Chương 30: Chapter 29 – Upward Mobility

~ Goblins slain. 48 EXP awarded. ~ Quest complete: Defend the waterworks from the goblin raid. ~ Reward: 5 SP The moment Lena saw the notification, all stress and mental exhaustion from the needlessly drawn-out battle dissipated. She immediately sank 26 SP into her new class.

~ Class acquired: Meteorician ~ Proficiencies gained: ~~ Meteorics: Intermediate ~ Spells gained: ~~ (Air Burst) ~~ Thunder I ~~ Levitation ~ Perks gained: ~~ Practiced Meteorician [Exclusive] The first thing that caught her attention when checking her new Spells was their mana cost. Zap and Lightning Bolt could be charged with one, two, or three MP. She usually chose two, the best balance between cost and power.

Thunder, however, started at two and could be upcast to four or six, something she did not see herself doing any time soon given her limited mana reserves. Immediately, Dad's warnings about MP economy at higher tiers had new context. Levitation, the Spell she had looked forward to most, had the same cost curve. Casting it with two MP would allow her a hover height of two meters tops, four MP would get her to four meters, and so forth.

She briefly wondered just how much mana Dad was pumping into that spell, then turned her attention towards what he had called 'the centerpiece of the class'. ~ Practiced Meteorician ~ Effect: The MP cost of Meteoric Spells is reduced by 1. That was a game changer of epic proportions. It meant that even if she was completely out of mana, she could still cast Zap at the lowest level. It wouldn't be enough to seriously hurt even a level five goblin, but it was something.

It also meant that she would have to rethink all of her rotations, taking the reduced cost into account. But that was a topic for later.

"[Levitation]." The new perk immediately demonstrated its effects. The spell matrix drew in ambient mana instead of just drawing on her own pool, supplementing the cast. So, for the low price of a single mana point, she rose into the air. After multiple trips through the air courtesy of Dad, the sensation was not new. What was new was her ability to maneuver with a single thought. And that maneuvering was fast, faster than she could jog.

A full sprint might still be faster, but she very much preferred this new method of locomotion. It did not take her long to realize that she could keep this up indefinitely with her out-of-combat regeneration, as long as she did not have to concentrate on another spell. She doubted her ability to use Battle Meditation mid-flight as well, so her next investment would have to be the perk 'Focus I', which, according to Dad, would make that possible.

She hovered across the field for a short while, enjoying the unrestricted, effortless movement, until she spotted a practice target: a dead tree stump. Mom surely wouldn't mind, right?

"[Thunder]." There was no lightning arc, no visible tell at all. But the focused shockwave impacting and splintering the stump was very real, and so was the deep, echoing sound. It thundered through the small valley, making flocks of birds take off from nearby trees. It was a very satisfying Spell, Lena concluded. It was not going to become her new primary means of attack, though. Thunder did not actually deal Lightning damage. Instead, Dad had called its damage type 'Absolute', bypassing MD and armor completely.

Great in theory, but its horrid mana inefficiency and resulting low damage potential meant that she was still better off using Zap against all but the most well-defended opponents.

"Having fun up there?" Lena swiveled around, finding unreasonable enjoyment in looking down on her brother for once. She really could get used to this.

"Testing spells," she simply replied. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Do the full testing later, we need to get back before it gets dark." Since support and ta– Marie and Alexander voiced their assent, Lena agreed to return to Lindenfeld. She did not, however, consider it necessary to walk. = = = = ="Honey, can you please do something about that?" Laura complained. Daniel shrugged.

"It's good training. She should get used to aerial mobility." But I can't get used to the sight of my daughter hovering around instead of moving like a regular human.

"How is Marie doing?" he asked, blatantly switching the topic.

"So far, about as well as the others I'm coaching," she indulged him.

"She's… too caught up in her way of thinking. She can connect with the plants, but she can't communicate with them."

"So, no Treewarden yet?"

"No Treewarden yet. Though I can't tell you whether or not this training actually helps with that. I could pick it from the beginning, it just showed up."

"Alright, she will have to do the next quest still on Tier I then."

"Maybe I should do some questing as well," Laura sighed.

"I need fifteen more SP for Tier II, and I would love to know what changes. Particularly what the proficiency increase to 'Intermediate' does."

"What's stopping you? You could easily assemble a party. The hunters are desperately looking for support casters."

"They're afraid of me," she explained.

"My status intimidates them. The party would feel more like a protect-the-VIP assignment, and nobody in their right mind is going to take that." Daniel's neutral expression turned contemplative. She braced herself for whatever madness was coming.

"... I have an idea, but I'm not sure you'll like it."

"... Shoot." = = = = ="This is freaky," Jonathan whispered. Noel did not need more qualification; the unmoving metal silhouettes of the sentinel golems were unsettling enough to set their entire party on edge.

"Windy says they're coming," Julia interrupted in the same hushed tone. Noel still hadn't gotten used to the Shaman calling her summoned elementals Windy, Stony, Watey, and Firey, but she was so exceptionally useful that he just quietly shelved her eccentricity as irrelevant. And sure enough, the wind elemental was correct again. Squinting, he could barely make out a goblin raiding group sneaking through the high grass towards the village.

"... That's a lot of green bastards," Senior Warden Finn mumbled quietly. He was right – Noel counted seven goblins, a target way too dangerous for their party despite their two most accomplished members. But the quest had been just too juicy. Not that it had been an actual system-granted quest. No, it had simply been one of the many requests posted on the hunting board, with a ridiculous payout of twelve cores promised. Noel had first considered it a transparent scam, but then he saw the signature underneath.

Brandt. So, he had immediately snatched the paper note, assembled a team, and begun baiting goblins towards the Brandt house. Not that it resembled a house these days. The old farm complex was now encircled by a stone wall, patrolled by a swarm of Sentinels and protected by god knows what kind of magical barriers. One section of the wall was conspicuously lowered, leading into what looked like an overgrown garden. And it seemed like the goblins were taking the bait.

Noel and his party had come up with an embarrassingly simple plan: lay out a trail of meat for the goblins to follow. With the aerial overview provided by 'Windy', they could avoid the monsters. Finn and Jonathan provided situational awareness, and Noel… Well, Noel was there because he got to the request first. Also, he was the only one equipped and trained for defensive melee combat, but if it came to that, things had gone to shit a while ago.

The goblins moved towards the wall, carefully avoiding the inactive golems and sometimes picking up meat scraps from the ground. But unfortunately, their instincts were sharp enough to keep them from crossing the lowered section outright. They sniffed around, occasionally poking at the stone with their weapons, too cautious to enter.

"What should we do?" Jonathan murmured.

"They're not going in."

"Let's wait a bit, they might get greedy." Since nobody was particularly keen on a direct confrontation, that was what they did. Five minutes, ten. The goblins were now crouching in a circle, chewing on the collected meat.

"Come on, come on," Noel hissed.

"I want those cores."

"This isn't going anywhere," Julia sighed.

"Should we give them a push?"

"I could shoot an arrow at that rock," Finn said, pointing at a barely-visible piece of stone close to the monsters.

"That might startle them." He can hit that from here? Goddamn, I wonder how high his Bow value is.

"Do it," Noel urged. Finn slowly peeked out of their hiding spot in a large hazel bush, nocked an arrow, and aimed carefully. The motion was smooth and practiced. I'm glad we have him around. With a quiet twang, the arrow loosened. One heartbeat later, it impacted the stone, causing all seven goblins to jump in panic. They desperately searched for cover, instantly identifying the wall and the vegetation behind it as the best escape route. They entered the estate, sprinting into the brushes in a mad scramble.

"Nice job, man!" Noel offered Finn a high five, which the Archer accepted with a wide grin. Then the screaming began.