Calm before the Storm

(Adam the mage’s POV)

Words can’t describe how furious I am for what they did to my family. My only living hope now is my sister, and I will definitely rescue her. My mind begins working furiously hard, regardless how tired it is now. I must prepare to take back my sister at all cost. I go to the kitchen and grab a knife, and I tell her (sister’s friend) to keep quiet and don’t rouse any suspicious movement or I will kill her on the spot. I can’t trust anybody now, so I tied one of our hands together with a long piece of rope, so that she can’t run away and snitch on me.

I can’t rely on magic now, so I need to start looking at more practical approaches. Think, man, think, I said to myself. The springy amber in the shed first comes to mind, but I will leave it for later, when the people left the back compound. Some cloth, solid pieces of wood I take from the furniture, and I bring them all to the fireplace. It’s already night, so must act quickly under the cover of darkness.

“Oh yeah, first, I need to settle the issue with Amanda (sister’s friend)” (Adam)

I got Amanda to inform one of her friend that she will be cleaning my house until late night, while I hide in a bush nearby with the string still attached. After that, I bring her back to my house, waited for the crowd gathered at the back of the house to disperse. I get her to kindle the fire while I sort out the materials that I had prepared.

First, I heat up the springy amber under strong heat until they melt in an earthen bowl. I strain them across some coarse cloth to remove impurities, and then I soak some finer cloth with the molten springy amber. I let it cool down while keep stretching it. I carve the wooden pieces into the shape of a tuning fork, it has a hard and sturdy to the grip. I found my old bottles filled with rounded pebbles of depleted magic stones that I collect when I was young. I use the bottle cap as the base, and attached two of the springy soaked cloth to each side of the tuning forked-shaped wooden piece, and then I string them at the holes I made to the bottle cap. I tie the coarse cloth used to strain the molten springy amber to the handle of the wooden piece for a better grip. With this, my weapon is ready. I let it dry while I go get the ammunition ready.

I pack as many depleted magic stone onto a belt I used to collect herbs. I also attach a pouch for added storage. On top of that, I also tied two bottles filled with depleted magic stone together that I can attach to my pants later. I did all this as fast as possible, and my brain gives me the idea to make this weapon, which is something used in my previous world.

I noticed that Amanda is still staring at me curiously. If previously before my parents’ murder, I might get flustered to be in the same room with a girl alone, but my heart has turn cold towards such feelings. I noticed I am still wearing my old tattered shirt and pants with me from the capital. I begin to look for some wearable clothes around the ground, as the soldiers have ransacked the house. They overturned everything, and took all the money in the lockers. I pick a change of clothes that still looks wearable, and undress myself. I removed all the roughly bandaged cloths around my back to check the wound. The pain is stinging again, but the pain in my heart dulls them away. I grab an ointment bottle that is still intact on the floor and apply some of it on my body at locations that is injured and bruised.

“Gasp! What horrible wounds” (Amanda)

Amanda approaches me and lightly touches my wound. I glared at her, and stopped her hands.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me like the others do?” (Adam)

I give her a very menacing look. Left alone in a room with a naked man, she is surprisingly calm for a girl. This is why I don’t understand women. They are like wolf in sheep’s skin, acting like a prey only to predate on their hunter.

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“I have knowledge in herbalism and medicinal magic. Let me help you” (Amanda)

“I don’t trust anyone anymore. All double-faced, they will backstab me after I turn away. Possibly even you” (Adam)

“Tell me, how can I gain your trust?” (Amanda in distraught)

“Let me place a knife over your neck while you treat me. If you do anything funny, we will both die.” (Adam)

“If that is what it takes, please go ahead and place a knife on my shoulder” (Amanda)

This girl may be trying to put up a brave front to gain my trust, and think I will not really follow it up. I will just follow it up and really place the blade beside her neck. She gasped for a moment, and then quietly grabs the bottle of ointment beside me. I would prefer her to think that I am not to be trifled with, so things can proceed smoothly.

She rubbed the ointment on my wounds while invoking incantation. Her hand glows a little, and the ointment is properly applied to my wounds very quickly. She applied the ointment on my left side with her face facing my side, so that my knife is properly placed on her neck. I hope this is enough threat so that she doesn’t have any funny ideas. The cuts, lacerations, gashes, and tears were slowly closing up, and no longer bleeding. The physical pain seems to be alleviated on my left side.

Next, she moves on to my right side and repeats the ointment placement and magic invocation, and my body now at least is not bleeding anymore. The deep wounds are still there, but at least scabs and little skin formed over it, stopping the bleeding. I wear the change of clothes, and she notices my shoulder sprain and broken finger. Amanda offered to relief the shoulder and fix the finger, but I think there is no time. When I think again, I would need great concentration and precision for my makeshift weapon that I’m going to use. With that in mind, I accept her offer, and she uses the ointment and rubs down my sprained shoulder muscle, then cast healing magic on it. The treatment is effective and the inflammation stops.

She then works on my broken index finger. She untie the old cloth that I wrap around and remove the wood piece I used as support. She straightens the finger and properly places them. She rubs the ointment in strokes that made me feel tingling pain, and then takes out some herbs from her pouch and chews it. She grinds the herb in her mouth, then she spits out the roll of mush leaves onto the bruised area. She invokes magical incantation again, and I can feel a little sensation of my index finger’s fingertip. The finger no longer dangles when I leave it alone, and it seems the nerve cord and sensation has been established again, with the ligament now connected to the bone. She properly wraps the index finger to the middle finger for support, and places my arm on a sling across my neck. It’s amazing that she did all this while I point a knife on her neck.

“Why you treat me well? Don’t you suspect me? The army has burned my parents dead” (Adam)

“…When the kingdom official passed a decree that you have abandoned your station while in military service, it don’t strike me as something you would do. Also, I don’t agree that uncle and auntie has to be burned to death for this” (Amanda)

I curse myself inwardly. I was once so dedicated to polishing my skills and training myself, never miss morning training, all that to serve the kingdom and defeat the destructive Demon army would now be known as a person that abandons his duty. Yet she knows my character after we have been apart for two years and more. There is an urge to hold her, but I suppress that. This is not time for those feeling to appear. I quickly get dressed and steel my resolve to rescue my sister. I appraised myself to know what skills and ability I have.

Level – 24 (2492/65528)

Job – Magician (?)

Title – Magic Sniper (?)

Skills (Passive) – Magic mastery, Mana Control, Sharpshooter, Aim, Smiting Mastery, Weapons mastery, Improved Stamina, Quick Mind, Critical Hit (%), ……….

Skills (Active) – Elemental attacks (Branch selection inside), Resurrection, Magic Endowment (Medium), Enchanting, Item Creation, Mana Shield, Barrier (physical high, magic low), Erase Presence, ……….

Stats:

Health = 268/475

Mana = -8975612312521312512341563534534754363457654343523923492349811238123812939129319239129312939141895194819812930590410239120391209…………….

This is the reason my magic phenomena cannot manifest. It rarely happens, but some mage experience negative mana state after utilizing spells too large for their mana pool to handle. But I have never heard of negative mana exceed a hundred. This figure is … just too much. Does that mean I’m such a negatively charged person that I absorb spells rather than make one when I invoke magical phenomena? I don’t know how negative mana works, but now it basically means no spells for me anymore. I probably would need to take up a sub-job and turn it into my main job once it can provide better utility than my main job as a mage.

After ascertaining my skills, only the passive skill of sharpshooter, aim, improved stamina, and probably critical hit can be of help in the rescue operation.

I wear a pair of strong grip gloves (made by adding springy amber liquid) and I modify an old pair of magical lens to allow one look into the dark clearly.

I take two three blankets with me and put them in a bag. I get Amanda ready, and give her a cloth over her shoulders. I still keep one string attached to each of our hands, and I keep the knife with me.

“We are not going to use any of the usual trails or road. We are going into the jungle. Remember the place under the waterfall we used to play house?” (Adam)

“That is long ago, but it was fun. Are we staying there for the night?”

“No, that would be our meeting place when I get Lillie back. Just …stay safe and don’t betray me” (Adam)

I got my weapon and all the miscellaneous items ready, and we move out quietly but swiftly under the cover of the night of the multiple moons sky.