Chương 13: Chapter 12 – And Again

The stone elemental was still a few seconds away, so Kai decided to try something. He focused on the water elemental in front of him and activated a Skill. [Feint]. Of course, he had done feints before. They were core to swordfighting as much as the sword itself was. However, the experience of using a Skill was something else entirely. For a brief moment, he felt in total control. His usual movements could not compare. It was like the world slowed down, allowing him to do exactly what he had in mind.

All muscles in his body worked in concert to achieve the feint he desired. His sword flicked to the left. The elemental grew a tentacle that rushed to meet the blade, but struck nothing but air as Kai redirected his attack in the last possible moment. The elemental was hit by Kai's downward slash right in its center mass. The attack did not deal enough damage to destroy it outright, but it visibly suffered. ~ EN: 9/10 The stone elemental had almost reached him.

Aside from the gash on its chest, it looked no worse for wear. If Kai attacked the water elemental again, he would leave himself open to an attack from the side.

"Lena! Kill it!"

"[Lightning Bolt]!" The staggered water elemental had no way to defend against the incoming magical projectile. Arcs of electricity spread through its watery body. It shuddered once, then collapsed into a puddle. Kai whirled around to face the stone elemental right as it got into strike range. His sword flashed towards the elemental's head– CLANG. The elemental lifted its arm, blocking the blade directly with its stony shell. The vibration shook Kai's hands, but he managed to hold on to his weapon.

While he was still recovering, the elemental's other hand snapped forward, much faster than stone had any right to move. Kai tried to dodge, but the unfamiliar weight of his armor slowed him down – the attack caught his leg just as he took a step, and he lost his balance as the stone fist impacted right above his knee. Sharp pain shot through his leg.

"Watch out!" Lena screamed.

"[Lightning Bolt]!" The respawned water elemental had gotten way too close and was already swinging a tentacle towards Kai. The fully charged lightning bolt hit it right in its center mass. Its outline briefly wavered, but held together just enough to continue its attack. The tentacle was closing in, much slower thanks to Lena's intervention, but dangerous nonetheless. Adrenaline shot through Kai's body. He forced himself to ignore the throbbing pain in his knee and moved into the elemental's strike.

This time, instead of parrying it like a sword, he flicked it away like a gigantic fly. The tentacle crashed harmlessly into the ground, and Kai took another painful step towards it. His blade cleanly severed the drop-like creature in two halves that splashed on the ground, leaving only a core behind. He quickly downed his third potion to restore his mobility, then took a few rapid steps up the ramp, narrowly avoiding another attack by the remaining stone elemental.

"Retreat!" he shouted, and Lena moved back from the terrace's rim towards the upper levels. He followed behind, occasionally striking out ineffectively at the stone elemental on his heels. Lena managed to finally destroy it as he reached the next ramp, and they watched together as the elementals reformed down in the quarry. The restored creatures made no attempt at chasing them, so the siblings slumped down on the floor, panting.

Apparently, Energy and actual stamina are not quite the same thing, Kai noted as he collected himself. His EN was still sitting at a comfortable nine points, but he felt like he had run a marathon. He briefly closed his eyes– Something felt strange in his abdomen. He knew the feeling of mana – a sort-of-pressure behind his forehead, waiting to be released into the world – but this was different. Warmer. Like hot chocolate on a cold day, warming him up from the inside.

He let the feeling spread through his tired, aching muscles. The effect was gradual – first, the ache receded, then the strength returned to his muscles. Finally, even his tiredness vanished. ~ EN: 3/10 Oooh. That's neat.

"Good work, you two." Daniel landed next to them, nodding like a manager content with his employees' results.

"Brief review?" And indeed, the proposed review turned out to be rather brief. Their cooperation was much better than it had been back in the forest. However, Daniel had some recommendations on potion use. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"The second healing potion was probably unnecessary," he advised Kai.

"It did not have much of an effect, and if the fight had higher stakes, it could have led to a loss through resource attrition. Non-serious wounds are better treated out of combat." Kai nodded along with a frown. The criticism was fair, but still uncomfortable.

"And Lena, you should have used your second mana potion instead of conserving it." Huh?

"... Why?" she asked, confused.

"With Battle Meditation, mana is a renewable resource. But it has its cost," her father explained." Time. More time than quickly drinking a potion. Time that would have gone a long way in keeping the elementals off Kai's back during the most hectic phase." Lena didn't reply, but Kai could see her eyes rapidly shifting around as she mentally replayed the fight again. He leaned back, finally calling up a screen that had been blinking in the corner of his eye ever since the fight ended.

~ Lesser Stone Elemental (6) slain. 6 EXP awarded. ~ Lesser Water Elemental (5) slain. 5 EXP awarded.

~ Lesser Water Elemental (4) slain. 4 EXP awarded. ~ Lesser Water Elemental (4) slain. 4 EXP awarded. ~ Lesser Stone Elemental (5) slain. 5 EXP awarded. Urgh. Can't you compress that? ~ Lesser Elementals slain. 24 EXP awarded. Better. Still, five elementals had only awarded slightly more experience than two goblins of a similar level. ~ EXP: 44/800 The road to level eight was long, it seemed.

"I'm down to three Energy. I didn't know you could use it to recover from exhaustion."

"You figured that out already?" Daniel replied with a raised eyebrow.

"It takes most newbies a few weeks to get there. Good job."

"Wait, really? It was just… there."

"What was there?" Lena inquired.

"The… feeling. You know. It's… warm, I guess?" His father and sister hit him with two synchronized blinks of confusion.

"I suppose it is different for everyone," Daniel mused.

"Corwyn– Ah, the tank from my old party– said it was 'like eating a good pie', whatever that means."

"What is it like for you, then?"

"A breath exercise. Breathe in, breathe the exhaustion out. Repeat." Lena immediately got to work, but didn't seem to get it right judging from her frustrated puffing.

"Keep trying," her father encouraged her.

"I'm going on a quick goblin patrol. You two get some rest and restock your potions. There's sandwiches in the car, for your Energy." Nice. I hope they're with ham.

"[Levitation]." Daniel lifted off.

"When I'm back, we go again." = = = = = [Charge]. Kai surged forward, closing the distance between himself and the elemental with fast, efficient steps, and cut off a tentacle with a quick strike. ~ EN: 7/10 Skills were great. They were a lot less strict in their execution than Wizard spells. They set a framework – in Charge's case, sprint in a straight line and attack – but the specifics were up to him.

And even more importantly, he didn't have to actually say the name of the skill as an incantation like some kind of LARPer. While it was possible to cast silently, Daniel had explicitly warned against doing so outside of emergencies. Something about chaotic magic again. Another tentacle whipped at him, taking advantage of his distraction.

"[Lightning Bolt]!" It died with a shudder before the attack reached Kai, and he turned towards the last one. Stone again. I hate those things. He had only managed to kill a single one so far, mostly depending on Lena's spells instead. To make matters worse, he killed it by using a mana beam instead of his sword. It felt like an admission of defeat. It didn't take long for the last elemental to turn to rubble.

They did not pose much threat on their own, once Kai and Lena could focus on a single target without distractions. ~ Lesser Elementals slain. 21 EXP awarded. The siblings took a quick break, restocked their potion supplies, and Kai munched another sandwich.

"Again," he demanded. = = = = = Kai was getting the hang of parrying water tentacles now. He still got hit more than he would like, but his need for healing had gone down significantly.

"Half mana, taking potion!" Moments later, a newly emerged elemental crumbled under a fully charged lightning bolt. Kai cleaned up his last opponent, and retreated for some rest. ~ Lesser Elementals slain. 17 EXP awarded.

"And again." = = = = = ~ Lesser Elementals slain. 9 EXP awarded.

"Why are those things getting weaker?" Kai complained.

"The constant respawning is depleting the ambient mana," Lena mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Look. The next batch is even lower-levelled. Barely worth the hassle." ~ Lesser Water Elemental, Level 2"Damn it," Kai cursed.

"Just as we're getting good at this."

"Almost out of potions, though."

"We're getting better at conserving them."

"You are," Daniel interrupted.

"Still, your mother will murder me if I let you keep going. We can come back in a few days. The mana will start concentrating again." Kai grumbled into his non-existent beard and devoured the last sandwich.

"How come the mana is so dense here anyway, Dad?" Lena asked.

"It's much thicker here than outside the quarry."

"There could be multiple reasons for it, but the most probable is a ley line intersection somewhere underground. Good for us, but it might turn this place into a contested area soon." Kai perked up.

"Contested? By whom?"

"Anyone else who figures out that you can farm elementals for cores and experience," Daniel stated the obvious.

"Your mother says that I can't just make them leave, so we have to figure something out." I'm sure that won't come back to bite us.