“I’m sure. The vial is enough for me, though I have no idea what it does.”
“Here, you can read the description.”
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
NAME: Stamina Potion Rank 1
QUANTITY: 1
STAT: +50 Health, +10 Defense
DESCRIPTION: Adds named stats for the
duration of 15 minutes.
“Heh, now that’s interesting. I want to keep it for the boss fight. Anyone got anything against it?”
They all shook their heads.
“As far as I care, we don’t need it since you’ll be the one up close.” Kang laughed.
A couple of them joined in, and not wanting to ruin their fun, I laughed along.
“Yeah, and I’m not looking forward to it.”
“Umm, do you guys realize that we’ve all forgotten something?” Sandro asked, spoiling the mood with his hissy tone. “I did some recon today, and only one boss was killed, during which a strange… what did the quest call it again? A rift? Yeah, one appeared and was closed by those partaking.”
My eyebrows shot up slightly at the news. “Where?”
“It’s in the northern district, and as you know, we’re in the southeastern one, so it’s quite far off. Even with the car.”
“If cars still worked, you mean,” Melina said.
“Sis, I don’t think it’s your place to—” He broke off when I glared at him, and put his hands up in defense.
“Wherever I go, she comes with. The safest place for her is near me.”
“Yeah, and do you want to take her with us to fight one of those boss creatures?” he asked, finding his balls to talk back.
I wasn’t fond of people questioning me in front of others, but it was his sister, after all. Even though she disliked him, there was the message it sent. Worries about those close to you weren’t welcome.
I sighed inwardly and nodded slowly. “I don’t plan on doing it right away, but eventually, yeah. Anything else?”
He remained quiet and turned away after the rebuke. I looked the group over, but no one spoke. No one but Mark.
“What’s the plan for the next stage?”
“We still have a day until the first quest needs to be finished, but we’ve already finished the second as well, right?”
They nodded.
“It’s never smart to wait until the last moment, though,” Kang said.
He looked around for confirmation and got some of it from his cousins and then from me.
“No, it’s not, but it’s not smart to go at it without preparation either,” I replied. “That’s why we’ll keep doing this for the next day at least. Someone will always be on standby while the rest are out hunting.”
“What about the bodyguard duty?” Gary asked.
“Didn’t we already agree on who’s going? Why don’t you take another one with you so the three of you can farm the monster groups around the bakery?”
“Sure. I’ll take another one of my cousins with us.”
“Why not me?” Sandro asked.
“If you want, sure,” Gary replied, but he didn’t sound quite happy. No one was happy to be around Sandro, especially not after I came along.
“No, I need you to do something else for me,” I said, interrupting the two. “I need you on intel gathering. Tomorrow when you get up, eat and head out. I want you to try to gather information for our boss raid. I’d like to know how they did it.”
He nodded, beaming proudly. “Sure thing, Vik.”
“Anyone had any luck with getting us new customers?” I asked just as I was about to tell them all to go back for the rest of the evening.
Everyone shook their head.
“They’re not afraid enough yet,” Kang said. “From what I saw, people know they can take the smallest kobolds with ease despite their endless waves. The purple ones are slightly harder but still not a problem, while the elites and goldies don’t appear frequently enough.”
“Shouldn’t they appear every few hours?” I asked, trying to remember what the message said.
“They do, but in different areas. I think there’s a finite amount of them,” Sandro said, interrupting. “I set up shop and waited for seven hours in one spot after an elite was killed, and it still hadn’t reappeared when I left the place.”
“In that case, the situation is even more fucked up.” I groaned. “We’ll never know when they’ll appear and in what numbers.”
“It’s even more important that our women get stronger as well because of that,” Kang commented. “I feel safe leaving when you’re around, but when no one’s here? Who knows why they can’t get inside the barrier, but it’s cracked in so many places now that we have no idea how long it’ll last.”
I let out a deep sigh and scratched the stubble that was forming on my cheeks.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Now go, get cleaned up, and rest. Make sure to absorb the crystals before you go to sleep.”
“Yes, sir,” they said one after the other and ran off toward the ryokan, leaving Mark, Melina, Sandro, and me standing there. A new group of kobolds appeared before they even managed to get to the dome.
“Sandro, do you want to go and rest?” I asked, nodding at the ryokan.
“Yeah, if it’s alright?”
“Sure thing. Absorb the crystals and get to bed. You’ll have an important task ahead of you tomorrow.”
We remained silent until he disappeared behind the dome, and then turned toward the little monsters.
Mark scratched his head and stood there staring at them strangely. “You know, I think this isn’t the best idea.”
“Huh? What isn’t?” I asked curiously.
“Me just using a gun. I think I should use a melee weapon as well, at least when around these critters. A gun won’t do me any good.”
“He’s right, you know?” Melina added. “He’s great at what he does, and even though I only saw him fire once, hitting such a target wasn’t easy. What if there’s no one around to protect him when a group of kobolds appears right next to him?”
“Did you have anything in mind?”
“I don’t know. Maybe short-swords? Or dual katanas? I’ll add most of my stats into speed and attack in any case.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care what you choose as long as it helps you stay alive.” I laughed. “Why not dual spears? Or a single longer spear?”
“I took one back from Kihot’s place on the first day. Want me to go get it?” he asked excitedly. Seems he was into spears as well as guns.
“Yeah, go. We’ll wait here.”
Mark ran off and disappeared into the dome as we sat down on one of the benches.
“Say, do you think he’s still alive?”
The question caught me off guard. Now that she asked, though, it made me wonder.
“Scar, can you come out?”
The wolf appeared right next to us in all his thunderous glory, sending sparks flying wildly. He turned his head toward her and spoke. “What is it?”
“You can feel elite and boss signatures, right?”
“I can. Why?”
“You can feel mine too, right?”
“So you want to know if I can feel a certain someone’s as well?”
I nodded. “Can you?”
“No, I can’t. Hundreds of Enma signatures from all around the city are just like yours. Some women, some men, but all are the same. The only reason why I knew how to find you was because of our link.”
I let out a deep sigh and lay on my side, placing my head on her lap. Melina’s hand moved up, and she caressed my cheek, then moved through what little hair there was on my head. I closed my eyes and enveloped us both in a blanket of Enma. It was warm and soothing, almost as much as her touch.
“Do you want me to actively search for him?” I asked after gathering my courage.
It wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but she’d accepted the fact I was out of this world rather
easily. Why not accept something much smaller in the grand scheme of things? Especially something that I’d be doing for her directly.
“I’d rather not have you run around for now, though. I want to spend every second with you.”
I smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was a smile that came from my heart. Feeling wanted was something that would keep me grounded and my soul from burning up with vengeance. At least I hoped so.
“Hey, Scar.”
“What?” he snorted as lightning discharged from his snout.
“You up for a little fun?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Two streets down and on the right are two more of them,” Scar said through labored breathing.
He’d been running all over the place and fighting groups of kobolds as we took care of the bigger ones. His main role, though, was to guide us to clusters of elites and help whenever possible.
I was equally drained and tired, and worst of all, we were a good hour’s walk from the ryokan while dawn was approaching quickly.
“This is the last one for this run,” I huffed as I tried to keep up with him.
Melina and Mark weren’t even trying to keep up with us anymore and were several minutes behind. The only reason why I was partially keeping up with the wolf was the constant flow of Enma that coursed through my body and the focused concentration on my legs and lungs.
“Do you want to wait for them?” he asked as we passed the first street and the second was coming into view.
I kept my eyes on the road ahead. At first, I spent too much time looking around, appreciating all the different styles used to build the houses and apartment blocks, but it all became meh pretty quickly. The road was the same everywhere, and so were the streetlights. The only thing that changed was that we were much closer to the tower than when we were at the ryokan.
“Maybe check the tower once we’re done?”
“I don’t feel any elites or bosses in that direction. Someone’s farming them all over there.”
I stopped and dropped on the sidewalk. There was no way I could fight in this state anyway, so I lay back and focused on my breathing. It took me the better part of a minute until I calmed down enough and was able to circulate the power from the crystal in my right hand.
A sudden surge pushed through my hand and into my left arm, causing indescribable pain.
“Shit!” I cried as I sat up and looked down at my forearm as the skin wiggled and expanded.
“I don’t think you’re going to like this,” Scar mused. “This is going to hurt.”
“Do something, you damn asshole!” I cursed as I kept staring at my arm.
I tried to retract the Enma, but it wasn’t happening. The spot kept expanding and exploded, shredding my skin and flesh to the bone. Black mucus flew in all directions and was accompanied by thick red blood. The flesh started regrowing immediately, but the skin wasn’t growing.
Just then Melina and Mark caught up with us, and she threw herself at me.
“What’s wrong? Why are you screaming?” Her voice betrayed worry and fear despite being out of breath.
“I… don’t know,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “I just had another breakthrough.”
“You went up another rank?” she asked incredulously.
“Damn thing took half of my arm with it,” I hissed through gasps and intakes of breath. “It’s all good now, I think.”
She sighed and dropped next to me, beaten by the running and fighting. “What now? We fight the last two?”
“Not until I’ve healed up,” I muttered, grabbing another crystal and focusing on the regrowing flesh and skin wound.
She groaned and dropped against me. “I’m tired. This body doesn’t like to be drained, at least not this way. And that arm looks bad. Real bad.”
“Oh? What ways does it prefer?” I whispered.
She slapped me playfully and then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re so mean.” She giggled. “But no, seriously. How do people even work properly after fighting and running for so long? And with such gaping holes.”
“We just do, princess. Now keep your ass down and don’t move.”
“What if I do?”
“I might spank you.”
“Yeah, right. You can’t even move that arm yet.”
I shrugged and leaned in on her lap. I held her gaze as the pain became lesser and a tingling sensation took over.
“How is it looking?” I asked, nodding at my arm.
“Skin is almost back in place. Shit, that looks so horrible.”
“You’d better get used to it, as it’ll happen to you as well most likely once we’ve opened your meridians.”
“What? No! I don’t want even more scars!”
“Don’t worry, love. See? I’m already as good as new,” I said as I got up and drew the nodachi with my right hand and the gladius with the left.
I’d managed to come up with a tactic that worked pretty decently after killing a dozen elites, and now was the time to try it out by myself.
“Again? You almost died last time,” Mark protested. “Don’t fight them alone again.”
“He’s not fighting alone,” Scar growled. “He has me!”
I could feel their mental eyeballs rolling around like marbles. They disliked Scar, but he was a proud wolf, so it was only natural. His mocking tone didn’t help though. Even I found it hard to get over.
“You keep them busy while I pull the first one, Scar.”
“You ready to fight?”
I nodded. “Get them, boy!”
Scar rushed in and taunted all the smaller kobolds, including one of the elites. It would help with making this easier for me, though I wasn’t happy about it. One full swing and he was a goner.
Lightning released from his skin and rolled along the pavement, paralyzing and burning whatever it touched. The smaller kobolds died on impact or caught fire and ran around as their skin burned. The elite readied itself for a blow and swung the club at him. Scar dodged and bolted as I moved around and ran at the remaining lone elite.
“Just hit the spine, alright?” I whispered to myself as I approached wearily.
My arm still ached, but I managed to hold on to the gladius despite the weight. Sure, it wasn’t heavy, but after my arm had opened up another meridian, it wasn’t feeling quite well.
The elite glared at me but didn’t move, even let me walk around for some strange reason. It probably didn’t think me dangerous enough, but at the last moment, the kobold swung the back of its hand right at me. I slid under the blow and rolled up to my feet as the gladius moved back for a strike.
<< SPIKE >>
The edges glowed and the sword sang, hitting the spine with practiced ease. The shield cracked and disappeared. I pulled it back and plunged it again into its side, then pulled the nodachi back and slammed it with the edge down across its back.
The elite bellowed in fury and pain as I pulled back again and slashed a second time, hitting the nape of its neck and entering the same gash as before. The blade touched down on bone and got stuck. I let go, stepped back, and kicked the sword’s hilt, pushing it right through the spine. The first elite disintegrated and dropped into a pile of ash.
Scar was busy playing tag with the second one when I picked my swords back up. He changed his direction abruptly and led the kobold right toward me. I wasn’t so sure anymore of this tactic, as the target was meant to stand still or face away from me, but now it was on a direct approach and looked very angry.
“You idiot!” I shot as he passed by me.
The kobold jumped from foot to foot, closing the distance with a ground-eating pace. I pulled the gladius back and waited until it was only a couple of steps out, then threw it at its face.
The elite brought its weapon and hands up to defend itself but therewith failed to notice my next movement. I dropped low, pulled the nodachi back, grabbed the hilt with both hands, and swung it right at its knee. The shield held for a s
ingle blow, no, two, but the third one cracked it and went right through.
It staggered as the edge dug into its kneecap and landed face-first against the pavement. I pulled the gladius free and bashed it into its back, then kept on hammering blow after blow against its spine. It finally gave way as the elite struggled to get up and get at me, but it was futile without an Enma Shield. Seconds later, the creature turned into a pile of dust.
I dropped into the pile of ash and hit my knees against the hard ground, sighing in relief as I turned to lie on my back. Sure, they weren’t as hard to deal with anymore now that I knew how to fight them, but I’d rather not face them anymore for the day.
“That looked fun.” Melina laughed as she picked something up from the ash.
I didn’t see what it was and didn’t care at the moment. I wanted to sleep. No, first eat, have a drink, a bath with Melina, and then rest. Yes, in that order.
“You think?”
“At least we got some good things during the night.”
“We sure did,” I replied with an exhausted tone. Everything hurt and ached, and now we still had to walk for an hour, only to face more elites if we had bad luck.
“So, do we go back now?”
I shrugged. “Was thinking of seeing the tower up close since it isn’t that far out, but it will take us half an hour to get there, and then two more to get home if we stay there for a bit.”
She groaned and huffed. “What about you, Mark?” she asked and sent him a death glare.
“Umm… how about we go home?”
“Hah! See? He’s much smarter than you are.”
“Whatever,” I murmured and sat up. “So, the second bag goes to Mark. You good with that?”
Melina nodded. “Sure. I don’t need it anyway since you’ll always be around.”
“As for the few pieces of armor, I was thinking of using them and trying to check what kind of jewelry we got. If they benefit you guys more, then you get them; if not, I’ll use them for the boss fight.”
“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Mark replied. “I’m good with the crystals I got tonight. Seven is quite the number.”
“You should try to douse food with one before you feed the baby. Since Sarah breastfeeds her, she’ll be getting some of it through the milk, but it can only help to give her more.”
Beginner Quest: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 1) Page 23