“When I was younger,” Piper spoke up. “I always used to want to be the best assassin in my family.” She had a sad smile on her face. “It was a dream and goal to be better than my older brother; he was stronger, better looking, and just better in every way. Maybe not being a daughter but I am sure he’d find a way.” Piper chuckled. “My mom told me that I should stop this pointless pursuit to be the assassin my brother was and carve my own path. For a while I did, I enjoyed being a swordsmaster it was fun. But something about the rogue class always called my name, whether it was the danger, the thrill, the stalking around. I just loved it. When the opportunity came for us to go to the guilds, my mind was made.” She put her fist into her palm. “I was going to be a rogue and I was going to be a better assassin than my brother.”
“I sense a but coming,” Levi said.
“But” she gave him a sly smile and a look that sent the butterflies loose in his stomach again. “If I am forming a team with y’all, an assassin is not necessarily what I want. My class will evolve at the next tier. Right now, I might be disappointed if I do get Assassin. My mom, as usual, was right. It’s annoying how she is often. I want to be something not so independent.”
“You have time to figure that out and change your fighting style,” Anna said.
“Did you say evolution?” Levi asked.
“Yes,” Piper responded. “All classes will evolve at third star rank; there is some random specialty with it. It comes with an additional ability; it’s kinda nice. The guilds are meant to get you to 3-star or as close to it as possible. Are you close?”
“Not even close,” Levi said. “I need two hunnid more points., and most of those have to be for wisdom.”
“You are more well-rounded,” Anna said. “That is good; that will be helpful for you in the long run.”
“Are y’all close?” Levi asked.
“Yes,” Piper said. “I’ll likely get it before home, if we keep fighting monsters.”
“I am,” Anna nodded. “Same.”
“Whoa, impressive.” Levi nodded.
“We’ve been doing it longer,” Piper said. “We were 2-star when we met you, your growth has been impressive.”
“Anyways what would you want to be, Piper?” Levi asked. She turned her piercing gray eyes to look at Levi.
“I don’t know,” Piper said. “I want to use magic, especially with you two around, I can learn a lot from you.”
“If you want to learn magic,” Anna said, “Then you should start soon. Where is your Speed at?”
“It’s at 330,” Piper said.
“So, you’re at the threshold,” Anna responded. “What’s your wisdom at?”
“Low, only 15,” Pipe responded.
“Can you share your stats with me?” Levi asked.
“I don’t think so?” Piper said. “It’s never worked with Anna, but I’ll try.” She grabbed the text box and threw it at Levi.
Attributes: Piper Vendular
Total: 555
Strength 55
Speed 330
Stamina 100
Vitality 55
Wisdom 15
“Thank you,” Levi said.
“That worked,” Piper asked.
“It did,” Levi said. “Here,” he threw her his stats.
Attributes: Levi Winters
Total: 406
Strength 55
Stamina 53
Speed 52
Vitality 86
Wisdom 160
“You are well balanced,” Anna said.
“I can see your issues, Piper,” Levi said. “We can fix it after you rank up, but honestly, for the time being, I think you should stop training speed.”
“What do you suggest?” Piper asked with total sincerity.
“Train spell casting,” Levi said.
“But how?” Piper said. She watched Levi pluck a book out of thin air. “Get to studying,” Levi said handing her the book.
“Ritual Magic,” Piper read out loud. “Levi how is this going to help me?”
“If you can use rituals to enhance your strength and vitality, you’ll be unstoppable. Capable of tanking more hits,” Levi said. “It will be good, use it as magical enhancement.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Anna said. “It has a lot of merit to it. Think about it Pipes, you could use a strength ritual and be able to throw your knives with much stronger force.”
“That is a good point. So, use magic to be stronger?” Piper mused. “Okay. I’ll do it.” She turned to Levi. “You’re our ritualist, can you teach me?”
“Me as well,” Anna said. “But only when she is at my level,” Anna said with a smirk. “Give y’all some one-on-one time.”
“Now?” Piper said.
Levi chuckled, “Now??”
“Yes,” she said. “Only for a couple hours then we can get some sleep.” She was practically trembling with excitement.
“Alright come on,” Levi said, getting up and walking away. “I’ll leave some emberites to keep watch if you want to sleep, Anna.”
“That is appreciated,” Anna nodded. She looked tired.
Levi and Piper had gone a decent way from the camp to avoid any undue noise waking Anna. It was now dark out, but the light of the moon kept it manageable to see. Willow split in team Willow to create a circle around them with light, they burned bright providing ample light to see. Anza and an ember were walking around, constantly patrolling.
“Your familiars are great,” Piper said.
“They sure are,” Levi responded. “Rituals are I guess one of the most complex versions of magic. It combines the circles that are needed in summoning magic with the incantation that is needed in spell casting. Ritual magic is drawing a circle and chanting an incantation.”
“Got it,” Piper said.
“Now, I’m not the best example of any of this because I don’t need to say incantations, and I can draw ritual circles in the air. But there is a reason why I chose this spot. You can draw a circle in the sand. Ritual spells only last for a certain amount of time, you will be able to feel it instinctively. Now to enchant yourself you’re going to have to be in the ritual circle, for 1-star rituals which is the only thing you can do.”
“That’s a little unnerving,” Piper said.
“It is,” Levi confirmed. “It is safe though. Watch,” Levi pulled out his wand to begin drawing a ritual circle. He pulled out his own ritual book from his inventory—dark, ethereal clouds with red lighting emitted from the book Levi was holding. Well, not holding; his hand was under the book, but it was not resting in his hand. He started drawing a circle with his wand and it appeared on the ground around where he and Piper were standing; Piper shuffled out of the way. The circle began to glow scarlet red, as did Levi. Soon enough, the circle disappeared, and Levi was left with a scarlet red glow that covered his body.
“This,” Levi said. “Is a health regeneration spell. I slowly will regenerate quicker than I would with normal meditation. It isn’t great, but it is helpful in a long battle.”
“I see, what does it feel like?” Piper asked.
“Step in the circle and find out?” Levi said. Piper read the book and started to draw a ritual circle in the ground. It was a simple circle with a triangle on the inside. The rune circle was in the middle. Once it was done Piper stood in the rune circle and started chanting.
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“Let the damage of battle be washed away.” Piper’s body started to glow a faint scarlet light. She started to giggle like a little kid being licked by a dog. She held out her hands and watched with amazement.
“Levi,” Piper said. “This is incredible.” Levi was looking on with watchful eyes. He noticed that something was slightly off with the spell. She was regenerating health but at a much slower rate than the ritual should be doing. He found what was wrong. Jumping to his feet he pulled out his staff and started drawing out another ritual circle.
Piper’s laugh turned to muffled screams. She started scratching her skin furiously. The fun feeling she was experiencing was replaced with excruciating itchiness.
“Le-Levi!” she said panicking. “What’s happening?”
“Stop scratching,” Levi instructed. His voice was calm, and his look was mellow. Piper looked at his calm mood and she felt like she was safe. Piper had completely trusted Levi and the fact that he was so calm during this situation filled her with some reassurance that it was under control. “Take a deep breath, Piper. I made a ritual of healing and soothing.”
Relief washed over Piper’s face. She stopped scratching but not without doing some damage to her skin. Blood had been seeping out of the scratches in her forearms. Not a lot but enough that the scratching had broken the skin. She walked over to Levi and pushed her head into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.
“Good attempt,” Levi said.
“What went wrong?” Piper asked.
“Your triangle was slightly off. You created a trap ritual. It’s actually impressive, that will be useful. Trap rituals are the same ritual circles but just slightly off,” Levi explained.
“Oh,” Piper said looking defeated.
“Keep your head up,” Levi said. “You still completed the ritual and that would have earned you some progress points...”
“But I failed to do what I was trying to do.”
“You failed successfully! That’s a good thing. Try again.” Levi said.
“I’m not,” Piper said.
“What’s your mana at?”
“It only took 5 out the 15,” Piper responded.
“Great do it again.”
“Will you have another ritual ready?” she asked nervously.
“Nope, you got this.” Levi said with a smile.
“Jerk,” she teased.
“I know,” Levi winked.
Piper drew another circle and triangle in the sand. This time she was looking between the triangle and the circle over and over, double, triple checking her work. When she felt satisfied, she chanted a different incantation.
“When the well runs low the rain from heavens refill.” Blue light started to glow from the circle and encapsulated her. She enjoyed the feeling once again but was trepidation. She felt her mana grow with every passing moment, that slight headache she was feeling from mana deficiency was washing away slowly. She looked over at Levi, unsurprisingly his face showed nothing. After several moments, Levi walked into the circle with a big smile.
“Excellent job!” Levi complemented.
“I, did it?!” Piper said jumping up and down. “That is something that I can do frequently, slowly and surely.”
“Yes,” Levi said. “Keep doing the small ones and watch your progress grow. Did you experience growth?”
“I did,” Piper said excitedly. “It went up ten points.!” Levi looked at the excited Piper. Levi smiled. This was a rare moment that Piper showed vulnerability about this world that he has adopted. Levi had been asking the girls questions for months since his arrival, now he got to teach and give back. Levi loved that; it made him feel fulfilled. The bonus was that it had actually helped Piper, not just giving her items. Giving her a technique to better her ranking up and a better life, in turn.
She rushed over and gave him a big hug. “Thank you thank you thank you,” she said. “I am excited to keep trying!” Piper let go slightly, just so she could see Levi’s eyes. Her gray eyes were staring into Levi’s brown. They stood still looking into each other’s eyes for a brief moment the world stood still. Levi’s heart raced then stopped, every issue had melted away. His dad’s death, his mediocre life, poor decision, after poor decision, his estranged relationship with friends and family, all of it disappeared for brief second. The inner turmoil and chaos that had been raging inside of him had calmed. Levi couldn’t explain it but for the first time in what seemed like forever, Levi felt peace.
Piper had a fair share of male suitors. None were like Levi, though. Levi was not distant but not aggressive. He was consistent and reassuring in a covert way. Piper was used to men being brazen and obnoxious. Disregarding the sexy act of subtly when it comes to romance. What they lacked in subtly they made up for in good looks and muscles. Maybe too much muscles. Piper had enjoyed looking at them, they were great eye candy. However, terrible conversationalists. Piper craved banter, she craved humor, and deep conversations. She wanted to be challenged and taught while also being silly. She herself was a naturally silly person. She never took like too seriously and wanted to have fun as much as possible.
Being an assassin is grim work. If one were to take it too seriously, they would have a dark and lackluster life ahead of them. Piper did not want that. She wanted joy, passion, stimulation. That was not something she got from her normal boy toys. Levi was not like that. He was smart, witty, had good banter, and in general a good heart. He wasn’t the most attractive, but he wasn’t ugly by any means. A little more handsome than some but not one that would be drooled over by all. He had actually gotten more muscular in the month they’ve known each other. Not a lot but enough to see muscle replace skin and bones.
What really worked for Levi was the fact that he was subtle with his pursuit. He would brush her arm here, smile at her there, and kept Anna at a friendly yet respectful distance. It was no secret that Anna was the level of everyone drools over her attractive, but Levi didn’t seem to notice, or he was a great actor. Piper enjoyed the fact that Levi would actively ask questions, answer questions, learn, engage, and be willing to accept the craziness that was his life. That was not an easy task. Piper had suspected should the roles get reversed she would be still miserable, unsure or rather unable on what the next step would be.
She about all of this while she hugged Levi. Her hands around his neck, she pulled back to look at him. In that moment all of her past troubles issues with men and dating and romance had melted away. In that moment Piper looked at the man in front of her and saw something that she never would have thought she would see. A future.
The moment came to an end as they heard rustling in the bushes. Anza and Willow get in battle positions. Levi took out his staff and Piper took out her sword. Levi pushed out his aura to see if he could sense what was coming for them. His aura slammed into a wall. Pulling his aura back he pulled out his ritual wand and started to create summons.
Three dirty men with curved scimitars walked out of the shadows and into the light. They had missing teeth and matted hair with torn clothes. An awful smell was emitting from them.
“Barbarians,” Piper whispered. “This is bad Levi, they are 2-star.”
Levi wondered what stopped his aura from getting a reading on them when they were behind the bushes. He didn’t have too much time to think about it. He conjured several orbs of lightning to swirl around him. He elected not to summon anything; his mana was still recovering from the fight with the frog angel.
A barbarian spoke, “Come with us and maybe we’ll keep you alive.”
“Where do you want us to go?” Levi asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” he growled. “You are outnumbered.” The other barbarians snarled. Anza made a sound and Levi nodded. Three more emberites appeared behind the barbarians. Willow had split into many smaller versions of itself and went behind the barbarians.
“Fighting us is suicide,” the barbarian said. “Think of your,” he ran his eyes up and down Piper’s body. “Lady friend,” he said with malice and lust.
“For that,” Levi said. “You die.” He sent the orbs flying toward the lead barbarian. He slashed his sword, the orb exploded in his face. Lighting flew out of the orb and covered the barbarian’s sword in sparks of electricity. He dropped it swearing, distracted he hadn’t seen the three tentacles coming from behind, two entered his chest and one his skull. With a gurgling noise, he dropped to the floor, lifeless.
One of the barbarians screamed in anger at Levi, it charged without any thought of what had just happened. In two steps it had ran into a magical wall. The wall was filling with coal dust. The barbarian was slamming the wall screaming with anger. It tried slashing and stabbing but nothing would work. The semi-transparent cylindric wall had encapsulated the barbarian completely. It looked up with eyes filled with anger. Levi was holding a glowing wand in front of the Barbarian. He had created a trap ritual circle and put some flammable dust inside. Willow sent three bodies into the wall. The crystal wisps were able to pass harmlessly through the magical wall, they alighted gently to the bottom. The entire cylinder erupted in a bright flash of crystal blue flames. Screams eventually died out as there was nothing but ash within the magical wall.
Levi looked up to see that Piper had finished off her barbarian with relative ease. She had blood streak along her face, and a couple of cuts but nothing too crazy. She would heal over time. The barbarian she had killed had several knives thrown into their chest with a finishing slash to its throat.
“They were weak,” Piper said. “I think that they are cannibals.”
“On the outskirts of the ice valley,” Levi said. “Are they wanting to be starved? Wouldn’t only adventures or budding adventures come this way?”
“Yes. I bet that they are hoping that they are 1-star or lower though. If they had killed higher levels, then they would have had higher ranked gears.”
“I see,” Levi said. “You good?”
“Yes,” Piper said with a smile. “Are you? I recall killing not being your favorite.”
“It’s not,” Levi stated. “But if you come for me and mines, I’m gonna make you regret it.”
“That trap magic wall thing is brutal.” Piper said.
“I got the idea from you,” Levi said. The pair started to walk back to where Anna was. Levi had reported that the emberites hadn’t reported anything and he still had a connection.
“From me?” Piper said.
“Yeah, you created a trap circle, by accident, but I guessed that I could do something similar but with deadly affect. And it worked.”
“You do work well with your familiars. They were able to do some significant damage.”
“Yeah, they are good to me,” Levi said. Levi and Piper returned to the camp to see a snoozing Anna and two drones patrolling the area doing their due diligence. The fire was still going strong, Piper found her sleeping sack and bundle in it. She wished Levi a goodnight in a moment heavy breaths were emerging from her sleeping sack. Levi was still wired from the fight. He had killed two more people. He hadn’t felt bad about it, likely if they went with them Levi would be killed and Piper would have been an object of lust. He was never going to let that happen. Levi decided to look at his notifications before he nodded off to sleep.
Enemy Defeated: Barbarian Leader
2-star
Loot: 1-Star token (x10)
Loot: Lesser Mana potion x5
Loot: Barbarians Crest
Loot: Rune of the damned
Enemy Defeated: Barbarian
2-star
Loot: 1-star token x4
Loot: Hellhound Claw
Loot: Wolf Mane
Loot: Smoke Ball
Hidden Objective: Enemies Defeated
You have successfully defeated three enemies
Reward: Summoner’s Boots
Reward: Health potion x2
Reward: Gold Piece x1, silver piece x10, Copper piece x100
Status: Progression Made
Plus 15 to Wisdom
Plus 3 to Speed
Plus 1 to Vitality
Attributes Total: 426
Strength 55
Stamina 53
Speed 56
Vitality 87
Wisdom 175
Levi was excited to look at his new items, but sleep had finally staked its claim. Allowing it to take over, Levi closed the windows and his eyes. Drifting into sleep.