Something that sounded large and unfriendly had just growled from behind the room's back entrance, which was barricaded with a heavy wooden desk. Rainer did a number of things close to simultaneously. One of those was to regret his plan to stay in one place and wait for the goblins to respond to his presence. Another was to sprint over and unlock the other door. The third was to mentally run through the pre-combat checklist he'd come up with. Ring of Greater Fireball first, appraise second, Arcane Blade third, distract with armed bolts fourth, close and attack. Remember your footwork, try to channel the fireball through the enchanted staff. Don't freeze. And with that, the desk was shoved over and into the room with a noisy crash, and Rainer was out of time. Luna squeaked and flew up under his shirt to hide. The now unlocked door was still blocked by the dead goblin mage's bed.
Rainer activated the Ring of Greater Fireball instantly and aimed it at the huge, brown tusked face that now glowered at him. Even as the fireball sped toward its target, he dropped the staff and appraised his foe.
[Orc, Male, Martial Artist Lvl 14]
The projectile hit with an explosive crash as the orc slammed its fist through the boards that blocked his way. Rainer was 200 lbs and just under 6' tall, but his brutish opponent was easily double his size. That did leave the silver lining that the hole Rainer had cut through the boarded up entrance was too small for it to fit through. Several pained cries from badly burned goblins came from behind the giant orc, who had apparently brought backup. But even though the massive fireball had taken it directly in the face, the creature barely slowed. Rainer launched 2 of his armed arcane bolts at its face as he finished casting Arcane Blade.
The bolts connected just as the orc jumped through the broken boards, and that gave Rainer the fraction of a second he needed to side step to his left as its massive clawed hand swept through the space his head had been. The orc's explosive speed and power seemed supernatural. But it was unarmed, and a fraction of a second later it was one armed as Rainer's counterattack sliced through its right shoulder. The arcane blade was not even slowed as it cut off the orc's arm. The level 14 Martial Artist was disciplined. It flinched for only a moment as its limb dropped to the ground. In that moment, Rainer's Arcane Blade reversed its path and separated the orc's hideous head from its body. Three angry burned goblins slipped into the room when their champion fell and they faltered. Rainer's arcane blade flicked forward and bisected the goblin closest to him, and he willed armed arcane bolts to launch into the others. The bolts struck them dead. Then all was still but for Rainer's pounding heart and the crackling fire. He waited a few anxious seconds, but no additional attackers came, so he released the Arcane Blade from his hand. His Ring of Greater Fireball had ignited the boards that formerly blocked the back entrance to the room, and the flames leapt merrily. The entire fight had taken less time than he'd needed to carve an entrance through those boards. He breathed deeply and sat for a moment on the bed, finally taking the time to check the flood of system messages he had gotten.
[.5% Experience Gained]
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[.5% Experience Gained]
[.5% Experience Gained]
[.5% Experience Gained]
Apparently the fireball had killed 4 goblins he never even saw.
[Skill Gained: Dodge Lvl 6/10]
[Skill Gained: Footwork Lvl 6/10]
[10 Primary Level Difference, Experience Bonus Added]
[13.5% Experience Gained]
[.5% Experience Gained]
[.5% Experience Gained]
[.5% Experience Gained]
[Skill Gained: Weightless Blade Mastery 1/10]
[Arcane Blade has reached level 8/15]
[412% Experience Gained]
[Managing Excess Experience]
[Arcanist has leveled up to Lvl 4/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 1 Attribute and skill point have been rewarded]
[Arcanist has leveled up to Lvl 5/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 1 Attribute and skill point have been rewarded]
A slow smile spread across the young Arcanist's face as he watched the fire dance. Yesterday he'd killed a group of 7 goblins, and the act had left him violently ill. Today's battle left only a feeling of power and triumph. Without even consciously choosing to do so, he willed the flames to flare hotter and brighter. It was his fire.
[Skill Gained: Fire Manipulation Lvl 1/10]
Emotion. Fire can be manipulated by emotion. Show stats!
[Name: Rainer Nvos]
[Age: 19]
[Titles: None]
[Primary Classes: Arcanist Lvl 5/25]
[Sub-Classes: None]
[Exp: 7%]
[Race: Human]
[Skills: Sleep Learning Lvl 9/10], [General Blade Mastery 5/10], [Dagger Mastery 2/10], [Sprinting 1/10], [Long Jumping 1/10], [Appraisal 1/10], [Arcane Energy Manipulation 4/10], [Speed Walking 1/10], [Faaran Runic Language 3/10], [Fairy Anatomy 4/10], [Mana Manipulation 2/10], [Pain Resistance 1/10], [Fire Resistance 1/10], Burn Resistance 1/10], [Dodge 6/10], [Footwork 6/10], [Weightless Blade Mastery 1/10], [Fire Manipulation 1/10]
[Skill Points: 9]
[Talents: Excellent Arcane Affinity, Human Growth, Gift of the Fae(Luna)]
[Stamina: 10/12]
[Stamina Regen: .1% per second]
[Mana: 13/21]
[Mana Regen: .0032 per second]
[Constitution: 11]
[Affinity: 21]
[Vitality: 10]
[Endurance: 12]
[Strength: 11]
[Dexterity: 13]
[Intelligence: 22]
[Willpower: 16]
[Attribute points: 2]
He had gained 2 levels, unlocked Dodge and Footwork (though he was bit surprised to see [Footwork] listed as a separate skill), learned Fire Manipulation and Weightless Blade Mastery, and advanced Arcane Blade another level. His smile widened and he put his 2 new attribute points into Willpower. The experience gain when he reached level 8/15 in Arcane Blade had been enormous. The infinite mana available within Sleep Learning allowed him to very rapidly increase the level of his spells, but he'd underestimated just how much experience he gave up by doing so. Combat seemed to be both a slower and more dangerous way to level up when compared with magic. And while he was becoming more comfortable fighting, he'd still rather avoid it if he could, and he loved magic. The biggest limiting factor on how quickly he could advance his spells while awake was his mana regeneration rate. Luna's gift doubled the value of Willpower for mana regeneration. All in all, it was an easy decision what to do with those attribute points.
A small and excited fairy fluttered out from under his shirt.
"Rainer killed the big Orc even though it had aura and many levels and Rainer has only few, and many goblins besides, and last minute he was level 3 and now you are level 5 and somehow cheat, but Luna is glad you cheat, because she can cheat with her brave master and be safe."
"Uh, thanks. By the way, can you help in a fight, Luna?"
"Nope! But even if Luna could fight, Rainer kills the bad ones too fast anyway, so it not a thing that matters that fighting is not one of the many, many things Luna is great at."
I guess you're right, Luna. That fight went as well as I could have hoped for. Not bad for less than a minute's work.