Chương 278: Chapter 267

"Hello!" he called out to her with a smile. Clarissa's sister was the exact opposite of her. Happy go lucky and always smiling. A breath of fresh air after dealing with the always dour healer. Not that Clarissa wasn't a friend of his, but sometimes the seriousness of the healer was a little much. An inconsequential complaint in the face of her loyalty, trustworthiness and sheer skill, but Sam felt comfortable expressing those feelings in his mind.

As far as he knew, the Future Unknown corporation hadn't developed their tech enough to actually read minds. Cynthia skidded to a halt in front of him and grinned.

"Hey, again! What'cha doin' here?" The other two young women also stopped, one leaning on a wooden staff, while the other was sporting some hefty gloves, with metal knuckles welded onto it. A quick sweep of the situation showed that there were only three NPCs, the coach driver and two assistants, the rest – a dozen people – were all players. Aside from Cynthia and her friends, all of them were guys. Squinting a little, he looked at the guild emblem, but he didn't recognize it.

'Either a new guild or one of those who work under us…' he mused before returning his attention to Cynthia.

"Eh, you know… Usual, killing gobbos, saving damsels and stuff like that," he said with a smile. Cynthia grinned.

"Just in time, those were some fierce goblins. I think they may have overwhelmed us if it weren't for you!" she said and held out a fist. Sam bumped it, but before he could answer, the leader of the rest of the players walked over with a scowl.

"Cintee, who is this?" The girl turned to the guy and replied with a smile.

"Ah, this is my sister's friend. He is awesome!" The guy just snorted.

"Sure, sure. Hey, guy, next time maybe try not to killsteal, 'kay?" he asked Sam very condescendingly. Sam blinked then nodded.

"Naturally. Next time, I'll wait until you guys are dead…" The guy's eyes narrowed in anger, though Sam didn't know exactly why. Was it his insult or Cynthia and her friends giggling?

'I shall never know…' However, before anything could develop, the owner of the carrier called.

"We are ready to move! Hyaa!" with a snap of their whip, the horse started moving and everybody scrambled to follow. Cynthia looked at him with a questioning look and he just nodded. She grinned as he joined the procession, protecting the carriage. They arrived at the practically nameless village without much issue.

He simply trailed behind the group, keeping his eyes out for anything big that could steamroll them while letting the low-level players have fun with the aggressive goblins that really wanted to get at whatever was in the carriage. It was hilarious how every time those small guild guys defeated a wave of goblins, they threw some arrogant look at him as if daring him to do better than them. He did the most devastating thing he could do to them: he ignored them.

Instead, he spent the time listening to Cynthia and her friends – Dani and Anna, after a brief introduction – chatter away at him. They told him about all the adventures they went on, their experience in fractures, and how they managed to get into the group protecting the carriage. Apparently, the guy promised them some runs in a fracture only he knew about. That surprised him a little… Thus, during one of the goblin waves, he spent some effort using his senses to see what lay ahead.

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to find the fracture and some other things. Approaching the gate – a thousand yards away – the people around the carriage were already congratulating each other, as well as celebrating the success of the quest. Sam just smirked and nudged Cynthia.

"Hmm?" she asked curiously. Sam nodded toward the forest that looked like any other calm forest.

"Watch out…"

"Huh?" she replied confusedly, but before he could elaborate, a roar shook the area and trees began to shake.

"DEFENSIVE POSITION!" came from the other players while the carriage began to speed up, desperately heading for the wooden walls of the village. Not even a few seconds later, some trees fell and a giant goblin, clad in stitched together armor, burst out, roaring and swinging a giant club around, while several regular-sized goblins danced around it as it rushed toward their group. Sam watched as the players, Cynthia and her friends included, squared up and prepared to receive the new threat.

"Man, this is going to be funny…"

"What the hell is that armor made of?"

"KEEP FIRING! KEEP FIRING!"

"It got my leg! AAAAHHHH!" Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"How many of these fucking goblins are there?"

"CHARGE!" Sam watched stone-faced as the giant goblin – some goblin king variant – absolutely demolish the gathered adventurers while the smaller gobbos picked off those who were too slow to react. Cynthia and her friends were still alive, a little worse for wear, but still alive. And very angry…

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Cynthia yelled over as she kept raining rather precise spear attacks on the bloated body of the enormous goblin, with little effect. The leader of the guild whose name Sam still didn't know just scoffed as he staggered between several smaller goblins.

"As if he could do anything against this beast if even – " WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSH WHAAAAAAAM The people blinked the spots out of their eyes as they stared at the spot where the goblins stood a moment before, Sam clapped his hands and called out to his friend's sister.

"Come on, Cintee. We're going on an adventure…" Then he began walking away. Cynthia looked at the guys who were staring open-mouthed at the soot stains, then back at Sam. Exchanging a look with her friends, she quickly hurried after him. Behind them, the rest of the people finally managed to speak up with a whisper.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Laser in the size of fuck off?"

"Thank you, captain obvious…"

"Hey, I have been promoted. Cool!"

"So…what exactly was that?" Cynthia asked, as they were hiking through the sometimes hilly, sometimes flat lands.

"The laser?"

"Yes!" came from Dani.

"It was badass!"

"Can we learn it?" asked Anna with stars in her eyes.

"What level is your Mana Control?"

"Seventy!"

"Sixty-one!"

"Eighty!" Sam just nodded.

"Come back when you upgraded the skill a few times…"

"Aw, maaan…" Cynthia stepped next to him.

"What element was it? Fire? Lightning?" Sam shook his head.

"Nah, I discovered a new one…"

"Should you be telling us that?" He just shrugged.

"It's not like you guys can copy me, plus I actually trust you…"

"Not that we are not grateful for the lecture on mana control, but what the hell are you looking for?" Dani asked after another hour of simply walking and talking. Sam just pointed in the distance.

"That…" They all looked over, squinting as a small ruin revealed itself covered by nature, trying to reclaim what rightfully belonged to it.

"I sensed a fracture there and we're going to see what's there," he stated simply while continuing to move in its direction. Cynthia sent him a look that eerily reminded him of her sister before letting out a sigh.

"Are you sure we are going to survive? We're definitely not at your level." Sam just chuckled.

"Let's give it a chance…" They found the fracture portal in a small basement that didn't have any ceiling, only the remains of. The dimensional energy swirled merrily away, not bothered by the abandoned building around it. A quick survey told them that it was some kind of tower before whatever happened to it happened. Making sure that the party was set up properly and that the younger girls had some rest, he stepped closer to the portal.

[Fracture: Forest Outlook] [An outlook built for reasons that were forgotten by beings who were consumed by the mists of history. The only thing that remains of them is this dimensional anomaly. Step in and see what secrets it may hide. [Time Limit: None] [Charges: 7/7]"Well, that sounds fun! You girls are ready?" Cynthia and her friends let out a roar, and he reached out and touched the swirling energies. A psychedelic ride later, they found themselves exactly where they stood before entering the fracture. The only difference was that the tower was standing above them as if it had just been constructed. They had a few minutes to survey the scene, noting that the tower had three levels, all of them with balconies, before Anna cried out." Look!" Sam looked up at the sky and saw several monsters with wings approaching the tower." Well, guys, who is up for a little tower defense?" The first part was pretty boring to find his sword, but it would be a nice experience for the girls." Dani, you are on the ground with Anna. Try to get them down from the air. Cynthia, you can go wherever with your spear. I'll be at the top, yell if you need something." Then he jumped up and landed on the top balcony and cracked his neck a little." Let's dance."' Now, this is what exactly the doctor ordered!' he thought joyfully. The fracture was low-level enough that he could focus on the technical aspect of his new skills while keeping an eye on his younger party members as they tried to survive the harpy assault. Another laser, another pair of smoking claws falling from the sky while he watched as Dani used nature magic to grab the legs of several harpies shrieking fiercely as Anna and Cynthia went to town on them. It didn't take long before the sky was clear of the harpies and the younger girls were sitting on the ground, surrounded by some junk loot, and panting tiredly." Get up, girls! The second wave is here!" he called out as he spotted the new harpies high in the air. This time some of them sported armor and weapons. Sam grinned. Apparently, the video he watched in another life didn't lie. Cynthia and her friends just groaned as he raised a hand, took careful aim and let go a pencil-thin beam of nothingness, erasing both the air and the head of the harpy leading the charge. Sadly, that just made the rest of the monsters even angrier.' I wonder why they want to destroy this tower…' he mused. When they appeared, he looked around, but he couldn't sense anything magical aside from a few enchantments to keep vermin and pests away. Focusing a little, several balls of nothingness began to hover in front of him, before shooting off at the incoming monsters, each of them eliminating one of them. Nodding in satisfaction, he began to shape the new magic every which way, creating all sorts of shapes – anything from blades of voids to a snowman hanging freely in the air – and shooting them at the enemy. Meanwhile, the younger part of the party was cursing up a storm as they tried to dodge the newly armed harpies. Sam made sure to shoot a few of his spells into the group assaulting his friends, but otherwise he didn't want to impact their experience income. The less he helped them, the more they improved… Granted, by the end of it, they would probably hate him, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make… Soon, the second wave was done too, and he spent a moment reviewing his experience with the new magic before making a mental list of things to try out for the next wave. Void magic was versatile but also rather mentally taxing to use. He barely had to expend energy, mana or mental power to fire off a wind blade while a void blade required constant focus and attention. However, while they cost much more, their power was consequently much higher. Knowing the talents arrayed against him, he knew he had a lot of training ahead of him. Thankfully, the fracture was full opportunities." Third wave incoming! I see fireballs!"" Ugh… can't you just… laser them away?" came the yell from the ground as they also got ready. Sam looked down, made eye contact with them, and exclaimed." No pain, no gain, girls!"" I'm telling my sister!"