The next couple of days the mood in the camp grew more and more tense.
Max and Dave had told everyone about their plan, with mixed reactions at first. After hearing Bixby’s explanation of the undertaking, nobody was really thrilled, but after giving them a few days to think it through, they all came around.
The exact date of when they would hit the spawner was still unclear, the longer they waited, the more Mana Shards they would be able to get. Which was important, if they didn’t have enough Mana Shards to teleport away as soon as they had accomplished their mission, it was only a matter of time until they would be overrun by rank two Nodefoxes.
At the same time, if they waited too long, they would either be overrun by monster waves, or would be too outmatched to even fight through to the spawner.
Both of these problems had one simple solution in Dave’s eyes. Getting stronger.
The problem was, that while simple, it wasn’t easy. Dave kept pondering these thoughts as he made his way over towards Bixby.
The Nodefox sat in the shade of a big tree. It didn’t resemble any sort of tree Dave knew from Earth, it’s trunk actually consisting of two smaller and intertwisting trunks.
He sat there with his eyes closed, probably meditating in peace. Dave didn’t want to interrupt, and turned to go, but was stopped by Bixby’s voice.
“Hey Dave,” he said cheerfully. “What’s going my man?”
Bixby had recently started attempting to copy their slang, as a way to adapt more to human customs as he called it. Most of the time he seemed like a white teenager with saggy pants trying to be cool though.
At least it lifted their mood somewhat.
“Not much Bixby,” Dave said. “I’m sorry to interrupt, I wanted to ask you a question, but I can come back later.” Dave gestured towards the way he came from.
Bixby silenced him with a wave of his hand. “Nonsense, I can resume cycling later. Not like there’s much else to do anyways.”
“That’s actually what I wanted to ask you about.” Dave said.
“You wanted to talk about cycling?” Bixby raised his eyebrows.
“No… Well maybe. I wanted to know how far I am from reaching the second rank.” Dave said weakly. “It would solve a lot of problems for us, wouldn’t it?”
Bixby broke out laughing. “Of course it would, but then, why don't we all just get to second rank?”
Dave frowned slightly, and seeing his reaction, Bixby quickly sobered again.
“I’m sorry, it’s just, I sometimes forget how much you still don’t know.” Bixby sighed. “Yes you, or anyone of us for that matter, reaching second rank would make things a lot easier for us. But you are still far far away from that.”
Dave had expected something of this sort, nonetheless he felt a bit disappointed. “What if I train even harder?”
“That’s not really the matter. In terms of strength, you might already be close to second rank. But there’s more to it. Right now you’re like a bowl almost full of water. In this metaphor water is your combat strength and the bowl your channels. Of course you want to add more water, and get stronger. Yet your bowl can only get so full. So you need a bigger bowl. What you need is more time cycling, more time getting adjusted to Mana. Your body and soul are still very new to this new way of living. While your gains have been stellar in a short amount of time, most people in the manaverse have already been subjected to mana and cycling methods since they could walk, so their body is just much more attuned to Mana.”
“So what can I do to make my bowl bigger? There has to be something quicker than cycling for months.” Dave asked, a hopeful shimmer in his eyes.
“There are certain things... However, the quickest and safest ways are either through sacred artifacts or other powerful treasures that we don’t have any access to.” Bixby said, feeling bad for squashing Dave’s hopes.
However Dave wasn’t ready to give up yet. “What about unsafe methods?”
“Well,” Bixby started, smiling to himself that he was still surprised by Dave’s stubbornness. “You’ve been using unsafe methods all along. The way you fight, almost reaching your limits, has boosted your growth exponentially. Not just your power but also your capacity to hold Mana. You’ve pretty much forced your body to adapt quickly.”
Even though Dave knew it was intended as sort of a compliment, he couldn’t help but groan inwardly. If there truly was no other way for him to get to the second rank, he would be stuck at his current rank for quite a while still.
He needed to get stronger though, otherwise he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his friends safe in the future. Not if the waves kept increasing and there were still monsters like Sukanst or Marekiel out there.
Upon seeing Dave’s desperate expression, Bixby’s face went soft in empathy. “You know, there’s really no reason for you to be upset. The speed with which you grow is remarkable, you’re doing the best you can Dave. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” After a small pause Bixby gave a small chuckle. “Besides, you’ve probably even surpassed me by now.”
“Really?” Dave looked up at the Nodefox in surprise.
“Probably yeah.” Bixby shrugged. “Even though your Mana attunement is still weak, your power is way beyond mine. You’re already a better protector than I could’ve ever hoped for Dave.”
Dave felt a bit of pride upon hearing that. A grin slowly fought its way through the worry and anger.
“Thanks Bixby.” Dave said. “I really needed to hear that.”
“You’re welcome,” the Nodefox gave him a warm smile.
They continued chatting for a few minutes after that, before Dave took Bixby up on his offer to give him a few tips for his cycling technique.
As it turned out, Nodefox was a ruthless teacher.
To properly cycle, one had to keep his mind calm. The closer you could follow the Mana flow through your body, the better results you would get. Thoughts were a mere distraction when cycling, so it was best to avoid them. It was a lot like meditation in that regard.
A thing that Dave had hated even before the apocalypse.
Because unfortunately, Dave’s thoughts were out of control. Every few seconds Bixby called Dave out for getting lost in thought or straining away too far from the Mana flow, how he could notice Dave’s distraction so much better and quicker than Dave himself, he didn’t know.
But Dave found himself getting more and more frustrated, and after the better part of an hour he called it quits. He was prepared for an heated exchange when he simply stood up and told Bixby he had enough. But the Nodefox simply nodded and stepped aside.
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With the wind out of his sails, Dave made his way across the small clearing, heading over to his usual training spot.
He threw a look over his shoulder while walking away, and saw Bixby sitting there meditating. Somehow that frustrated him even more.
Calming his mind, Max waited for the perfect moment. He waited one breath, two, then there it was. With a quick pull of his finger, Max blasted a hole in the head of the big red demon.
Before the others even realized what was happening, Max pulled the trigger again. And then again. A few times in rapid succession. Before the leader had even hit the ground, Max had managed to kill another one of the demons and injure two more.
The last one had reacted quickly though and managed to vanish before Max’s eyes. Trusting his instincts, Max immediately jumped forward into a dive roll. He felt the touch of wind kissing his back, and as he turned around he saw the demon standing a few feet behind him, holding a dagger where his back was just a second ago.
Max didn’t hesitate and unloaded a dozen rounds of laser bullets into his opponent. Unluckily for the poor fellow, Max didn’t need to work on precise shots anymore and could just let loose. The demon fell to the ground looking like a blood catheter that had gotten involved with a porcupine.
Max made a mistake though, and turned his back too long towards the still wounded demons behind him. Max had specifically targeted their legs, and because of their wounds, he hadn’t judged them to be much of a threat anymore.
Unfortunately, not all attacks were physical. A small fireball hit him in his back, sending him stumbling. A burning smell felt Max’s nostrils and he quickly started rolling on the ground to kill the flames.
As he got back up and knelt next to the cover of a tree, he saw that one more demon had collapsed, probably succumbing to its wounds. There wasn’t a trace of the other on to be seen though. It probably fled.
Max wanted to go looking for it, but his back groaned in protest. Waves of pain made Max nauseous and his back started feeling cold all of a sudden. He knew that wasn’t a good sign.
Since he wasn’t in fighting shape anymore, he just let the last demon be, and made his way slowly back to the camp. His vision was flimmering and he held his rifle at the ready at all times though, ready for any danger that could emerge. But there was not a single threat still there.
The walk that had taken him only a few minutes before, now felt like an eternity. Max was close to losing consciousness from time to time, only the stark pain in his back keeping him alive. The constant smell of burned flesh made him sick and his legs feel weak, but he kept going forward, half delirious as he was.
He stumbled upon the clearing of their camp, unable to recognize the face of his friend who caught him. Max could hear people crying out, concerned voices, but he couldn’t make out who it was, nor could he hear the individual words. All he heard was urgency in their tones.
Strong arms supported him, lifted him, and carried him towards the camp. It was then that Max finally allowed himself to pass out and escape from the pain.
When Max awoke in their infirmary tent, the first thing he was greeted with was a more than welcome message.
*Congratulations, you’ve completed your Quest.*
*Bonus rewards have been given based on performance and type of defeated foe.*
Max looked at the message, a little confused. He hadn’t known there was such a thing as bonus rewards, but he gladly took them if the Manaverse gave them. With a mental command he willed the message away, and a new one took it’s place.
*Congratulations, you’ve been granted 100 Mana Shards.*
*Congratulations, as a bonus reward, you’ve been granted a special object in your Node Menu. The object has been unlocked from a tier above your current means, please check your Menu for more information.*
Max was surprised by the generous rewards. Usually he had gotten only a handful of Mana Shards for a level up, so getting 100 for completing this quest made him almost jump up in the air.
Of course he was even more eager to see what kind of object he had unlocked.
As Dave went through the familiar motions of his training regime, he quickly felt at peace again.
A few hours ago, after they had defended against a wave of demon-like creatures, Max had gone out to use them as training and had returned with serious wounds. Dave had been anxious and worried about his friend, but having no way to help treat him, he had decided to train.
His training routine has become so second nature to his body, so he fell into the forms almost by instinct, his mind soon calmed down again.
He didn’t train too hard, since they had to fight another wave tomorrow, and he wanted his body to be relatively fresh. Of course he was still confident in dealing with almost anything that came after them, especially with his friends fighting alongside him, but Dave still wanted to be prepared.
It was the leftover urge to always be in control that he still had from before the apocalypse. After their merging of planes, Dave’s OCD character traits soon vanished, mostly because he had bigger issues to worry about now, but also because the apocalypse showed him how not in control he really was. It was pure chaos.
Conversely Dave found that the only thing he could truly control was himself. He had no impact on how big tomorrow's wave would be, nor how prepared his friends would be. All he could do was focus on being the best version of himself.
A light training for Dave still meant multiple hours of hard work. Half of what he did he wouldn’t even have been able to do before he got his superpowers.
He spent around two hours focusing solely on his spear work, moving, thrusting and spinning as if he were fighting against real opponents. Then followed another two hours of work with his Hidden Blades.
Sometimes he moved as if fighting against a small group of foes, sometimes as if he were outnumbered to a high degree, but most of the time he imagined a single foe across from him. It was important to be prepared for every scenario, but the only situations that had ever left him feeling not good enough since the apocalypse were against strong individuals.
Namely Sukanst and Marekiel. Although something told Dave that he would also have to face Marekiel’s nephew again sooner or later. That he was looking forward too though.
The young Nodefox had sneered at him in the beginning of their fight. He danced and taunted around the river’s edge, evading Dave with his far superior Skills. Just thinking about it made Dave frustrated, the only thing that calmed him somewhat, was that it had been rather close in the end. Dave was wondering how he would measure up against the youngling now, looking at his recent progress he was quite confident.
After two exhausting hours of training with his deadly Hidden Blades, Dave was soaked in sweat. He decided to take a short break before going on to strength training, sat down at a nearby tree, and opened his status screens.
*Dave Coleman
Rank: 1
Domains: Melee, Arcane
Skills: Spark Level 13, Soul Weapon Level 16, Soul Weapon Mastery Level 14, Zeus Punishment 3
Blessings: Newly Initiated, Chosen Prodigy
Active Quests: 3
Alliances: None *
For a while his progress had been slow and arduous. He had always expected it to slow down the higher his levels got, basic video game logic. But the month between the Nodefox charge and the attack of the golem had been really slow. He had only gotten a handful of levels in that time.
However as the difficulty of the monster waves increased, so did Dave’s leveling speed. Not just was he partaking in almost every defense now, some of the beasts even gave him a challenge from time to time.
Two waves ago there had been some sort of harpies. At least harpies were the monster they resembled the most, Bixby had actually called them Hijhuklat. For most intents and purposes, they were harpies though. The only difference was that they had three eyes, weirdly enough, one was placed on their chin.
Max and Sarah had proved invaluable in dealing with the flying threats, sniping most of the feathery women out of the sky. There was one harpy among them with some magic powers herself though, she had been able to casually shield herself from ranged danger. Even in close combat did she excel, forcing Dave to take real caution when he faced her.
He had emerged victorious in the end, but the battle had been long and hard, giving him a few wounds that took almost a whole day to heal.
As always this was only more fuel for Dave’s training though, not just had he gotten a whole level in his Spark Skill, but also a newfound determination. There had been surprising parallels between the way the harpy fought and the way the young Nodefox back at the river had fought with his wind controlling powers. It helped Dave tailor his training even more realistic.
He had hoped that he was closing in on people in the second rank, since he had gotten a lot of levels recently, but according to Bixby he was still far off. Back then he was frustrated but he felt a lot calmer now.
Dave wondered whether he should go back to Bixby for his Mana channel training, but he felt bad for the way he left. He knew he should take the mental training more seriously but pride kept him from going back for now.
In the end he decided to continue with his strength training exercises and got back to his feet.