Chương 24: Chapter 23 – Good Enough

That went surprisingly well, Kai reflected quietly. The extermination raid had been well-executed, and despite the hefty EXP penalty for having eight party members, his gains had been substantial enough to finally push him to level eight. ~ Attributes ~ CON: 4 ~ STR: 4 ~ DEX: 5 ~ INT: 4 ~ WIL: 4 ~ PER: 5 ~ AP available: 10 The first priority was obvious. He put five attribute points into raising his INT by one, then immediately checked his MP. ~ MP: 3/10 Finally.

Spending the remaining AP was a bit of an issue, though. Between CON, STR, and WIL, every single option was good and would give him tangible benefits. Constitution would make him hardier, which was crucially important given his melee role. Strength would increase his maximum EN by five, which would, among many other benefits, let him use more Skills.

Willpower would increase his mana regeneration out of combat as well as the returns from Battle Meditation, allowing him to manage his MP economy much better and spend more time training. He had, of course, discussed the matter with his father. Daniel's reply had been to consider what would be most beneficial until Kai reached level nine, at which point he could raise all attributes to five. I'm managing well with the resources I have now, particularly now that my MP doubled, Kai mused.

That made Constitution the best choice – as long as he was alive, he could still swing his sword even if he was out of EN and MP. ~ CON: 5 ~ STR: 4 ~ DEX: 5 ~ INT: 5 ~ WIL: 4 ~ PER: 5 Good enough. Since the system awarded five SP per level, he had also gotten a little closer to his Tier II classes. Spellblade remained elusive, but he hadn't gotten around to practicing the blade infusion yet. He took a look around the aftermath of the last battle.

Goblin corpses littered the meadow around the sewage plant, adding their stench to the pungent ambience. Lena sat on a rock and quietly meditated, surrounded by their other two casters, a Druid and a Shaman. The martials were refilling their EN reserves, forcing down cereal bars while trying to ignore the smell. They were looking horribly exhausted, most of them still unable to 'burn Energy'. Only Alexander, a Fighter wielding a spear and a shield, had managed so far.

Tom occasionally shot him baleful looks, which Kai pointedly ignored like the barking of an ankle-biter. Overall, the raid had only consumed a third of the allocated potions. The Shaman's Wave of Healing was cheap and powerful next to the river, and the Druid's Regrowth had kept the frontline going strong. They only had to remove one lodged arrow afterwards, which would take some time to fully heal. They lingered around until the sentinel golems arrived to form a permanent perimeter, then began the trek back home.

Kai would have preferred an airlift from Daniel, but the Wizard had insisted that they had to experience adventuring 'as it was supposed to be'. Twenty minutes later, Lena was already wheezing. He let the group march for a little longer, then called for a short rest. Everyone but Lena, Tom, and Alexander shot him a grateful look. Once Lena had regained some of her breath, he called her aside, out of earshot of the rest of the raid.

"So, what do you think?" She leaned against a tree, considering.

"Tom is D tier. I'd put Julia in C, and –""Waitwaitwait. What?" Lena sighed.

"If the two of us are A tier, Tom is D. Julia was extremely useful, but her healing is conditional. No water, no healing. So, around water, she's an easy B as a supporter, but without it, she's a D. So, I'd average it out to C."

"Ah, I get it," Kai nodded.

"I'd put Alexander in A or B. Good Energy management, good positioning, great instincts, follows commands."

"Clean A, in my opinion. He tanked two arrows for Marie. She's a B, by the way. Good use of grass and roots for crowd control," Lena declared.

"Agreed. Finn was unimpressive as usual, C to D. At least he's not actively sabotaging us anymore."

"Mhm. Niklas… did his job, but not much else. C." Kai found that assessment fair. The sword-wielding Fighter hadn't accomplished a whole lot, but he had kept his opponents occupied until Lena picked them off.

"So, we're choosing Alexander and Marie? Or would you prefer Julia?"

"Marie."

"Alright." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. = = = = = Marie had expected the worst when she had been called into the head administrator's office – dismissal from the main force and the resulting loss of income. The farmers didn't offer remotely enough to make up for the food and cores provided by the Hunting Office, and most of them still tried to pay in euros for manual labor.

Only the most desperate would agree to that, and she was worried to end up in that category. With her sick mother at home, she had no choice but to feed both of them somehow. When she finally found the courage to open the door, she found herself facing a small committee of Brandts, which was already a stressful experience on the best of days.

"Hello, Marie," Laura Brandt greeted politely. Is that a good sign or not?

"H-hello," she stuttered. Instinctively, she looked towards Lena for support, but found her staring at the ground, giving off a totally different vibe than during the fights. Kai met her eyes and nodded with an easy smile, which gave her a little hope. He wouldn't smile if they were about to fire me, right?

"It's been two days since the raid, and we've had some time to review everything," Mrs. Brandt began.

"How would you rate your own performance, Marie?" She swallowed heavily.

"Adequate, I think? I missed most of my attacks, but I made a lot of goblins trip, and I tried my best to heal the frontline." I hope I didn't sound too arrogant just now…

"You're a Flora-focused Druid," the head administrator said. The devil's vine on her desk curled around her hand like a pet, making a point that Marie couldn't quite interpret.

"Your strength does not lie in the offensive, so we can disregard the first part."

"Which means that you were more than adequate," Kai said.

"If anything, you're underselling your contributions. You zoned dangerous melee threats away from the backline while supporting our attackers."

"Uh, t-thanks?" What the hell is going on? Mrs. Brandt reclined in her chair.

"Another question: How would you evaluate the raid's performance as a whole?" That's a trap, Marie thought. I don't know how or why, though…

"I-it went well," she evaded.

"We secured the sewage plant and returned without casualties."

"That's a very broad statement," Mrs. Brandt mused.

"I meant individual performances in the context of group combat." And that's exactly what I wanted to avoid talking about! Marie took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I, uhm–" Kai waved her off.

"Alright, don't worry about it," he said with a reassuring smile. She returned it, thankful for the brief reprieve.

"Well then," Mrs. Brandt continued.

"Given your track record, we would like to offer you a position in the vanguard. On a trial basis for now, but with permanent membership in mind." Marie's breath hitched. Me, in the vanguard?! Everyone working with the Hunting Office was acutely aware what that meant. Working with the Brandts came with considerable benefits – better equipment, free potions, status – but it also carried an implication. She would no longer be just 'one among many', but have a position her more ambitious peers desperately wanted.

But even more importantly, she would be directly associated with Daniel Brandt. From what she heard from the older villagers, Mr. Brandt used to be an unobtrusive, slightly eccentric man who didn't talk much and showed up for events just long enough to not be branded an outsider. That had changed when he single-handedly exterminated an approaching goblin raid, before anyone even knew what those disgusting things were called.

They had come running down the main road towards a crowd of panicked protesters, who had just been trying to get answers from their elusive mayor. Knowing what she did now, the display was even more impressive. A single cast covered the crowd with a protective dome of light, the next annihilated the monsters all at once. Then he had simply flown away, leaving his wife to clean up the mess.

Now, the entire village depended not only on his personal protection, but also his golems, the Brandt Boxes, and the goodwill of Laura Brandt. Naturally, not everyone was happy with that. And those were the people who would not look kindly upon her joining the Brandt-led vanguard.

"There is no need to decide right now," Kai said, having noticed her hesitation.

"You can just–""Ah, no, I– sorry," she interrupted, then blushed from embarrassment.

"I think I would like to join, I– I just have a few questions." Declining really wasn't an option. She barely made ends meet, and this was an opportunity to stabilize her situation. There were complications, though.

"Go ahead," Mrs. Brandt nodded.

"F-first, can you tell me how often and how far I'd be away from the village? I, uhm…"

"You have to take care of your mother," Kai mused.

"Unfortunately, there's a high chance we'd be away for days at a time. Hmmm, do you think we could do something about that, Mom?" The head administrator hummed.

"If you move to the hunter accommodations with your mother, we can take care of her while you're away. We've got competent healers and two actual nurses here. I'd have to reduce your pay slightly, though." Marie briefly looked out of the window. Just across the street, she could see a construction crew of golems and humans raise a third stone structure on the old sports field.

They looked a little like commie blocks, although the first, already completed one was currently being beautified by a few Druids planting vines and moss. It didn't seem like much of a downgrade from her drafty apartment, especially since the landlord was now collecting rent in monster cores.

"Deal." = = = = = Laura caressed her pothos, finally alone in her office again. She had brought the plant, along with several others, with her this morning. Simply having them around helped with her stress. Still, Kai and Lena insisting on Marie as a vanguard member was a headache bigger than either of them understood. Alexander was at least related to the Walters, the third farmer clan alongside the Pfennings and Hofstedts. Marie, however, was a recent addition to the village.

She had moved here for low rent and good air, to help her mother deal with her COPD. A commendable thing to do for a young woman in her early twenties, and something Laura personally resonated with given her own reasons for returning to Lindenfeld. It made her feel a little guilty for the good-cop, bad-cop routine she had orchestrated. Olga, her new assistant, entered with a hesitant knock.

"Mrs. Brandt, I have a message from the sewage crew."

"Thank you, dear," Laura smiled. Olga was a little shy and had an intense accent, but she worked hard and was always polite. She unfolded the letter to find exactly what she had hoped for. The party she had dispatched this morning had managed to remove the slime infestation in the sedimentation tank, and cleanup was proceeding well. Things were looking up. If only the Pfennings weren't such a pain in the ass.