he could. Each wall was short and sudden, coming into existence at the first second then disappearing the next. He felt the barrier to be more precise and easier to conjure, and the heavy thuds the birds made after hitting them proved how damn tough they were despite the extremely small amount of mana he used to create them.
The gloves were making this way easier than the time he was at the horde battle. He wondered seriously just how the hell he managed to survive.
Once the birds were distracted by the walls that kept getting in their way of their flight paths, they often ended up getting stabbed and pierced by the soldier’s weapons. Some even had the bad luck of slamming into the wall after being cut so many times by the other soldiers that it actually died right there, falling to the ground and turning limp. Zeke felt the system’s energy passing through him, meaning that somehow that kill was his own, so he gained experience points from it.
Oooh, free kill, Zeke giggled maniacally to himself, rubbing the palms of his hands together like a psychopath.
Eventually, the dire hummingbirds all died out, their corpses on the ground with the soldiers panting and sweating from a job well done. Once the situation was sorted out, each of the soldiers cheered from utter delight at their first fight with the flying type monsters, something that surprised Zeke for a bit.
“Yes! Thank the gods that’s over with!” Maxie shouted with sheer delight, slapping his brother’s hand in a high five.
“To think we got the shitty luck of facing fucking birds today…” One soldier, the spear-wielding one, complained as he let out a breath.
“Shit, that barrier is so damn good to have!” Another soldier, the dual-wielding soldier, cheered.
Zeke didn’t know what else to say except turning to the leader of the group, Myra, walking towards him. “Glad that everyone made it out okay.”
“Yeah, all thanks to you,” Myra said with a gleeful grin. “Here I thought the barrier was only good to protect us. I didn’t think you could use it to send these little fuckers to hell.”
For good measure, Myra kicked the giant bird’s corpse, the size being close to a dog if anything. Zeke figured that it was a melee fighter sort of thing to hate flying type monsters. God knows he hated dealing with them with a sword and shield in one of his video games.
“Godsdammit,” The axewielder, a big man whose axe was already sheathed to his back, grimaced while looking at his hands. “I don’t think I can carry my weapon at this rate. Damn birds got me good.”
“Shit… that looks bad,” One of the brothers, Jackie, went up and winced at the state of the axeman’s hands. Zeke went up towards it, nearly grimacing at the sight.
The man’s hands were pecked all over, open cuts and blood pouring out. He could actually see some muscle tissue in there, something that looked like a total nightmare to deal with.
“Shit…” Myra hissed at the sight. “And we don’t got a potion either. What about Meditation?”
“It’ll heal, but not by a lot. Even if the wounds are gone, they’ll still gonna ache…”
“Hey, remember guys,” Zeke said, smiling. “I got a healing skill. I can at least… well, maybe I can make it better.”
“You think so?” The axeman asked, hope in his voice. “I’ll take anything. I just wanna make it hurt less…”
Zeke could tell that the axeman wasn’t some wimp that can’t handle pain like this. That would be pointless for a soldier. Still, if his hands were left in this state, it would make wielding his weapon, his lifeline, nearly impossible from the pain. If he gets distracted, it’ll only end up with his death.
So Zeke stared at the hands and put his own hands over them.
Recovery.
Mana particles left his hands and entered into the axeman’s own. They disappeared into the skin, and at the same time, the cuts and bruises slowly recovered, as though time was rapidly increasing for the healing. In just a few seconds, the hands were restored back to their normal self.
Zeke wondered whether the pain was still there, but the man nearly screamed in his ears.
“My hands… they’re perfectly fine,” The axeman’s voice was practically tinged with joy, almost tearing up even. “Thanks man!”
“Y-Yeah, no problem,” Zeke shook his head, feeling more embarrassed from the praise.
“You good?” Myra asked him, her eyes turning serious as the leader of the group. “You have enough mana to continue?”
“Yeah, no problems. Actually, it’s still pretty much topped off.”
When he said that, the other soldiers gaped in surprise. Apparently they thought he was running dry after all the barriers and healing he did. Myra nodded in satisfaction.
“That’s good. We’ll probably going to be relying on you a lot at this rate,” Myra grinned, turning to the soldiers. “But if you don’t wanna cause Zeke trouble, try not to get hit, guys!”
The other soldiers laughed aloud, cheering as they agreed wholeheartedly. The axeman patted Zeke on the back hard, showing a wide grin after thanking him again.
As Zeke watched the other soldiers preparing to move again, he felt satisfaction for himself. Being able to help them overcome an annoying enemy that would’ve been way too difficult to fight back with no worthy results, and even being able to heal an injury that would’ve left someone unable to fight properly…
It helped reinforce the fact that he could be useful for everyone. With a skip to his step, Zeke followed the soldiers to continue on with the expedition.