Chương 212: Balance

Melissa P. O. V. I was bored. The Izkar were dumb monsters, charging us as soon as we entered their range of perception, whatever that was. The big monsters were blind, no that was wrong, actually they didn't even have eyes, they were the size of a car, all thick, reinforced skin, grey with some forest green stripes that were difficult to see.

They were poisonous, actually they could spit poisonous globs that released a foul odour, we avoided any direct contact for now, but there had been a couple of instances in which I had to protect Aisha and Sara from getting hit. Aside from that, they were just lumbering monsters, hard to take down, but hardly difficult with all the firepower we had. Fiona could shoot some decay ray that, when focused, rendered a leg all wrinkled until it snapped under its weight, it took time for that, but their speed wasn't great.

Bella could fry their brains directly, but her lightning was less effective against their bodies, while Sara and Lena were doing moderate damage. Paul was trying in vain to entangle one in vines but the beast snapped any restraint as soon as it started moving.

Hugh instead fought like one of them, his attacks were powerful, but slow, the rocks he moved were really heavy and could grind some lesser beasts to dust, but against these tank-like monsters they were less effective, though he could actually hold his own and keep one occupied, so I shouldn't complain so much maybe.

Aisha was the only one that I found interesting, she built a figurine of the monster, then proceeded to stab it and chant her magic, it was funny, seeing a grown-ass woman behave like a monkey and jumping here and there, but it was less funny to see the effect of her magic.

It was pain, mainly the effect of her voodoo was to inflict debilitating pain on the monsters, it worked exceptionally well on some, but others just soldiered through and made her their target, and I would have to protect her or she would surely die. All in all this exercise was really improving the mages, but for me? It was just boring, I wanted to spend some time with Quinn... Nobody knew how romantic he could be behind that thug-like behaviour, I still dream of that house in the tree he built for me. Haa...

I know it's not his fault for being the way he is though, it's just a consequence of his upbringing, growing up in the Bronx wasn't easy, but he has so much potential waiting to come out, and I would help him do just that, if he only listened to me a bit more. Instead he only listened to Elias, not that it was a bad thing, gods knew he could learn some manners from him, but still. I formed a barrier in front of Aisha again, a glob of poison slid off it and fell at her feet.

"You really should pay a bit more attention, you have a shield, use it." I told her.

"I can't stop the chanting halfway, and you're here, so what's the problem?" she said in her thick African accent.

"I mean, if I wasn't here what would you have done? This exercise is meant to make us improve, you should try to multitask." I was being realistic, I put a lot of effort into improving my offensive magic, it didn't come as easily as my barriers, I knew I had some talent in that field, but I couldn't expect that someone would always fell the monsters for me, that would just make me fall behind.

"My voodoo takes all my being to manifest, I simply can't." she said as if that was that and there was nothing else to be done about it. Bella, still shooting lightning, interjected, "Maybe you should think about getting some kind of summon then, someone who protects you while you do your magic." Another Izkar fell while smoking from the mouth as her lightning cooked it from the inside, the smell was strangely good, it reminded me of my father's BBQ.

I felt a pang of sadness at the thought, I missed my parents so much, but I forced my mind to think about something else, they weren't here, and finding them was going to be hard, I could only hope that we stumbled upon each other in some big safe zone. We had already started to talk with the people staying in this place to see if they had found some of our loved ones, and actually a couple of people who knew each other managed to meet, but the System seemed like it separated us on purpose.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Why do something so cruel? I was trying hard not to show anything, I had managed with great effort to build a reputation here, everyone counted on me for my abilities, if I started to break down and cry nobody would take me seriously, they would only see a fifteen-year-old baby. I already had to deal with many telling me to stop taking risks and leave it to the adults, despite seeing many of them cry themselves to sleep every night, hypocrites.

Why is it that no matter what someone young does it's always a problem that they are young? It's so unfair, if Elias made a mistake then it was fine, it happened, everyone made mistakes, but if I did, it was because I was young and inexperienced. How much experience did anyone have with magic anyway? None, except Adrian.

I would really like to get some advice from him, he had so much knowledge about magic and everything, I didn't know why Elias distrusted him, he was so friendly and approachable, he never refused anyone asking him something, and while the whole Hero of Humanity thing was a bit over the top, I could see why he was chosen for that role.

It's not that Elias was bad, but he clearly wasn't as altruistic as many thought him to be, and we saw yesterday what happened, that showed his true colours, I shuddered at the memory, that unnatural fear...

"Are you cold?" asked Paul from beside me, we had apparently changed formation and I was too immersed in my thoughts to notice, not good, I would have to pay more attention, I couldn't let anyone get hurt, they counted on me. What should I answer? I had a shiver after thinking back to our leader? A man that many considered like a saint?

"Just a little, next time I'll bring a heavier jacket."

"Mmm, I have a spare one, even if it's a tad big for you." he said.

"No, thank you, I'll be fine, anyway, how is it to change your bloodline? I asked a couple of people, but those who got the elf one didn't feel much difference." He looked at his hand, if you looked really closely his muscles gave the impression of wood fibres right now, and his skin was rough.

"Oh that was an experience, I can tell you that! But I don't regret it for a second, I always felt a keen bond with nature, despite being a carpenter, you know, we always planted three trees for each one we cut down, I always strived for the most ethical approach.

And now, I feel my connection with nature so strongly, the process had been quite disconcerting let me tell you, the pain and misery of the transformation I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, compared to me I believe that those who chose humanoid bloodlines had it much better, but now I have this affinity with all sorts of plants and flowers, it feels like they are talking to me somehow, and I can communicate my intentions better too, my new skills have been clearly shaped by my bloodline and as you see I can control plants quite easily, mostly they listen, but I can even use my crafting skills on them to get a better result if the growth is not exactly as I wanted it to, so everything is meshing together pretty well, as you can see."

I could see, yes, and I honestly wished I hadn't, his vines and plants were capable of restraining the monsters, but to kill them he made the vines slither inside them, through every hole they had. Passing through the mouth had the effect of just getting the vines chomped and destroyed, but from the other side... well, let's just say it wasn't such a great show, especially when the vines started to grow thorns...

I tuned out his blabbering, the man was in his fifties but talked more than some of my friends, I stopped another blob directed at Fiona, her dark, smoky shield managed to reduce the power of the attack considerably, but it still penetrated and was about to hit her square in the chest.

"Thanks!"

"Anytime." I answered back with a smile.

"The next two are mine, I need to release some of the magic I accumulated." I said to Lena.

"Go for it. Hugh, Sara, open some space." The two current frontliners moved to the side as a couple of Izkar came running toward us, the earth vibrated even at a distance due to their great weight. I moved one of my barriers, which was constantly protecting my back, to the front, the usually light blue, transparent pane of magic was now blinding to look at.

One of my traits and some skills worked in concert to absorb and store some of the energy hitting my magic, allowing me to empower a single attack that I had to make pass through the barrier I was using as storage. It was actually simpler than what it sounded, I waited a few seconds more, channelling my Cutting Mana Ray at the tip of my finger, then I shot it at my barrier. The hair-thin ray of magic swelled as it passed through, then I swiped my finger slightly to the right.

In a second the attack and the shield vanished, leaving the two monsters to fall down into the grass. Cut in half by my skill. A lot of blood came out of the extensive wounds, the cut splattered a lot of offal and bodily fluids around. ──────────── You have killed an Izkar Lv55 You have killed an Izkar Lv51 Level up! 10 Intelligence 5 Wisdom 3 Willpower 7 Free stat points ────────────"Damn kid, leave some for us too!" exclaimed Bella.

"Don't worry, I'll leave the next ones to you." I winked at her. Level 36, not bad, but I could do better, I would have to talk to Elias about those fruits, I didn't really want to ask him for help, but everyone was doing it and Quinn was too much ahead of me, it wouldn't do. There must be balance in a couple, after all.