Eden looked out of the window...even though it was tinted black even on the inside and seemed to be able to see perfectly...the group thought that this must be part of his cyborg body's features. After all he was able to use those...tentacle things from his hands earlier.
Plus it's Eden so everything wasn't so shocking at this point.
“We have around 10 more minutes until we get there. We just crossed the bridge” said Eden, “Note that the school is on an island so you can't escape so easily.”
“....”
“But it's not like your going to escape right? If you do, than I will have to deal with more troublesome things than normal.”
“Who says we're going to escape?” asked Maria.
Eden scratched his chin and said, “Well...you lot ARE a bit different from other people and you ARE going to a school filled with people. I just hope that you don't decide on a genocide of the students there via some means.”
“I think you have us mistaken for some lunatic” said Hina in response to this.
“You'll be surprised on how many of those incidents happened in the last 10 years. Thankfully security has been top notch to prevent these kinds of things for a decade now after a certain incident where several schools were bombed with the students in them” muttered Eden darkly.
However he brightened up and said all of a sudden, “Anyway in the school you are going to, there are three divisions. The Primary Learning section, Secondary Learning Division and University Division. All of you are in the Secondary Learning Section with Grace being 13 being in grade 8, Mark being 15 will be in grade 10, Hina and Maria being both 16 in grade 11 and Peter and Ian both 17 as well being in grade 12 the final year.”
A few more minutes passed and the car that they were in stopped.
“We're here” said Eden which made everyone nervous filled with expectations and fears of the place that they will be living in from now on. He got out and the others followed him out as well. Peter was looking around the place in surprise.
“This looks more like several mansions lined up” commented Ian seeing the sight.
In front of them was a large building that was as large as the mansion they were in previously at least. To the left and right there were two more similar sized mansions and most prominently at the back, they could see a large skyscraper that was at least 100 stories high with a futuristic look.
“Welcome to the Prestigious Royal Private School known as Eden” said Eden in a ironic smile, “A place where there are only geniuses here.”
This would be the place that they would live part of their life in from now on...
xXx
Dashing as fast as she could, Miriel was suddenly overtaken by the person she grabbed.
“Hurry up” shouted Lyndis now dragging Miriel forward as if her mind finally snapped working.
BANG BANG!!!
The two heard some loud sounds from behind them...from where Viv was to be exact and fell silent. There weren't any more sounds after that. Finally Miriel said in a low voice, “It seems there is no one coming at us.”
Lyndis agreed and said, “We should contact the others as well.”
As such the two started a party chat with the others.
Lyndis: You guys still alive?
There was a slight pause until someone responded at last.
Shadow: More or less, I'm with Serena here which isn't exactly the greatest person as a Rogue should be with.
Serena: Umm...sorry...
Miriel: Can't help it. We grabbed the nearest person to us and ran in which in my case is Lyndis.
Shadow: That's not too bad is it? I mean both of you have the cooking skill so you won't starve to death. I'm more worried about Sain and Raven who neither have the skills to get food on their own besides hunting.
Sain: No need to worry.
Miriel: Sain! You're okay
Lyndis: Yeah yeah, shut up a bit so he can talk.
Sain: Well I'm with Raven plus I have some spare food in my inventory. We can last for a while. More to the point, is there any chance we can meet up? Luna could track you guys down via scent.
Miriel: Doubt it, we've been running for a good hour now and in all different directions. Besides Viv told us where to go anyway.
Shadow: And where is that?
Miriel: Follow the river east. So...find the river, we could meet up there but it's unlikely and follow it all the way east where there should be a town there.
Serena: But...we're all split up...
Lyndis: Could be worse. We could be all alone instead of pairs. Shadow, make sure you don't attack Serena in the middle of night later on.
Shadow: I AM not that kind of person!
Lyndis: Well you DID grab onto Serena which means...
Shadow: Would it have made you happier if I had grabbed onto to you?
Lyndis: Nope since I would be worried about you attack me at night instead.
Shadow: ….
Sain: Anyway...we should find the river as fast as possible but it's the middle of night. Just hide for the night and we can deal with things tomorrow. Remember to keep in contact as much as possible since we can't tell when each other dies.
Lyndis: That's kinda depressing...
Miriel: But at the same time necessary since this game has no way to track when someone dies.
Sain: Actually...my 'Party Scan' skill does that but you guys have no way on knowing if either me or Raven dies.
With that, the party chat ended and Miriel was left with only Lyndis. She sighed silently trying to not let Lyndis catch her doing this. Miriel ultimately felt that this was going to be a long while as she stayed with Lyndis.
“We need to find a place to sleep...or log off for the night” said Miriel kinda asking for Lyndis' opinion.
“Logging off is better since we don't eve have a place to sleep” said Lyndis with a strong will.
As such the two logged off for the night.
xXx
On Sain's end, Raven took out the bag of old armour pieces that were by now half empty over the last few days.
“Umm...Raven, I don't think it's a good idea to do that in the middle of night where there may be enemies around the place” said Sain cautiously. This was really the first time that he had to enter a conversation with Raven alone.
“Have the train” replied Raven as if that was the most obvious thing.
Sain sighed and let him do that. Meanwhile he looked at Luna who was completely alert and said, “Are there any enemies around us?”
[Not at all master. If they were, I will take care of them myself]
Letting out a smile Sain then proceeded to ask, “What level are you-actually can you just show me your status window?”
[Of course master]
A status window appeared in front of Sain's eyes which were the stats that Luna had. He examined it closely.
[quart=Name,Alignment]Bright Luna,Neutral[/quart]
Status Window
Race
Hybrid Wolf
Level
73
Health
2554
Mana
230
[quart=Strength,Agility]160 +20,290 +20[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]25,25[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]70,105[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Luck]75,15[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]100,50[/quart]
Magic Resistance
15%
Bonus
- Part of the Black Sun Race, +20 Strength
- Part of the White Moon Race, +20 Agility
Despite being lower level than him, Luna's agility was much higher than his and was on the level that Shadow had though it's strength stat was only a but higher than his. Seeing this, Sain could see that Luna was different and more special that other wolves.
Most of Luna's stats were on the high tier for his level and it continues to increase. At this rate, would Luna become the strongest member of the team? It was likely if it was based off stats alone.
More importantly Sain remembered that Luna was still not completely grown up yet. He was quite a bit smaller than other wolves of the same level but was steadily getting larger with time. Also Sain half expected that Luna might get some skills to use soon at this rate.
“Hmm....should we log out tonight so spare the night?” asked Sain to Raven who was hammering away and repairing again.
From what Sain remembered, Raven's 'Repair' skill was at Beginner Level 5 tight now and was steadily going to Beginner Level 6.
“No, need to train” replied Raven once again.
'It looks like he really responds when he needs to...'
With that thought, Sain asked, “Luna, can you keep an eye out and alert me to enemies?”
[Of course master. I will also rip them apart for you as well]
Sain let out a smile and also sat down leaning back on a tree. He held out his hand and focused his mana into it to produce a ball of light. Then he tried to produce a second one...and then a third.
This was his current limits. He suspected he needed to increase his 'Mana Control' skill further to produce more...he was literally casting three spells at once right now even if they are the most basic spells you could use.
In this world, there were many who craved to cast more than one skill. The furthest anyone went with this that is widely known are the quick casters that use weak but extremely quick casting spells.
Another are those who can sustain an active skill like a magic barrier and also cast offensive spells at the same time though there are limits.
And the third...is Eden who defies logic and reason casting tens and hundreds of spells at once. He was a monster in every sense to Sain after finding out from Alexandra that he had to individually cast each spell each time.
In this sense, he was unable to use 'Mana Bolt' like Sain did where there were tens of spells attacks casted in one go. Sain did not think that Eden actually had his spells listed in his skill list at all. If he did then it would be contradicting what Alexandra said before.
'Next...to try and move them....'
Sain tried to focus on the mana inside of the balls of light and to move them slightly bit by bit. It was like looking at several directions at once. However Viv was able to do it effortlessly in front of him and Viv had also said that this was good training for mana control.
As such, Sain spent the night training slowly this way while Raven did the same with his 'Repair' skill.
xXx
“Hiiiiiii!!!!! Wolves!” screamed Serena paralysed with fear as Shadow grabbed onto her and sprint away from the enemies.
“Shut up else you might draw something else to us!” shouted Shadow at her which only caused her wailing to increase.
Behind them were several wolves casing them with great speed that Shadow while carrying cannot escape from.
“Shadow Step!”
Shadow used this skill and immediately jumped and climbed up a tree with one arm holding onto Serena. She let out a silent scream seeing and knowing what Shadow was doing. Thankfully, Shadow was able to place her on a large branch on the tree seeing that she was quite light.
'At least I'm getting better at using that skill...' thought Shadow while hanging off the edge of the tree since Serena was taking up all the space on the branch.
Shadow checked the skill and it was at Beginner Level 3 already which was a good thing since it made it easier to use it at times like this. He checked the skill window again to see any changes.
Shadow Step Beginner Level 3
Not an illusion of body but presence. By shifting one's presence in one location to another and split it at the right time, enemies will be directed to attack an empty space instead of you. However this takes extreme skills in controlling one's presence and may not work against certain foes.
Mana Cost: 10
While it was very difficult to use, Shadow could only use it properly one in three times against proper foes, the mana cost was really low. As such, he could see that he could use it along with other skills at the same time.
It was very useful in getting behind people since before, he used 'Stealth' with this skill together and no one noticed that he moved else it might have been only due to the 'Stealth' skill ultimately.
But right now was not the time to be thinking on the applications of his skills.
“Are you okay?” asked Shadow.
Serena though still shaken up nodded with tears in her eyes.
“Health Restoration...” she muttered casting a healing spell on herself. Now that Shadow thought about it, it was the first time Serena was hit and injured.
He silently laughed at himself inside since it was only because she was with him that she got hurt in the first place. Well actually she died twice before but that was with the others. All she had here was him and...him seemed to not be good enough.
Using his skills, he noticed that the wolves had already surrounded them. There was no choice but to fight with Serena here and it was near pitch black as well so Serena could not help him at all.
“Wait here and don't move” said Shadow locating where the wolves were...they were walking around in a circle around the three. Shadow held both his short sword and dagger in both hands and dropped off the tree.
STAB!
Stabbing both blades into a wolf, along with the drop speed, the wolf died in one shot.
“Burst Speed!”
Shadow sprinted to the next wolf but by then, it had reacted to Shadow. It partly dodged Shadow's attack and got off with a moderate wound. However Shadow kicked back and slashed at the wolf a few more times killing it as well.
Finally Shadow used his speed and the dark to mask where he was along with 'Shadow Step' and killed the remaining wolves quickly like he was a damage dealer type character.
Seeing that all the enemies around them are dead, Shadow said firmly to Serena who was on the tree, “Let's log off and wait until night goes away.”
With that, the two of them logged off from the game for the night.
xXx
Out of the game, the four of them started discussing how to deal with their current situation. They were currently in their place at the school that Eden forced them in. There was some time before the start of the semester and Eden got them here early to prepare them at least and make them more at home for a while.
The four, Hina, Maria, Grace and Ian sat down on soft chairs with cushions on them while being silent and waiting for Peter and Mark to come out.
10 minutes passed and Ian impatiently said, “They're not coming out of the game any time soon. Let's start already!”
“They could be in combat and can't log out” said Lyndis.
Hina frowned and thought about it and said, “True. Better start now and tell them the details later.”
“A-are they alright...?” asked Grace thinking they were in deep trouble. She was in this state since she was attacked.
“They should be” said Hina, “Raven is a tank with the most health and defence while Sain is...well good enough and he has a healing spell as well.”
Several more comments were passed around on what could have happened to them until they got to the main point.
Hina took out a monitor and expanded it over the table. It was a map of part of the Versailles Continent. To be precise, it was the map around the area in which they were in currently.
Before the...attack on them by the bandit players, they had crossed a river already. However this river curved back on the road a few more times and continued to the edge of that part of the continent where the western and central continent connected.
“Even if we don't find the river...we can just continue east and then go north to the place that Viv pointed out” Hina traced her finger on the map and showed the path to take.
The other three nodded and made a mental note to follow what she said. After Sain, she was the one who everyone had to listen to no matter what and most of the time, she said something right in their situation like now.
“Hmm...the main problem is that what will happen to you and Maria with no healer” said Ian remembering that both of them had to such skills.
To this, Maria tapped her chest and said, “Don't worry! We have bandages. I've been keeping them in case of situations like this.”
“But that will at most close the wound without the actual skill” sighed Hina. She did not want this idiot to injure herself to gain the skill after a while.
The 'Bandaging' skill was a skill that not many people even now levelled since healing spells were much more effective. The only ones who used it were really warrior ands other classes that couldn't heal and most often those who are soloing or have no healer in their party.
The group known as Gemchi were one such group but still powerful despite that.
They continued to discuss what they do for the next hour before they decided to stop and get some sleep to which Hina stayed up researching some stuff before going back into the game.
xXx
At the same time...
“No need to move Raven...unless something slips through and attacks you. Then you may want to attack back” said Sain with a wry smile while injured all over the place. Luna was in a similar condition but only Raven was perfectly unharmed.
The reason for this was in front of Sain.
It was a giant black bear with a half moon sign on it. Sain had estimated it's level to be around level 30 considering that he with Luna was struggling with it.
Like them, the black bear was injured all over the place as well. Bite marks and cuts were bleeding through it's fur which only made it even more angry.
“Mana Bolts!” Sain tried to use his most weakest and yet numerous attack on the black bear to cause an opening for Luna to rush in and attack but the attack that used to be effective in the beginning of the battle did not flinch the bear now.
His attack simply did not have enough power.
'In that case...this battle will be drawn quite out....'
“Paralyse Shot!” A yellow bullet shot out and hit the bear.
Noticing that this was no normal bullet, the bear moved it's muscle in such a way to expel it out of it's body by force. Sain gave a dry laugh seeing that it could do that and knew to do that since after a couple more shots, the effects would be potent enough to stop it.
“Luna, attack from behind it while I attack from in front. Make sure to circle around a few times” ordered Sain.
Luna did what he was commanded and ran at the black bear dodging the quick swipes and attacked it from behind.
Meanwhile Sain was prepared to go all out once again.
“Release!”
He released the restrains on his mana after so long. His 'Compressed Magic Mastery' was at Beginner Level 4 which mean a halved 20% magic strength increase normally but when released...a 80% magic strength increase which was quad-triple what it was right now.
However it went even more than that.
Compressed Magic Mastery has been released. Magic Strength +240%
After storing it for a whole day and even more, but still a whole day with these shackles on, the amount of mana he could use for power in his spells increased to the point that it tripled for a short while even when the skill was released at last.
“Magic Arrows!” shouted Sain firing his attack at several points at the black bear.
“Gar?!”
The attacks sunk deep into the flesh of the bear. It was several times stronger than usual as well. With a flash, Sain fired several more of those attacks in a rampage and managed to kill the black bear at last.
You have levelled up
Sain checked his experience and found that he was level 93 now. Still lower than what level Miriel was but they all would've passed level 100 by now if they spent the time hunting in a dungeon rather than travelling with foes that only gave small amounts of experience appeared.
“The skill increase is really good though I prefer the safety of levels instead” muttered Sain.
Levels were a quick way to get stronger even though skill training was important. Skill training was just...too slow for Sain.
Being an all rounder character, Sain would develop the least out of everyone. Because of this, skill training was most important to him even though it was the most difficult thing for him to do.
Seeing that he had strayed back to these thoughts, he returned back to Raven with a sigh. He was still training his 'repair' skill after all this time.
From what Sain remembered, when his skill reached the intermediate level, there would be no durability reduction in repairing and Raven could learn blacksmithing as well.
'With Miriel and Lyndis having the cooking skill, all we really need is a tailor and...perhaps a alchemist as well? I doubt anyone could be a merchant without the proper class to do so...anyway I better go back to my training. Need to increase my mastery skills as much as possible...'
Sain sat down and continued his training with creating and moving the balls of lights as Viv instructed him before. He knew not of the next step but this part of the training was still difficult for Sain to complete.
As such, he knew he still had a very long way to go. Both of them spent this time like this until day broke after an hour.
xXx
Logging back into the game, Lyndis looked around. Miriel was there as expected but the forest seemed different from yesterday though that was only because it was night and now it was day.
Immediately, Miriel started another party chat again with everyone.
Miriel: Hello? Sain and Raven, are you two still alive?
….
Sain: Miriel? Didn't you and the others log off?
Miriel: Yes but now it's day so we logged back in.
Sain: I see....so that much time passed...yawn...
Lyndis: Not to pick on anyone but did you get any sleep?
Sain: Actually no. Monsters kept on attacking and Raven had no intentions of not stop training his 'repair' skill so...
Shadow & Miriel: Are you an idiot?!
Sain: Well...what are friends in need? I only got wounded a bit.
Serena: A-Are you okay? Do you need healing?
Sain: Don't worry I can heal myself.
Miriel: How wounded were you?
Lyndis: Oh, Sain it better not be worse than what-
Sain: Well I went to critical health a couple of times. A level 130 Black Bear appeared.
Serena: EH?!
Miriel: You should have ran!
Sain: With Raven defenceless behind me? That thing would have killed him in one shot.
Shadow: Honestly you two are idiots. One idiot that decides to train his skills at the worse moment and another idiot that actually encouraged that.
Sain: ….
Miriel: Anyway, while you two were being utter idiots, the rest of us discussed what to do next.
Sain: Really? Tell me the results then.
Miriel: We follow what Viv said since there is a high chance to not get lost anyway. Just follow the river east, it should eventually head more north where the port town is.
Sain: Thank you. We should be seeing you guys there in a few weeks then.
Miriel: Make sure you don't die.
With that, the party chat ended again.
However Lyndis sneered at Miriel with a laugh in her stomach. Eventually or rather immediately Miriel retorted, “What's so funny?!”
Seeing this reaction, Lyndis could not hold it in any more and laughed as much as she wanted with Miriel glaring at her.
“What is it already?!”
“Hahahaha...it's just that you had this super worried face on while you were scowling Sain.”
“I WAS not!”
“Yes you were. Just admit you are worried about him already Miriel” sneered Lyndis.
“....”
Miriel still glaring at Lyndis said, “I might be worried about him but that is just because he's kind idiot. He'll get stabbed in the back...again.”
“Well you had to admit after some time we all let our guard down around them” said Lyndis thinking back on those four from the previous day, “Nothing to worry about. There had been worse cases especially in our lives outside the game.”
“Doesn't change the fact that it happened and will happen again” muttered Miriel before checking her inventory and leaving.
Startled Lyndis shouted, “Hey! Where are you going?”
“To the damn river else you might want to follow me now!” shouted Miriel back definitely not in the mood on happy chatting.
xXx
“Hmm..that was an interesting conversation” muttered Sain. He looked over and saw that Raven had already finished packing up his stuff and ready to go.
He could not help but feel that Raven would be very suited to the knight class seeing that his blonde hair, blue eyes and handsome face was something that many females would like to see save them. It was too bad that his expression was blank though though Sain and the others didn't care at all.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Let's go” said Sain leading the way with Raven and Luna following behind him. Luna felt there was no need to talk as much as before since there was no present danger of enemies.
xXx
“Serena, we need to go now” said Shadow following up on checking his gear and inventory as well. He looked over and see that Serena was nervous.
'Is it because she is with me or alone with a guy in general...she seemed to have gotten fine with Sain and Raven though.'
Shadow could only sigh thinking about this.
“Umm...” muttered Serena that was only loud enough to be picked up by Shadow would had two 'Hearing' skills almost active all the time. Shadow moved his head to look at Serena which caused her to back away and try to hide before changing her mind and looking straight at him.
“What is it?” asked Shadow.
“Is it...possible for you to carry me again when I can't walk anymore...? My stamina is...lower....” Serena was red faced when she said this but Shadow simply nodded thinking nothing more of this.
'She's red because she is shy. Well asking a guy to carry oneself is quite brave for a girl.'
With nothing more to say, the two also started their journey as well which should take them almost a month to complete he hoped seeing that walking is so much slower than the carriage.
xXx
Following this, a week had passed for everyone in the game. Currently at 2 months and 2 weeks into the start of this journey, the group had...become much stronger than before not due to levels but rather skills and battle sense.
Right now, both Miriel and Lyndis were facing a tough enemy.
A forest troll.
“Ice Bolts!” shouted Miriel firing as fast as she could to give Lyndis even a bit more cover. She didn't care of power since her damage to the forest troll was really low however it would serve as a good distraction.
Slipping through the thick arms of the troll, Lyndis tried to slice through the waist of the troll but the attack moved to a stop mid way. The flesh of the troll was too hard to cut through.
“Tch.”
Lyndis also leaped away in one go as the troll with it's body that was almost twice as tall and four times as thick as a human tried to kick her. She had to be more careful than ever in battle since they had no healer.
Plus both Lyndis and Miriel had some of their skills sealed. Miriel could no longer use support magic while Lyndis could no longer use fire skill. All they were now was an Ice mage and Swordsman.
Things would be perfect if they had Sain or Serena here.
But now was not the time to thinking of such things. Lyndis leaped back into action as Miriel also much to her surprise charged in as well. Lyndis knew that Miriel was different from normal mages as she placed points in agility as well and could on almost the same level as her dodge attacks.
“Ice Burst!”
Lyndis had to jump away in time to dodge that attack. Ice shattered all over the place like a shotgun shot spraying the attack all over the troll's body. The attack managed to damage the troll resulting in cuts but it was too shallow.
Plus she had pissed it off.
“Power Strike!” shouted Lyndis from behind the troll trying to take the hate off Miriel as fast as possible. Unlike her, Miriel would really get one shot by the troll.
Her blade manage to make a moderate cut on the back of the troll. It seemed that it used it's muscles to tighten up just before to reduce the damage.
The troll let out a roar before both of them backed away waiting for the next attack. Then, Lyndis got several PMs from Miriel.
Miriel: This is getting nowhere
The troll moved in and chose to attack Lyndis. She activated 'Sword Dance' in time to dodge the attack.
'Sword Dance' was an active skill that required no mana to use. Currently it was at Beginner Level 4 and looked like this.
Sword Dance Beginner Level 4
A series of attacks that are strung together to look like a dance. The flow of attacks is important as it goes higher on a faster beat as it increases the power and speed of attacks. However at the same time, the mind is working hard to accelerate what to do as well.
Increase in sword damage/hit: 0.4%
Increase in sword speed/hit: 0.8%
Agility Boost when active: 40
Back in action, Lyndis had struck the troll a few more times before she could message back to Miriel. Lyndis noticed that Miriel was still firing her 'Ice Bolts' at the troll.
Lyndis: I agree but there's nothing we can do. We can't escape since it's too fast
Miriel: Yes but I have an idea.
Lyndis: ...
Lyndis had a bad feeling about this. She was not going to tell her to be a pawn for some scheme that would endanger her right?
Lyndis: What's the plan?
Miriel: I'm going to use the 'Freeze' spell. The range is low, about 2 metres at best since the skill level is low.
Lyndis: And I have to distract it...great
Miriel: The spell will make it easier for you to damage and slow it down. Don't complain.
Lyndis felt irritated at Miriel for a split second before the troll almost caught her in an attack. Because of this Lyndis shouted, “Hurry up then!”
From behind the troll now at close range Miriel said, “Right! Freeze!”
From her staff come a small storm of ice that really looked like a small blizzard was coming through. The attack focused on the legs of the troll and it immediately realised it and moved to attack Miriel.
However Lyndis was not having that. Leaping into the air, Lyndis shouted, “Power Strike!” slamming her sword into the head of the troll which staggered it for a few seconds as Miriel continued to freeze up it's legs.
“Hurry up and attack the legs! Ice Burst!”
“Right, Power Strike!”
Both Miriel and Lyndis focused all fire power onto their attacks and eventually the legs of the troll was instantly wounded and cut up badly to the point that it almost couldn't walk anymore.
“ROOOOOOOOOOAR!!!”
The troll let out another roar and tried to attack both of them but Miriel moved back and started using her 'Freeze' spell on it's arms instead while Lyndis was observing it and sometimes attacking it.
“That 'Freeze' spell of yours is quite useful at times like this Miriel” she commented.
Miriel glared at her and replied, “Well it's ONLY useful at times like this. We wouldn't be in this situation if you could cut off one of it's limbs in one go.”
“Hey! You try cutting through something so thick!” complained Lyndis ignoring that Miriel was dodging for her life here against the troll. Her movements were unlike any ordinary mage as she skipped past attack after attack.
Lyndis wondered when Miriel gained such skill to do this when she barely has any close combat experience. Well she wasn't the kind to questions what others did in the end.
Taking up the 'Power Stance', Lyndis ran at the troll to aid Lyndis, “Speed Strike!”
She slashed at the troll several more time while Miriel continued to freeze the troll ever so more to the point that Lyndis could focus on attacking rather than dodging first. The troll was slowing down which in turn led to the two defeating it.
You have gained experience
You have levelled up
Lyndis had levelled up while Miriel muttered, “Hmm...just a bit more.”
“Honestly fighting with you is so much harder than with anyone else” complained Lyndis.
Miriel sighed and said, “That's because the troll was a tough enemy to fight against without any support!”
xXx
On Shadow and Serena's end, things were that great either. A pack of small wild gnomes appeared and were chasing them with claws and hammers.
“Serena, hurry up and finish casting!” shouted Shadow who carrying Serena who was casting spells rapidly.
She had already sacked up a few healing spells on both of them beforehand and was now using 'Root Bind' to slow down the gnomes and at the same time casting a new spell to help them out.
“The shadows lie deep into the darkness of light and beyond. The hunter of day becomes the hunted at night and the hunter of twilight hunts them both. Blessing of Invisible Torments.”
Blessing of Invisible Torments is now active
The spell to which only Shadow and Serena were affected, gave them both the 'Stealth' status. Even though Shadow's own abilities of the skill was far higher, that was only when he was actively using it. At times like this, the spell's effects of passively giving that effect was really useful.
Looking around wildly for a safe spot, Shadow eventually just jumped and placed Serena on a tree saying, “Shatter them as much as possible” with Serena nodding and using her 'Root Bind' spell to do so.
“Attack! Attack!” shouted one of the gnomes throwing a hammer at the two but Shadow deflected it away in time.
“Use 'Poison Coating' on my weapons every time I attack” ordered Shadow.
“R-right...Poison Coating!”
Shadow's weapon now had the temporary state of being able to inflict poison damage to anything he cuts. It was too bad the skill was at it's lowest level and needed to be recast for every hit he made.
“Backstab.”
Shadow moved quickly and stabbed the gnome that threw the hammer in the back. Soon after, the poisoned gnome died with all of it's health gone.
“Kill the enemy! For glory!” shouted one of the other gnomes acting quite...savage compared to their more civilised counterparts.
Shadow quickly moved around using 'Shadow Step' several times to lose some of the gnomes and was really tempted on using 'Become Mist' to finish them off easily. However the skill 'Become Mist' would halve his health for the next day every time he used it so he really only wanted to use it when he was about to be killed. Plus Shadow suspected that he could still be hit by magic in that state either way.
“Poison Coating!” chanted Serena once again.
“Burst Speed. Double Strike.”
Shadow continued to move along the line of Gnomes and cut them to pieces bit by bit aiming at their weak spots and killing them using the poison after hitting them once.
He was also hit a couple of times inevitably since he wasn't focusing on evading attacks rather than killing as many of the gnomes as possible. He shouted at Serena who was safe, “Can you give me some more healing?”
As such a few seconds later, Serena chanted, “Health Restoration!” which immediately restored a fifth of his health immediately then proceeded to use 'Poison Coating' again on his weapon.
Shadow sighed a bit since he actually needed to slow down to wait for Serena to use her skill on his weapon over and over again. It would be more useful if Shadow had that spell instead and used it himself.
However it was unfortunately a spell that his class cannot learn though he believed that was a variant of it somewhere. He would need to search for it when he had the chance.
Eventually all of the gnomes were killed. They gained experience and looted the corpses to which Serena was still frightened of the dead gnomes even though they didn't threaten her anymore.
He sighed again and said, “Please being so frightened of everything already.”
“I-I'm n-not...!” muttered Serena back red in the face again.
“And stop stuttering like that as well, it's getting on my nerves” said Shadow once again putting out his honest opinions.
“I....I.....” Serena repeated that to herself and finally looked up at Shadow who was more than a head taller than her and said, “I ca-can't help i-it! I..get nervous easily!”
“....”
Shadow felt like that wasn't an answer. As such he pressed on, for some reason he wanted her to be angry.
“If that was the case than how come you were fine for a while before. Was that just an act? Or is this an act? Are you trying to get others to pity you?”
“....”
Shadow looked down and Serena was puffing her face with tears in her eyes that were filled with hate for him.
'Ah...did I push too far?' he wondered. It looked like he pushed a bad button on Serena and it would be a pain to restore her to her usual self.
However just when Shadow was going to say something, some more gnomes appeared. There were seven of them.
Serena shot her head in their direction and shouted, “OH WHY THE FUCK DO THEY KEEP ON COMING?! ROOT BIND!” in an extremely unladylike and un-Serena like manner.
Suddenly the vines that Serena was controlling shot at the gnomes, bound them in the usual manner and snapped their bodies in two...or more pieces instantly.
“....”
Shadow was shocked. Did...Serena just use a non-lethal use spell to kill a bunch of enemies...and easily? However Serena was weak at close com-
BANG!
You took 152 damage
Shadow felt pain on his face. Serena had whacked him using her staff and continued on beating him using it. Struggling Shadow managed to knock away the staff from her arms but then she started beating him up using her fists.
“Serena....please....stop....” Shadow managed to mutter through the pounding. Serena stopped and then said, “Apologise.”
“....”
Serena hit him again. He then saw that the glove on her right hand was glowing quite red...
“Sorry” Shadow said thinking about what that glow meant. It sort of happened with Sain as well which means....this is Serena's alternative personality?
Serena nodded though silent...and then he noticed that she was completely red in the face...no body as she blushed thinking of what she was doing on top of a man.
“A-ah, umm...ah....SORRY!” she shouted getting off him.
“Please don't tell the others about this!” begged Serena.
“I won't” he replied. He had no intentions of letting them know of the horrors he felt to be beaten up by THAT Serena until it was too late and when he escaped to watch them suffer as well. He could tell that if he did tell then Lyndis would laugh at him...
As Serena got up, she tripped trying to get her staff as she was more nervous than ever around Shadow now.
Seeing this scene compared to the horror of the other Serena, Shadow managed to laugh...for the first time in a very long time.
xXx
And so another 2 weeks passed....
“Ah, you guys are finally here” said Shadow in a critical voice seeing the others for the first time in game since the incident with the bandits.
Serena was by his side no looking at him at all but rather more than happy to fall into the arms of Miriel and Lyndis who was a bit shocked at this behaviour and as such Lyndis had to ask , “Did Shadow do something inappropriate to you?”
“....”
Blushing red once again, Serena tried to shake her head to Lyndis but she was glaring at Shadow instead with her sword out. At the same time, Miriel had this same fury and were eyes were ice cold as if she was looking at trash.
She muttered, “Damn Pedo” under her breath while lowering her evaluation of Shadow down to the bottom.
A bit shocked at this sudden treatment, Shadow immediately hurried to say, “I didn't do anything to her” 'Because she was the one who beat me up...'
“Liar” said Lyndis sharply, “To think you would lay your hands onto someone so young....” as if saying that Shadow has those kinds of 'tastes'.
“I don't swing that way” replied Shadow coolly though it didn't help his situation.
Just at this moment of tension where Lyndis and Miriel were about to skill Shadow, Sain and Raven appeared.
Sain was happy to see the others for one while Raven was feeling a bit frigidity since he was unable to continue training his 'Repair' skill after a while.
“Hey~” said Sain in a happy tone before suddenly taking several glances to see what was going on with the others.
Sain walked up and then immediately said, “Shadow did you-”
“Why is that the first things you have to say to me?” retorted Shadow in an angry tone.
“That's because generally when a girl...and one younger as well is crying like that...” started Sain.
Shadow took a glance at Serena and then really felt like stabbing her in the back saying, “Ask Serena what happened. I was not the perpetrator this time but the victim of Serena's actions. After that, she became like this.”
“What happened?” said Sain quickly ignoring the words from Miriel and Lyndis who could trust Shadow at this point.
“Well....” Shadow took a glance at Serena and remembered that she said not to tell but in this case it was better to tell.
Shadow explained what happened when Serena snapped and killed so many gnomes and then proceeded to beat him up with her strength along despite it suppose to be lower than his. He also mention that there was some strange glow on the glove that she wore just like the time Sain went 'Commander' mode.
“....”
“...."
Following this, two more people fell silent thinking of what happened. Sain looked at Serena and remembered her personality and then thought of what Shadow said. In the end Sain said, “There's nothing to be worried about” on account on both what Shadow presumably did and what Shadow saw with Serena.
“But-” Lyndis tried to reject this since Serena was clearly now afraid of Shadow to some extent.
Sain turned on Lyndis and then said, “I said there is nothing to worried about. Serena there is nothing wrong with you when it happened what Shadow as there is nothing with me when...well you already know that” he had a wry smile on his face as Lyndis was figuring out what he was talking about.
“So...” muttered Miriel loud enough for everyone to hear, “Serena is the third one to...change?”
“Change?” asked Lyndis.
“The change in personality out of nowhere....Sain went....and then I went...and now Serena as well?” Miriel was talking and ignoring everything around her, “What the hell did Eden do to us?!”
At that moment, Sain had to calm her down since he could see that she was frightened now. HE went over and pat her on the shoulder and said, “Everything is fine. It will all be explained later...Eden wouldn't dare harm us anyway.”
“And on what basic do you think he wouldn't?!” snapped Miriel clearly disturbed of what was happening to them right now.
“Well...for starters from the very start he has been taking care of us to the point that there was no danger when he was there” Sain pointed out from his memories, “Plus there's also Alexandra to Viv to help us at the time he does.”
“....”
Miriel arranging her thoughts eventually just gave up trying to convince Sain. It was too much effort and besides, now that they know what Serena's alternative personality is...perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to deal with it.
“Umm...so....” said Lyndis coughing a bit to get their attention, “I am to come to an understanding that Shadow did nothing to Serena?”
“Yes.”
“And also that she...THIS Serena who is so cute and small managed to beat Shadow up?”
Shadow hesitated and said, “....Yes.”
“BUUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
Lyndis burst out laughing like she would die if she did not. The laughter was so loud that everyone had to plug their eyes to endure it though with Serena still in Lyndis' arms, she could not do so and had a massive headache after that.
“Anyway, let's go to the town where Viv is” said Sain following through and ignoring what Lyndis just did.
He could've sworn that he heard Shadow mutter, “And this is why I didn't want her to know....”
xXx
“They are them?” asked one person looking from a distance at the group that numbered six.
Another person said, “Yes.”
This other person was the bandit player from back then. He was part of a large PK guild made up of 20 players and another 30 NPC bandits as well part of a great alliance of such guilds in this area.
Behind the two were another 20 bandits at this time.
“Remember, we must undo all mistakes. Facing that monster was a mistake on your part” said the bandit leader whose level was at 200. The other bandits' level average on over 100 as well. What could a group of six with levels lower than 100 do?
xXx
“Enemies! Lots of them!” shouted Shadow immediately hearing them coming.
[Master, they smell strong!]
Everyone went into battle position as Serena quickly casted several spells on everyone with Sain.
“Heartbeat Healing!”
Party in range has been buffed with the spell 'Heartbeat Healing'
Health will regenerate for 15 points every second for 10 minutes
“Let the body become harder than all other! Iron Skin! Let the body become harder than all other! Iron Skin! Let the body become harder than all other! Iron Skin!”
Party Member: Raven has been buffed with the spell 'Iron Skin'
Party Member: Lyndis has been buffed with the spell 'Iron Skin'
Party Member: Shadow has been buffed with the spell 'Iron Skin'
“Let strength gather and become the wind! Swift Legs! Let strength gather and become the wind! Swift Legs! Let strength gather and become the wind! Swift Legs!”
Party Member: Raven has been buffed with the spell 'Swift Legs'
Party Member: Lyndis has been buffed with the spell 'Swift Legs'
Party Member: Shadow has been buffed with the spell 'Swift Legs'
“Let fury overcome you and strike down all foes! Berserk Fury! Let fury overcome you and strike down all foes! Berserk Fury! Let fury overcome you and strike down all foes! Berserk Fury!”
Party Member: Raven has been buffed with the spell 'Berserk Fury'
Party Member: Lyndis has been buffed with the spell 'Berserk Fury'
Party Member: Shadow has been buffed with the spell 'Berserk Fury'
“The great sun burns with fury that consumes all creation that transcend the night! The golden lion's roar sends of message to heaven and earth of the coming of an endless battle under the eternal suns. Blessing of Eternal Suns.”
Party in range has been buffed with the spell 'Blessing of Eternal Suns'
Blessing of Eternal Suns is now active
Before the enemy came, Serena had given them passive healing that healed them for 15 health per second, something on the extremely high side for 10 minutes. Sain had caused the three vanguard's strength, agility and defence to increase by 40 points each and finally Serena blessed everyone with a 15% increase in strength, 10% increase in stamina and halved the stamina consumption rate.
When the enemies did come, the group found them to be 22 bandits in total...and one of them they recognised.
It was the bandit player from before....and all of these bandits had red marks on them else were probably NPCs judging by their actions.
For some reason Sain felt happy to see them....the mark on his right hand glowed ever more brightly without notice.
Sain for certain felt that they could win this...even if they are outnumbered and outmatched in plain strength.
Onwards?PreviousExitNext
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Author's Notes:
- Word Count: 8400~ Words
- There isn't much content for the 3 weeks that passed in this chapter. Mainly due to me not wanting to stretch this volume into two. Well I got to write about some character interaction this time round as well plus there is a lot to write next chapter as well.
- If you guys haven't noticed already, the group are already at school..it's just that the first bit of each chapter is parts that came before the actual start of the volume in question. To me, writing this part in parts is at least makes it so I don't need to write a 10 page prologue or cut back heavily in the first chapter for this.
- Also is it me or as I read down this chapter the words...seem to be getting smaller?
- Now...and update my status windows and skill lists for the characters after 3 weeks of training...