Chapter 102

“Unexpected Re-encounters” Part 3.

[Warning: an unknown entity has attempted to disable the passive skill Mental Defense!]

[The passive skill Mental Defense has resisted the attack: ‘Demonic Fear’ and is still activated].

“Shit!” Kalysto cursed at the sight of them. “Gabriel take the wounded soldier to the santeiss’s carriage! Gideon, protect the coachman or go with your brother!” She said, wanting to get rid of them so she could concentrate on the horde of monsters running down the street towards them. Hoping that they would both do as she had asked as soon as the attack stopped affecting them.

Kalysto advanced amidst the remains of monsters that Rita had incinerated. The smell of burning flesh hit her nose and turned her stomach. However, she didn’t stop, instead, she put her bow in her inventory and crouched down so that the palms of her hands touched the ground and became dirty with the ashes.

“Ice creation!” She concentrated, sending a good portion of her mana into freezing the bodies of the blue goblins, who had also succumbed to the demon’s paralyzing attack. She froze the first ten from the tips of their toes to the base of their necks, and the next ten to the middle of their chests. “Ice daggers! Ice manipulation!” She whispered, advancing between the bodies until she reached the remaining five goblins while manipulating the ice on the daggers, lengthening them into thin, sharp, pointed blades. “Koden, Rita! Come here and cut their heads off! Koden, any stats you get split it between strength and stamina!” She said and cut off the head of the first goblin that lunged at her.

[You’ve gained 7 experience points!]

“Rita, send everything to mana! If you find any crystal, it’s mine!” And both young folks rushed to cut off the heads of the twenty monsters that Kalysto had frozen as soon as the minute-long attack was over.

At the same time, Kalysto decapitated two more goblins.

[You’ve gained 8 experience points!]

[You have gained 9 experience points!]

“Why should I give you any crystal I find?” Koden questioned as he cut off two heads with his sword.

[You have gained 1 experience point!]

[You’ve gained 0 experience points!]

“Because she likes to collect them!” Rita replied as she cut off the first head. “Besides, it’s like a form of payment for helping us to level up faster, protect us, and give us advice.”

[You’ve gained 1 experience point!]

“Oh! Okay!" agreed Koden, running with his shield in one hand and sword in another towards the next frozen goblin.

It has nothing to do with that. Kalysto thought with a frown, but seeing that there was nothing to be gained by denying it, she decided to leave it at that for the moment and concentrated on killing the two remaining goblins.

[You’ve gained 6 experience points!]

[You have gained 7 experience points!]

[You have gained 1 experience point!] x3

Kalysto didn’t even have time to turn and look at how the boys were doing after receiving notification of those three extra kills, because as soon as she decapitated the last goblin, an orc’s fist smashed into her face.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to hit a woman?” The fairy champion growled as the metallic taste of blood spread against her palate and she turned to face her foe, who already had his fist up, ready for the second blow.

Kalysto jumped back, being immediately followed by the intimidating, muscular creature, then dropped the modified dagger she held in her right hand.

“Blades of water! Blades of ice!” She whispered, attacking the orc’s eyes, blinding it. And as the orc’s vino tint-colored blood spilled down to the orc’s strong jaw, Kalysto sent a thin thread of mana toward the fallen dagger. "Telekinesis!" And just as Caranthir had explained to her during the hours they had been training together, during which time he had insisted that she learn the basic movements that the novice elves did to learn the skill of ‘Perfect Shot’, and as he had done before developing the skill of telekinesis.

As expected, the modified dagger leaped into her right hand, and while that result was to be expected, it was a far different thing than what had happened during her training before absorbing the crystals.

Maybe Rita is right, and I’d better start collecting crystals. Kalysto got excited.

[You have gained 1 experience point!] x2

The fairy champion took a step towards the orc and slashed half of one of his arms as he tried to bring it to his injured eyes, but before she could land another blow, a panther leaped at her, its sharp teeth burying into her left forearm, making her bleed.

[Passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.]

“Ice modification!” Whispered Kalysto as she viciously buried the modified dagger in the panther’s eye, causing the ice to spread like a thick needle, piercing its skull and burying itself in the chest of that beast until it touched the ground. “Blood for blood!” she said, satisfied with the result.

[You have gained 20 experience points!]

Or at least that’s how it was until another panther pounced on her, knocking her to the ground, its claws digging from her right shoulder to her collarbone. At the same time, another orc raised its massive foot and aimed it at Kalysto’s head.

She kicked at the panther, throwing it against the orc’s leg as it struggled to get up off the ground as a small goblin lunged at her back with a wooden stick.

Kalysto’s brain barely registered a hit, and she immediately spun around, decapitating the small blue creature with the modified dagger in her left hand.

[You’ve gained 5 experience points!]

[You have gained 1 experience point!!!] x2

[You’ve gained 0 experience points!] x2

Then she extended her right hand.

“Multiple targets! Perfect shot! Ice arrows!” She conjured, and three arrows shot out towards the panther that had just attacked her. One arrow buried itself in each of the eyes, while the third one buried itself in the animal’s throat.

[The skill ‘Arrows of Ice’ has leveled up to level 2!]

[You have gained 20 experience points!]

[You’ve gained 1 experience point!] x2

“Perfect shot!” Whispered Kalysto, passing the modified ice dagger to her right hand, then throwing it at another panther that came running towards her. Then, she ran towards the orc, jumping over the head of the other panther’s corpse to gain momentum, staying right in front of the surprised monster. “Ice daggers! Ice manipulation!” She conjured in midair, and buried her two modified daggers in the middle of the orc’s eyes, piercing its skull.

The orc’s heavy body fell to the ground, and she landed on his muscular chest.

[You’ve gained 20 experience points!] x2

[You’ve gained 1 experience point!] x3

[The skill Ice Manipulation has been raised to level 11!]

[The skill Ice Daggers has risen to level 2!]

“I’m already level nine!” Koden shouted with excitement, interrupting Kalysto’s concentration, who frowned at the news.

“I thought you already were!” she shouted back.

“Hey, we’re not all like you, splitting monsters left and right like they’re made of butter!” Koden defended himself.

“But Rita is already level ten, and she’s a mage!” Kalysto exclaimed as she watched the rest of the orcs running in her direction, then she concentrated her mana, sending it to her right foot, under the sole of her boot and as soon as she kicked the ground she whispered: “Ice creation!” A path of ice was drawn on the ground reaching where the first orc was and spreading quickly on the ground until it became five ice spikes that pierced the bodies of five of them, killing them on the spot.

[You have gained 20 experience points!] x5

[The skill Ice Creation has been raised to level 11!]

[Congratulations! The user has unlocked a new skill: Ice Stakes. Level 1!]

At last, a new ice skill! She thought, summoning it immediately.

“Perfect shot! Multiple targets! Ice stakes!” She whispered quickly, sending the new three stakes towards the three closest orcs.

[You have gained 20 experience points!] x3

And before the rest of the monsters finished descending on her, she took out a bottle of holy water from the ones she had made herself and drank it. The usual itching from the healing of the holy water spread all over her wounds and into her head.

Still a problem with the excessive expenditure of mana. She thought with a hint of annoyance. When will it stop being a problem?

“I’m already level twelve!” Rita arrived after decapitating another goblin.

“What?” Koden spat, annoyed. “I won’t be beaten by two mages!” Koden growled, cutting off the heads of two more goblins while Rita incinerated a panther.

[You have gained 1 experience point!] x3

I’m starting to miss the amount of experience points I was earning so easily with the elves. Kalysto thought with regret as she saw how little experience she was gaining now, despite all the effort she was putting in.

As she recovered, Koden and Rita ran up to where she was, watching the group of orcs, panthers, and cyclopes descending the street.

“I don’t think the court mages will arrive in time to help us," Rita whispered.

“And the knights of the temple are literally surrounded," reported Koden whose Adam’s apple dropped noisily as he saw the huge demon begin to advance down the street with his gaze still on where the court mages were, just before launching a powerful attack.

---