Hey guys, sorry this chapter was a week late. But Summer semesters are killing me both physically and mentally, and so I made this a week late. But I hope you enjoy as we approach the third wave. Enjoy!
Armored Lizard Scale Pan
abilities locked equip bonus: "Erst Lid"
"Erst Lid!" Clara called out, raising her knife. A large semi transparent lid appeared in front of her like a shield. Hol tapped it a few times before punching through it as if it was paper.
"Damn! That is solid!" Hol commented right before the skill shattered.
"But you punched through it so easily…" Clara said with disappointment in her voice.
"True, but I'm also over 100 levels ahead of you and maxed out my 1 upgrade method," he replied.
"My defense is very low compared to my attack, so this skill isn't very strong," she replied. The frying pan she had equipped had a completely different stat allocation than the knives of the boss she faced. While her knives gave her mostly attack and agility, the pan was almost entirely focused on defense. Come to think of it, all the different things in the kitchen had different stat allocation. Pots and pans were mostly defensive, while knives and most utensils focused on power and speed.
However, even with the Armored Lizard Scale Pan being defense focused, her base defense was still pretty low.
"Well, I'm sure it'll come in handy. You could set it up and then slash at your enemy from the side. Actually, try it on me," Hol said, raising his hands to guard his face.
"Alright. Chain Bind! Erst Lid!" Clara summoned chains to hold Hol in place, and then the lid to block his vision. She then ran to the side of the barrier and swung her pan. "Erst Slash!"
However, nothing happened. Clara swapped to a knife and tried again, but the cooldown popped up.
"Weird. I didn't use erst slash yet, but it's on cooldown," she muttered.
"Hm. It could be because the Erst skills share a cooldown? Does it work if you do Erst Slash first and then the lid?" he asked, ripping the chains off.
"Let me see. Erst Slash!"
This time the green energy burst forth into the sky, dissipating into the air. Clara opened up the skill list and saw that both Erst Slash and Erst Lid were on an identical cooldown.
"I guess I can only use one at a time," Clara sighed, looking down at her knife.
"Maybe when you get the second and dritte skills you'll be able to alternate. Like Erst Slash, Second Lid, or something like that," Hol thought. "Anyhow, start spamming your skills. After a bit, we should begin practicing magic again. I need to make a few stops so practice without me."
With that Hol started walking towards the village while Clara looked at her skill list.
Erst Slash - 4%
Erst Lid - 0%
Chain Bind - 1%
I guess if I didn't master the equip bonus from the weapon form I can't raise the skills mastery? I guess I should use one of the four boss monster weapons and master it later.
She swapped to the Armored Lizard Tooth Knife and looked at the stats.
Out of all of them this weapon has the highest attack. If I unlock its passive and raise the weapons mastery level then I will have a really good weapon form for the wave in two days. Yeah, this should be the most optimal mastery for now… wow, my brother's gaming strategies rubbed off on me after all. He would have probably already had a list with the most optimal grinding strategy by now.
"Erst Slash. Chain Bind," Clara called out, throwing chains at a nearby rock and sending a slash of energy into the sky.
"Erst Slash… Chain Bind," Clara said, sending the skills to a random cloud. The chains and the slash both dissipated long before they reached it. Through constant testing, Clara found out the range at which her skills worked, but she also noticed that every time the mastery increased, so did the range.
Erst Slash - 27%
Chain Bind - 24%
Clara smiled as she looked at the stats of her skills.
This is a lot easier than I thought. Since I don't have lessons with Laura, I'll have more time to grind up mastery with both my skills and weapons. That way, I will have everything at 100% by the time the wave begins.
"I'm back. Are you still alright Clara?" Hol asked, sitting down next to the girl.
"Yeah. I got a bit more stats on chain bind," she replied. "Chain bind!"
The metal chains wrapped around Hol and tried to pull him down, but he simply raised his hand and shattered the skill.
"Aw," Clara whined, lowering her head.
"Well, that was definitely a bit stronger than before. Keep this up and I won't be able to get out next time," he commented, patting Clara's head. She jerked back and looked at Hol in concern, and a bit of fear.
"Right… sorry… how are the burns, by the way?" he asked, gesturing to Clara's bandages.
"They're… better. I'll need to go back to the church again and get some holy water afterwards," she replied.
"Ok, let's go right now. Portal Farm Tool!"
A bright light surrounded the two of them as their location changed to the hot springs.
"Huh?! Wait! I thought we were supposed to practice magic!" Clara protested.
"Relax. The springs also recover your mana faster. Not as much as the Yin Yang islands, but still," Hol reassured Clara and threw a bathrobe at her.
"But-!"
"No buts! We need to heal the curse fully in order for you to be ready for the waves!"
"Fine…" she replied, going into the dressing room. She threw out the old bandages and gently brushed her finger across her burned skin. A shiver crept up her spine.
I hope I can heal these later. Or cover it up if this world has makeup.
Clara slipped into her bathrobe and walked to the hot springs. Hol wasn't there yet so Clara sat down on the edge of the springs and lowered her feet into the water.
*PSHHHHHHHHHH*
"Ow," she winced. The pain spread through her body. It hurt a bit less than before and the water bubbled and hissed quieter than last time, but it was still loud. Clara took a deep breath as she braced for the pain and lowered herself into the water.
The burns on her arms seemed to heal just a tiny bit, as the skin around them gained a bit of their natural color back. Clara smiled and closed her eyes. She focused on the mana and started to push it towards her fingers.
After a few seconds, her mana slowly compressed itself into a small glowing ball, which she lifted above her hand. She let it hang there for a second, and due to the spring's magic recovering ability, and the low cost of the spell, her mana didn't deplete as much as she expected. Unlike last time, she still had some mana to spare.
The translator Ellis left me said that I should first learn to use two light orbs at the same time before I can connect them into a magic bullet. So let's try and see if it works.
As she tried to form another star in her hand, the first spell began to wobble and fade from existence. Clara focused on feeding the first spell some energy, but the mana in her hands faded instead.
"Dang it," she muttered, frustrated. Clara dispelled the orb and waited for her mana to recover.
"Well, not bad for a beginner," Hol commented, appearing beside her.
"Thanks," Clara mumbled in response. She looked down at her hands and tried again, only for her mana to fall apart again.
"Hey, don't rush too much. Just master the first spell for now," Hol called out to the girl. "You won't get anywhere if you rush too much."
"But I have to catch up to you somehow!" Clara replied.
"You'll catch up eventually. It doesn't have to be now, or even in the nearby future," he tried to assure her and put his hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away. "Sorry."
"It's fine," she replied and focused her mana again. After a few seconds, she was able to summon the light orb.
"Alright, pretty good. Now just practice that again until it takes you less than a second to summon it," Hol instructed. Clara nodded and threw the light orb into nothingness again. She continued to summon orbs over and over while Hol gave her tips every now and then until she was completely exhausted.
"I think you should stop here," Hol called out.
"What? But I'm still far from summoning an orb in a second!" Clara protested, trying to summon another one.
"Clara, it's ok. It took me a while to get to where I am, so don't try to rush through this. Alright?" Hol said, reaching for her shoulder, but he backed away at the last second. "We have two days before the wave, so take a break tomorrow."
"Ok… but I still need to get registered at the third hourglass," she said, looking at the timers. She only had two, for Ground Zero and the one at the queen's palace.
"We're in the same party. I'll take you there after the wave," he replied and walked out of the hot springs. Clara was left alone for a few more minutes until she decided to go as well.
One day remained.
Clara anxiously looked around as Hol led her to the palace. Well, he didn't really lead her, she decided to follow him as he went to see the queen.
"Farming Tool Hero," the knights at either side of the door saluted him before turning to Clara. "Cooking Tool Hero."
Hol ignored them and rushed through the door while Clara nodded at them. One of the knights seemed to smile a bit before returning to his stoic expression once again.
"Hey Elora. You called?" Hol said, walking past the empty throne and pushed on the wall next to it, opening it up. Clara followed him and peaked inside. Behind the hidden door was a small office with several bookshelves covered in documents, books, rolled up maps and other types of papers. In the center was a large table with a similar paper mess on it.
Elora glanced up from behind a piece of paper and Clara had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing a ghost. Elora's already pale skin seemed to have gotten whiter, while the bags under her eyes grew since the last time she saw her. Her hands were trembling slightly. Several empty cups that reeked of coffee were on the table beside her.
"Here, this is the document you requested. I also took care of the monster rampage up in the north forest but the village there needs some repair materials," Hol reported and handed Elora a few pieces of paper. She nodded and set them into one of the piles.
"Good. Can you talk to the lord of this village? He owns several mines in the east and we'll need all the materials we can get for the waves," Elora handed Hol another paper and returned to her pile.
"On it, let's go," Hol replied, leading Clara out of the room.
"Hol."
"Yeah?" he asked, not even looking back at Clara.
"Is Elora… ok?" she asked, unsure of how to word it.
"No. We as heroes have to deal with the dangers of the world, while she has to deal with the politics between everyone in this world. However, it's not any less dangerous, as any wrong move could start a war. In a way, it feels like she's a forth hero," Hol explained as he read over the paper Elora gave him. Clara tried to peak at it, but she stopped when she realized she still couldn't read this world's language fully.
Still… It isn't healthy to drink so much coffee. I wonder if I try to brew some, will it have a stronger effect?
"Anyhow, I must go. Is there anywhere you want me to take you before I leave?" Hol asked, crumbling the piece of paper and stuffing it into his pocket.
"Yin Yang island. I need to power up my skills as much as I can before the wave starts," Clara said, tapping her knife. She then remembered something and quickly swapped to a different one.
"Alright. Portal Farm Tool!" Hol replied, and in an instant they were transported to the glowing islands. Clara felt a bag hit her side before she even got the chance to see what was happening.
"That's some spending cash. I'll come back at the end of the day. Feel free to buy whatever you think is useful or will unlock a weapon form. And get something to eat when you do," he finished and began to walk towards the edge.
"Alright. Take care then," Clara responded, watching as Hol gave her one last nod and jumped off the edge of the island.
She looked around the island. Unlike before when she and Hol were at the island, the blue section wasn't glowing as brightly. However, the other island over the bridge was glowing a bright orange color.
Clara sighed and fired off her skills into the sky as she walked towards the town.
The town itself was noisy with people running around back and forth. She saw a playground surrounded by a tall wire fence with kids playing games. Clara smiled as she looked at the sight.
Even with disaster looming around the corner, it doesn't stop people from living.
She continued to walk through the town's streets and looked around the place. Clara noticed that there were a lot of potion shops that sold mana and soul soothing potions. And only mana and soul soothing potions. She walked up to one of the shops and greeted the man at the counter.
"Hey, I'm new around these parts. Why are there so many mana and soul potions and no other ones?" she asked, pointing to the bottes behind the man.
"What rock have you been living under?" he laughed as he shifted around his merchandise. "Yin Yang islands are the main sellers of this stuff due to the high mana in the ground."
"Huh… how does that work?" she questioned. The man looked at her for a moment before answering.
"Wow, you really are living under a rock. Do you know how potions are made?"
"Well, you mix stuff together and get a potion?" Clara guessed.
"Well, the 'stuff' you mentioned is herbs. And how do herbs get their energy and nutrients?"
"Uh… the ground?"
"Exactly. And what is in the ground?" the man inquired once again.
"Uh… water… nutrients?"
"And?"
"I don't know!" Clara gave up, raising her hands defensively.
"Fine. The ground has mana, the concentration of which affects the power of the herbs and hence the power of the potions. And the ground on these islands has the highest concentration of mana in all the lands. Except for maybe magma island, but that place is unfarmable and only has two or three buildings working there to recover mana batteries. It's also why there are so many accessories here as it's a lot faster to enchant them here rather than anywhere else."
"Oh, that makes sense. So, are there no other potions except these two?" Clara asked, pointing to the potions on display.
"Here? Nah. No point, really. Pretty much everything else worth buying is on boomerang island. Strength, speed, recovery, and so on. I would definitely recommend visiting that place if you can afford it," he replied.
"I see. Can I buy these two?" Clara pointed to the potions. The man pulled two potions from the display and set them on the counter.
"That would be 20 silver," the merchant declared. Clara looked into the bag Hol handed her and frowned.
"Don't have enough?"
"Uh… do you have change for a gold?" Clara asked awkwardly, setting a gold coin onto the counter. The merchant eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds as he picked up the coin.
"You wouldn't happen to be from a noble family, would you?" he questioned, looking at the gold coin.
"Uh… nope. Just an adventurer," Clara responded nervously. The man didn't dig further and handed Clara back a pile of coins which she quickly threw into the bag. She grabbed the two potions and walked away from the shop.
"Come again!" the man called out to her as she left.
"Will do!" Clara replied, waving back. She walked onto a street with a park nearby and sat down at one of the empty benches.
Ok, that wasn't too bad. Man, I need to practice social interaction. My brother was right.
Clara looked down at her hands and saw that the gem on the knife at her hip was glowing. She raised it to her face to get a better look, but the glow faded. She lowered it again and the glow reappeared right as the potions in her hand were close to the knife.
I guess that means I can absorb these. Let's see what I get!
Soul Potion Knife
abilities locked equip bonus: +6 SP
Mana Potion Knife
abilities locked equip bonus: +6 Mana
Sweet. I can unlock the soul potion overnight and get more sp. That way, I can use more skills later when I get them!
But for now, I should fully master the last wave boss knife before the next wave.
Clara walked back to the field and sent her skills off again before she spotted a rock. She opened her knife's status again and began to stab the knife with all her might. After a few stabs, she saw that the mastery bonus increased by 1.
Sweet, then I can quickly master this knife and start mastering everything else as well!
Clara continued to fire off skills and stab the same rock repeatedly to raise her mastery for almost an hour, though the island wasn't glowing yet so her sp didn't recover as fast. She swapped between practicing magic and spamming skills for a few more hours until the sky turned dark and the ground began to glow.
"What are you carving out?"
"AAAH!" Clara yelled out in surprise and leaped into the air. She crashed onto some of the other rocks nearby and whined out in pain.
A rush of warmth spread through her body as Hol cast a healing spell on her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he said, helping her up. "So how are you doing?"
"Well, I raised my skill mastery a bunch, but it raises a bit slower than my weapon mastery. I did completely master this form, though!"
She pointed to the knife she had equipped and smiled.
"Nice! Well, the battle is tomorrow, so I guess you're as ready as you'll ever be. How's your magic, by the way?"
"Watch!" Clara exclaimed and began to summon the spell. In a few seconds, a bright orb formed in her hands and illuminated her face.
"Oooh, not bad. You're improving well. Oh yeah, before I forget, take this," he said, handing Clara a small accessory. She looked at her hands, trying to figure out where to put it when Hol shook his head.
"Clip it onto your knife's gem. Like so," he said, pointing to his gem. Clara saw a small golden rim with jewels embedded in it attached to the gem of Hol's weapon. She turned to her gem and pushed the accessory into place.
"Nothing happened," she mumbled, waving her weapon around.
"You won't notice it at first. While accessories give extra stat bonuses for people, if you attach it to the holy weapons their effect will be completely random. So, you can get anything from a small stat boost to a huge change to your skill," he replied. "If it didn't change your stats, try your skills."
"Chain Bind! Erst Lid!" Clara called out, summoning the two defensive skills. To her and Hol's surprise, the chains, which were just regular looking metal chains before, had a golden trip wrapped around each link. Hol poked it a few times before hitting it with his weapon. However, the chain shattered just as easily as before.
"Aw. That did nothing!" Clara whined.
"No, that definitely did something. Try checking the skill stats."
Clara opened up the menu and looked at her list of skills. Unlike before, the skills Erst Lid and Chain Bind were colored golden instead of the usual neon green. She poked the skills and saw a few new additions.
"Oh, the defensive skills I got now have a Light element?"
"Huh, that's gonna be useful against undead and curses. Anything else?" Hol questioned, but Clara shook her head. "Shame. Well, let's get going. You should get some rest if you're gonna try to take on the wave solo tomorrow."
"Alright. Can you portal us back?" she asked, swapping her knife again.
"Yeah. One sec. Portal Farming Tool!"
In an instant they were transported to the video room of Cloud X.
"Thanks. Good night," Clara said, quickly walking out of the room.
"Yeah, you too. I'll pick you up tomorrow," Hol replied as Clara walked back to her room.
Clara looked at the ceiling of her pitch black room as she tried to fall asleep. But no matter what, she kept remembering what happened at the last wave. Every time she remembered the smell, the burning pitch black flames, the screams of pain, it made her shutter.
*tap*
*tap tap tap*
*tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap*
Clara grumbled as drops of rain began to tap away at the window. She rolled over to her side and put a second pillow on top of her head, hoping to muffle the rain.
I need to get some sleep.
As the night slowly passed, the noise of the rain began to fade away as Clara's body relaxed, her consciousness plunging her into a deep sleep, letting her rest at last, putting an end to the day.
