It was not the first time she faced his wrath, nor would it be the last. She boldly rushed forward, matching his fury with her own.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzkSuyiS5F
Terra's dad had been training her for months with two hammers to teach her how to overcome the brute force and speed of a raging beast. As a former berserker, he knew what it took.
Even now, if she lost focus and gave in to fear and hesitated, he would break her like so many times before.
Swoosh…
The hammer skimmed her face, a light brush versus the skull-shattering impact if she was a split second late.
Swoosh… swoosh… BANG
She dodged between the strikes, trying to close the distance from his massive reach before being forced into blocking the last hit.
She pulsed mana slightly in the shield to push the arms of the beast of a man back, creating an opening as she watched the steel glint in his red eyes as he focused on taking her down.
Yet just as quick as it came, her opening to strike went away as she watched a slight earthy tone cover his flesh.
He used his earth blessing to counter her move and proceeded to swing down with both hammers at full force to end her.
BANG BOOM…
The hammers slammed into her block, yet she held. The reverb from the impact made a sonic boom, and the force made an indent of her slightly in the ground.
While the backlash pushed him back slightly, just enough for her to try pulsing more mana into her shield once.
The effect once more knocked his hammers back, and this time unbalanced him, even with him reinforcing his body with earth mana.
Yet before he could counter with anything else, she rushed forward, closing the distance, slamming the shield into his chest, and pulsing mana twice more in rapid succession into her shield, draining her slightly from repeated burst use.
The first pulse he braced against and took easily, barely moving him in the ground before her.
Yet the second pulse of reverb in his body was too much to hold, and it threw him back, breaking his defense and smashing him backward into a roll.
"I yi-eld chi-eld" the beast spoke calmly from the ground, pulling himself up as she drew deep breaths, covered in sweat and drained from the mana used. Finally, it was over.
A cheer from the side made her smile. "U kep gettin butter Lun!" As the big girl ran up and hugged her, before the joy she expressed turned to a frown " U smell thu "
She could not help but laugh at her bluntness. After all these months of fighting and training, she was used to her bites.
Her dad moved in close, also covered in dirt and sweat, and slapped her side, wanting to share in the pride of her win.
"Like mu secund daughter I'm prud of u" She felt that pride going from time to time again, him breaking her, pushing her to the edge… Yet now?
She held her own more often than not and won.
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She felt he still held back at times, but less for concern of her feelings and more for not wanting to kill her with random strikes…
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The last strike at her head was a rare, dangerous one that she wasn’t sure she could heal from. Her rare healing magic was good, but she never had to test a skull smash that big….
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They kept potions thanks to her brother as a fail-safe, but magic or not, nothing was absolute…
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She was happy with how far she came with Terra's dad training her and Terra's support. She felt blessed to share in their lives. She knew, though, that the dad loved a good fight. Their passion was really blacksmithing, and she kept it up from then on with the long training…
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Yet neither seemed to mind; perhaps, like her, it gave them something more in life. She wasn't sure where she'd go from here after no more training.
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With the excitement of the morning training ending, they all agreed to clean up before the real adventure could start with her friends. She borrowed a shower from there so she could start the long-awaited dungeon hunts!
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Terra surprised her with a gift before they left that she had been working on in secret for months: a sturdy set of leather boots with wind enchant. She said, I can hold my own but still needed to be able to rush the front lines or fall back quickly; this will help with that.
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She warned me to control the mana flow, as it had a kick but needed to be used to really get how it feels…
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I was humbled but planned to give back with the mana crystals so it no longer felt like begging for free things, like when they first met all those months ago…
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Well, that and Terra and her dad now felt like extended family, so it felt more like a gift of love than a handout too.
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It took a lot of bickering and planning to get the cast and team together and moving forward from their daily tasks…
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But now we were finally gathered and ready to run dungeons. It seemed everyone kind of lost interest and kept having their own life issues… Where was the joy for the hunt and exploring something new?
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Only Coby and Terra were really supportive. Nina and Arlin wanted to do other things than fight…
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I had to explain again we're a team, and we need to see how far I've come, or why was I training this whole time…
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Nobody disagreed and even tried to show support, but it felt hollow after their lackluster response to even going to the dungeon…
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We manage to make it to level 3 of the dungeon fairly easily, a good sign, and start…
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Level one was so mundane, as it never changed its layout of a normal cave, and was so traveled by all that beyond the random person coming or going, there was nothing to see, much less find…
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But level two was at least interesting in its random new layout.
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This time it was a calm forest with a lot of herbs and berries. We had a light snack from there. Everyone seemed to be having fun, but I kept it brief as we came to hunt, not gather… Coby kept tracking for us and assured us it was safe. Even as we found the door, nothing happened, to my relief.
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Yet now in level three? It was a vast plain with random slopes in terrain, or there would be nowhere to hide for us or them, assuming there were any monsters.
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I turn to Coby, who already knew the drill and checked. Surprising all was how close the door to the next level was; it was a mere few hundred feet away, with nothing stopping us from going beyond…
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We could even see the door clearly if we looked for it embedded in the distance of a small mound…
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I wasn’t sure if it was a trap or a choice, as this would mean those that stayed knew and were looking for a fight… At least that's what I assumed was the gods' intent.
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I voice my desire to stay and search for a fight, as the deeper we go, the more we risk.
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“Dunno why we have to fight. Do we need these mana crystals that badly?” Arlin asked, “I did not want to waste my day off for this…”
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“Dun be luk thut U gut me !” Terra tried to cheer him up, which seemed to just get a glare versus support from him…
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I watched to see how others felt. Nina was bored, and Coby nodded to me, which made me smile, getting some support.
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“We’re a team, we fight,“ I said with a finality everyone just got somber and accepted it.
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Why is everyone treating this like a bad thing…?
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Coby guided us deeper into the plains. He used his wind gift to sense things beyond us and said he could see five monsters in the wind with his mana sight. three close to us and the other two much farther… I thank him for his insight as we focused on the closer set.
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As we climbed a nearby hill, we saw them, those monsters Coby mentioned before… There was a goblin-looking thing with a staff with two bouncy blue slimes nearby.
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“Seems simple enough…” I said, watching from there, but even in the distance I saw the smile on the face of the goblin… There was a trap… I knew it.
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“This is to open… Too easy, it's a trap.” I said, making my thoughts clear.
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“Really?” Arlin squinted and looked around, not agreeing.
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“I feel things in the earth but don’t see anything there?” Nina replied, Confused?
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“I scouted as best I could. There’s nothing hiding, I can sense …” He looked conflicted as he hated missing a trap.
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Terra was getting tired of all the talking….
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“We came tu fight su less fught” She drew her hammers, limbering up, getting ready to bolt.
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I wanted to assure the team, A trap or no, we got this, but actions spoke louder than words, so as I spoke… I kept it brief.
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“Give me a second to go first,” I asked before anyone moved.
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“If it’s a trap and I get surrounded, I can hold my own, but if anyone is near me?“
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“Friendly fire,” Coby said, slowly understanding he always tried to watch his shots, but with unknown variables, he did not want blind fire, wind mana guiding shots or not…
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“Whatever, we got this… Have a little faith. We've done this before.” Arlin still was treating this like a game despite all they had been through…
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Nina smiled. Sadly, I felt bad I pulled her into this. I forgot how little she wanted this. She really was happier at home…
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I breathe in deep and out slowly.
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“Trust me.”
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“ We got this; follow my lead. I will cover our faults.” With those words I rushed and saw the surprise in the goblin’s face despite the distance from us…
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Did it think we would all come as one? Or was it surprised I foolishly came alone…
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Time and time again she was not allowed to think in past battles, forced to react while the monsters gained control, so now she would return the favor tenfold…
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I wasn’t going to wait to see their thoughts, as I learned fortune favors the bold. Since I got the new boots, I wanted to see how well they worked…
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There was still a good distance between them, with plenty of time for it to cast many spells…
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So closing the gap before the goblin could, or whatever the trap was, she would stop them first…
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She pushed mana into the boots for the first time, not sure what to expect, and the next step after she touched the ground launched her forward, and she flew, closing the distance…
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She would’ve screamed at the sudden rush of speed and distance being closed if the slime near the goblin by fluke or twist of fate did not move just enough to block her from slamming into the shocked goblin’s face…
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She slapped its jelly body with an odd smack. It did not hurt so much and disorient her from the sudden shift to stop. She could feel the body about to bounce her back and would throw her sprawling on the ground.
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Yet instinct from all her battles kicked in, and she pulsed mana into her shield first, which pushed the force of her impact deeper into the slime instead of her and sent the slime rocketing now into the goblin, who was still in a state of shock at the absurd flying girl moments before….
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So now instead of her tumbling backwards, flying away in shame from slapping the slime from her failed flying attack…
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The slime now smashed the goblin backwards, making it skid before tumbling into a roll on the ground, stunning her into inaction as that wasn’t the plan…
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She heard laughter as Terra and Nina caught up, full of cheer. Even Arlin was singing her praise. As they quickly and quiet easily smash the poor single smile that was watching the event unfold….
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The other slime that she hit before burst soon after hitting the goblin, leaving a stunned, wheezing goblin trying to recover with no allies….
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She did not want cruelty merely to end a hunt and was debating on killing it herself or allowing another…
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Yet she remembered the feeling of a trap and wasn’t going to let it recover to hurt her friends, so she was about to rush it when the goblin wheezed odd words.
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“Reinee!” The goblin gasped between breaths. The words made no sense, but she saw four sets of hands pulling out of the ground, reaching for them…
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“THE GROUND MOVE!” She tried to warn them, but the time it took for her to speak and for them to register the words, only she moved in time….
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Arlin, when grabbed, quickly turned to shadow mist and escaped easily.
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Nina, when grabbed, was indifferent, as she soon broke free with little effort, as the hands seemed to be made of rocks, and she shifted them off her with her power.
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Even Terra did not struggle to break free; in fact, she welcomed the challenge, laughing as she used her hammers to smash the hands free of her legs, surprising me how everything was being handled so easily…
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The hands from the earth, knowing their plan failed, soon rose to full form from the ground as rock golems trying to shift the battle since the surprise attack they tried failed.
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I did not trust the goblin not to add to the fight and went to finish it.
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Yet it seemed I needed not worry; it was down, dead, with three arrows in its chest, making me smile. Coby was always watching, even now…
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Terra was having a field day as everyone watched in amazement as she showed why she was her father's child and should be feared as much as her father was as a berserker…
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She flared her fire mana within her hammers and herself, boosting her strength and speed, and she bellowed more laughs of joy as the golems were no match for her mad fury, the flames of her hammers matching the red of her eyes, a furious look for the usually lovely girl who was now all warrior.
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Smash, smash, smash the hits, seeming to have no effect at first… As she danced and weaved, endless strikes to the slow-moving fists of the golems that could land no strikes while hers rained endlessly till….
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BOOM… BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…
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The bursting of the rock golems' stone form happened soon after in a sequence as she fed flames within their core frame with every strike…
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Everyone stood back, partly to avoid rock shards and to not add confusion to the fight. This was Terra's moment to shine, and they let her have it…
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I watched to make sure no surprises came, even as the thundering of the hammer rained down, mixed with the laughter of her joy of victory…
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So I calmly kept watch as others enjoyed the spectacle.
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“U see thut arlun? I gut em gud!” Arlin could not stay sour; even he was impressed with the feat and gave her rare praise, which made her blush with pride at finally winning his acknowledgement, even if only a little.
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Coby came closer to me, assuring me the other two beasts were still far away. He also apologized for not knowing about the trap, feeling he let me down…
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I returned the favor and assured him he did more than enough and made sure to also thank Nina for trying to warn us with what she did know.
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I felt we all did good and once more wished they wanted to stay a team…
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We searched for our prize among the fading bodies. There were only two crystal gems despite the number of monsters we fought, but Terra, still flushed with joy from the victory, sobered quickly seeing one of the two crystals.
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“Thut a rare une “ she said, pointing at one of the two Coby held from gathering.
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“Level three wuter gem, any chunce I cun huve it?” I wasn’t sure why she was asking; she was usually much more forceful, and she gave me plenty… Plus, this was a long overdue payback for what she gave me, even though she said my debt had long since been paid.
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“I plan for you to have all the gems. Was that not what we all agreed to ?” I looked at the other but only saw bored indifference. It seemed nobody cared much about mana gems, not even me.
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Yet Terra gave me a sour look as if I tried to scam her out of a meal…
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“U all dun knuw whut u given freely,” she points at the crystal.
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“Wuter level three is rure wurth lut money.”
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“It culd puy fur hulf the thungs in my shup”
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“It cun heal and cure poisons; nu magic needed.”
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“So it heals and cures passively ?” I asked, and she nodded eagerly. Everyone looked mildly interested with the talk of worth, but nobody wanted greed over friendship, so they kept quiet…
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Coby spoke first, breaking the building tension: “I came to hunt, not for profit, plus you helped my sister when she needed it, so this, to me, is a debt paid.”
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“I just want to see my brother…” Nina said plainly, looking bored once more despite the battle just fought, and I and Terra could not help but laugh at her earnestness, which made Nina laugh, tail wagging, enjoying the moment.
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That just left Arlin. As we watched him, he was lost in thought until he saw all eyes on him, and he panicked. “What? I’m not greedy. I never wanted it either… I also was just here to help.”
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He looked away, abashed. “I was just thinking about what I was going to do when this was all over, is all…”
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I did wonder why he felt defensive, but Terra beat me to it, trying once more to win his heart… Yet he shifted to a shadow mist, running to me, avoiding her completely, and souring Terra’s good mood a bit.
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I wanted to end this on a high note, so I tried to regain control.
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“Let’s hunt the last two since nobody wants to keep being a team. It’ll be our last hurrah.”
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Arlin looked uncomfortable at my side but spoke clearly, surprising me: “ I still want to see you, just not fight…” He looked up, noticing what he said, and panicked.
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“ALL OF YOU”
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“We’re a team! Doesn't mean we have to be a team that fights…“. He looked around, still in a bit of a panic, trying to find the right word…
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“FRIENDS,” he shouted as if he figured it all out in between his rambling….
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“We’re friends… I just don’t want to fight.” He looked desperate seeing Nina's indifference. Even now he clung to that. “Nina, you agree, right?”
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She looked over at him skeptically but took pity and relented. “He’s right. I never wanted to fight. I hate magic.”
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“I do it for you guys…”
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Looking to the side, concern now etched my face. How much did people despise this life? She saw Coby conflicted…
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He saw me and shrugged, seeing I wanted an answer. He spoke, “I like to hunt, but more to protect the town than for random killing, so I understand both sides. I’m neutral on this really…”
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She was going to sigh and say it was all right till Terra spoke, startling her, forgetting she did not say her piece…
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“I luke to fught but I luke to luve too!” She definitely focused on Arlin with those words as she went on…10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdkxPURpKC
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“If I gut a choice? I du buth!” She laughed at her joke. I smiled to be polite. I did not feel the same joy knowing we were divided and not united in a desire to hunt.
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“Thank you all for helping me grow,” I said calmly now that all had said their piece.
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“We will always be friends; that doesn't change… But it seems we don’t all want to fight, so we won’t be a team that fights. I still want to go on, but we can end it here.”
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Everyone agreed one more fight to end on a high note was better than just walking away, but to take it slow lest they bring misfortunes.
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The travel was simple, and they were able to see the monster even in the distance, yet unlike before, it seemed these monsters would not wait for them to strike…
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They were smaller versions of the boulder monster they fought so long ago, but their shell tops looked different. One swirled with water; it was still and watching. The other was almost translucent and moving erratically as if not able to sit still…
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We only had enough time to notice those details when a fist-sized water ball flew by them…
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I wanted to comment on a plan, yet four more flew soon after two hit Arlin and the other two barely missed Coby and Nina as we tried to scatter…
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“AAAHHH,” Arlin shouted from the hits, stumbling to the side to avoid being the focus…
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I reach to heal Arlin. It seems the force was enough to fracture bone even at this distance, so how bad would it be point-blank?
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My light blessing easily counters these hits. Yet mental exhaustion was starting to hit me from training today plus these battles, and even if my mana recovered quickly, it still ate at me…
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I did not think I would feel it so soon. After months of pushing myself, I thought I would get better at avoiding mana drain…
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Maybe it was healing others vs. myself that did it, as I suffered more in training and healed easily, never feeling the drain, yet healing Arlin drained me?
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I knew I needed to focus and get the team moving, so I shouted orders to the team…
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“ Keep moving, follow my lead.”
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“Coby, don’t stand still unless you're sure you're not a target.“
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I flared my mana in my boots and once more almost tumbled and hit my face, underestimating what the wind boots did as the angle of my feet as it pushed me forward was throwing off my balance…
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Last time it was the speed that threw me forward that caused me fear and panic, yet now?
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As I pushed forward, I used a little too much mana and was not just shooting forward anymore; now it was also up!
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The sheer height as I flew through the air… was awe-inspiring. I was learning quickly how much mana to push into the boots did not just affect speed but also granted flight… Well, big jumps.
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The view was amazing. I was ten feet in the air, flying forward, but as quickly as I was amazed at the versatility of the boots, it shifted to panic when the truth hit…
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I literally painted a hit me sign on my face while flying forward midair… as a volley of water balls soon greeted me as if to prove my case…
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I never tried reinforcing earth mana in my shield to make me solid while flying forward midair… But there's always a first…
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So I shrank my body as best I could behind my shield and reinforced the earth mana, making me solid….
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Turning me into a flying cannonball right into the monster’s face…
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I felt the impact of the water balls, but they slid harmlessly off my shield, and I probably would have been a devastating attack smashing into the beast if not for the erratic second monster countering my daring move…
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It flared, the wind throwing me off course. My back was now to the water beast as I flew past its side, and I released the mana to allow me to reorient myself.
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Doing the best I could to skid sliding to a stop vs. flying face first hitting the ground…
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Even though it was all happening in seconds, the beast was already firing new water blasts at me.
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I was able to adjust and block most of them from hitting me, mostly hitting the shield, but one did smash my leg, breaking it… though I heal as quickly as it broke. It reminded me of all the time I spent with Terra's father, a familiar pain I never forgot…
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It made it clear to me how dangerous this water beast was if I was not a powerful healer or if I was not close to healing others…
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I was sure the wind beast would rush in for the kill the moment anyone showed weakness when they were in the broken state… a deadly combo…
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I watched as an arrow flew past the water beast, the wind one still covered for its partner…
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Yet as Nina and Terra got close, it was now too much for it to keep us all from turning the tide…
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The wind beast lost focus on who to target when it tried to blow Nina and Terra back, and Arlin, from the shadow of its side, repeatedly stabbed spikes into its side, confusing it into a panic.
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The water beast tried to help, but Nina pulled up a rock wall, blocking its line of sight and allowing Terra to get close, smashing it, confusing it as it wasn’t used to being hit versus the wind beast blowing everything away.
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I burst with wind boots flying past Nina and Terra over the rock wall. I needed to make sure Arlin was ok. He drew blood on the beast, but the beast was far from dead and kept lunging at him…
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He was desperately shifting to mist and avoiding the strikes but was tiring from the shifting …
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I landed nearby, trying to focus …
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I watched as the beast was learning and timing its next strike to where Arlin was coming out of the mist and was lunging for his body to bite.
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I push wind into the boot to fly forward, slamming into its side, tipping it a bit, combined with its wounds sustained before it went into a blind rage, panicking from the pain, forgetting it attempted to bite Arlin.
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I pulse my shield into its side, shattering its ribs as it rages on, coughing blood. Arling tries to pull the monster's head with shadow vines, but it snaps free easily and knocks him to the ground, about to be trampled…
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I rushed to his side and reinforced my shield… Seeing the shock and shame in his face, I focused on being a wall for both of us…
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STOMP… BOOM… ROAR… STOMP…
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As the random stomps slam into us, a few strike past before I notice it was disoriented, moving away with a few arrows now in its side and face…
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I took the chance to rush forward, slamming the tip of my blade deep into its head, finishing it with a smooth grace.
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Yet there was no victory for us; the water version still lived… Or so I thought. Nina and Terra were both excited, cheering. It seemed they worked well as a team.
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Unlike me and Arlin….
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I saw him still shamed and annoyed; he was mad not to have been able to show off like the others, especially if this was our last fight…
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“This is the crap I’m tired of,” Arlin said, still sour but leaving it at that. I wasn’t sure how to comfort him but still tried…
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“You did good wounding its side. We work well as a team.” I smiled and extended my hand. He looked very annoyed.
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“Whatever, it’s over.” I wasn’t sure why he was upset. Not being a hero? Even I made a lot of mistakes but did not want to say such things…
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As the beasts faded, Terra cheered, as it seemed the gods favored us this day, dropping two level two crystals, wind and water.
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Add in the last mana crystal from before, which was a level one earth beside the level three water Terra wanted to claim.
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“We got a total of four…” I said to the group, Now that we've won,
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“I know I said Terra gets them all, but if this is our last battle…” I looked away, not wanting to seem indecisive.
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I was conflicted, not wanting to be leaving everyone with nothing… Terra seemed to share my view and did not want to be greedy.
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Terra said if we let her have the level three gem, she would be thankful, as she wanted to try to craft a rare item with it vs. just selling it.
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Nobody fought her for it, as all agreed as a crafter she would benefit the most.
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I spoke up and refused anything, saying the shield and sword plus boots and training I got were worth more than any random gold or gems to me…
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Coby and Nina both wanted to give their gem to Wolf to help his potions. Arlin, still looking sour, was last to respond, lost in his own thoughts, and gave his to Terra, surprising us all.
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He said it was his way of thanking her for all she gave me. Terra wanted to show her thanks to Arlin in many other ways, but he politely and loudly refused all of them…
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It was odd after all this time, their first real adventure, and just like that it was already over? She watched them to see how they felt, and it saddened her to know only she seemed to feel a sense of loss…
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Nina looked bored, probably still thinking about our brother. Coby was calm, still scouting, making her smile. Terra only had eyes for Arlin, even now…
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And Arlin, annoyed over it all, was brooding over something…
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It was amusing how even now that was something he seemed to even now still do well…
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“Thank you all for coming this far with me." I started giving a speech, knowing it was over.
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"Perhaps a day will come where we must fight once more, but till then we will let others handle the fighting…”
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“Thank the gods!” Nina said, surprising me, Guess she hated it more than I gave her credit for…
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“It’s fune we always huve tumoruw !” Terra beamed while stealing a glance at Arlin, who just shrugged and said nothing.
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Coby, too, just smile for him; it's just another day…
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As each person passes through the door leaving, I sense something watching a change…
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I scouted but saw nothing despite the open plain, yet felt its eyes all the same…
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The only thing beside the exit and vast field was the door to go deeper, yet it wasn’t open, or so I thought…
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It was open…
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We never opened it? Odd…
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I was tempted to go back and look but did not want to tempt fate, so I left with the other instead.
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I did not know how close to death I was or the events that would follow since that day that would lead to the end…
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