It was one thing to make a threat, and it was another to see it through. Kenan swayed on his feet, his mana completely bottomed out as his vision seemed to go blank for a second. The shaman tried to capitalize on that as the goblin waved the staff in its hands. But whatever it was trying to do, it had to call off as a quick barrage of one staff and one wand-empowered Basic Fire Bullet flew at the shaman.
The goblin jumped back in fright, its shield coming into existence. And while it was safe from damage, there was no holding back the concussive force released from the skills' impact. It was thrown back head over heels before crashing down with a dull thud. Kenan took a step forward, but a staff on his shoulder brought his movement to a halt.
"You're barely standing as it is. Take a back seat on this one. I'll handle this shaman."
Kenan frowned. "Kate, this isn't the time for this. It's dangerous..."
"This is exactly the time for this, Kenan! You're not always going to be able to hold back every enemy or protect me. I need to face off against enemies and grow too. Besides, I'm not playing around here. Now sit your ass down and be quiet!"
Kenan was left blinking in shock as Kate moved past him, her wand and staff already raised, just as the goblin shaman got right back to its feet. Kate was already on the move. A Basic Earth Bullet exploded on the ground next to the shaman. Once more, its shield was raised, but that was just a diversion. Kate was relying on the cloud of dust always left behind after a Basic Earth Bullet hit. The goblin shaman was only three feet tall as opposed to the chief. The shaman was covered in a cloud of dust and didn't see the Basic Fire Bullet that followed.
It exploded against its shield, causing the shaman to shriek from the heat. Kate already used that opportunity to move, raising both her wand and staff in the shaman's direction as she circled around him. Perhaps this was the end of the world indeed—the end of her marriage, the end of her reality and everything she'd ever known. But in this moment, none of that mattered. There was a smile so dark and cheerful hanging on the edge of her lips. Kate felt a thrill the likes of which not even Kenan's touch had ever given her.
It was power, and it hung right on her fingertips. And she was embracing it all without a doubt—she loved the way it felt. The control over the mana in her body and her newfound ability to summon the force of the elements at her fingertips and at will. The shaman didn't see her coming.
"Wand: Basic Earth Bullet! Staff: Basic Fire Bullet!"
The earth bullet hit the shaman's shield with the precision and power of a bullet. The shield developed cracks and even flickered for a second. The fire bullet hit with an explosive splash, the stronger skill blasting the shaman off its feet again. From where Kenan was standing, he analyzed the way Kate fought—particularly the mentality with which she used to attack.
She was intense. Her aim was not to give her opponent any chance to react, much less attack, as she drowned the shaman in a barrage of spells. And from what Kenan could see, she was rationing her mana and controlling the output of power for the spells to be able to keep up the barrage. Kenan suspected her method of usage was doing wonders for her skills leveling up. But still, it wouldn't do to be complacent. This wasn't over yet.
The shaman roared out in anger and slammed the butt of its staff on the ground. The earth seemed to rumble as a small shockwave spread from where the shaman stood outward. The shockwave hit Kate, and she stumbled forward, almost as if the very earth beneath her feet was unsteady. Kenan felt his heart leap into his throat, and even with his weakness, he was about to rush toward her. But even stumbling, Kate wasn't giving up. She whipped her wand to the side, trying to catch her balance but still firing off a Basic Fire Bullet.
The skill seemed to curve, going wide and smashing into the back of the shaman's head. Once more, that shield saved its life, but it also stumbled forward, giving Kate enough time to rush toward the goblin. It regained its balance with enough time to get punted by Kate. Kenan winced as her shin smashed into the side of the goblin shaman's head, teeth flying out as the goblin crashed to the ground with a pained screech. Kate came to a halt with a pivot as she swung her staff low like a golf club and literally caved the shaman's skull in, bringing the fight to an abrupt end.
[Wave 3 (Boss Fight): Defeat 1 Basic Goblin Shaman, 5 Basic Goblin Warriors, And 1 Goblin Chief. 7/7]
[Quest 4: Welcome Party III (Complete): The system has siphoned excess corruption and discharged it into the clearing for the heroes to purify. Wave 3/3 completed. REWARDS: +700 exp each, territory expansion by 10 meters, Basic Farmstead Bundle, Basic Mage Bundle]
[Complete Outstanding Quests to Unlock further Quests. The longer the heroes hesitate, the cursed forest will reclaim claimed land by 1 meter every 6 hours.]
[Time Until Next Reclaim: 5:58:35]
"Okay, what the hell?" Kate asked, surprised by what she was seeing. Kenan, on the other hand, shrugged.
"It's obvious the system is desperate, but at the same time, I don't think it has much of a choice concerning this reclaiming stuff. The forest has swallowed much of the world, remember? Or all of it, with this place being the only free space or sanctuary on Horta." Kenan moved closer to Kate as he read over the notification one more time. "If we're not actively fighting or completing these quests, then all of this space that we've gained, we're going to lose it after a while."
Kate turned to him and spoke in a tone that had no room for arguments. "I'm not having sex with you! I-I just can't. It's too soon." She huffed and turned away.
Kenan sighed. The seventh quest they'd been given required them to consummate their marriage, but given the current state of their relationship, he was sure that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
"Well, we can at least finish up the other quests," Kate muttered as she moved on to the next set of notifications—these ones were for her.
[Basic Earth Bullet Has reached level 1! Cost and cast time reduced. Damage has been increased slightly]
[+630 exp to Basic Fire Bullet]
[+200 exp to Basic Magic Mastery]
[Basic Elemental Mastery has reached level 1! +10% damage to all elemental skills.]
[Basic Elemental Mastery has reached level 2! +10% damage to all elemental skills, you can now manipulate any element you have a skill for at a very rudimentary level.]
"Well, that's not something you see every day," Kenan muttered as Kate took a step back and snapped her fingers. A tongue of flame, no larger than a candle, came alive above her fingertips. His shocked expression did little to wipe the smile from her face.
"This boss fight helped all of my skills grow. Though my Basic Magic Mastery seemed to have grown the least, the Elemental Mastery and all the extra bonuses have helped my skills do more damage than normal. Just look, Keys! I'm firebending!"
Kenan chuckled. Kate's excitement was somewhat infectious for him. Even with the rather tense atmosphere, there was a smile on her face as she lit each fingertip on fire one after the other. He wouldn't say this boss fight was harder to end than the previous fights they'd had to deal with, but it was significant in the fact that their skills saw the most usage and they'd pushed those skills the hardest. If Kate had grown this much, he couldn't wait to see what he'd achieved too.
"I'm guessing you're waiting for me to admit that you were right," Kate said as Kenan felt a little confused.
"What?"
"You'd told me that it was better to train or fight with the skills rather than spending exp to raise them to the next level. At the very least during these lower levels, the skills should be advancing rapidly as we gain an understanding of them. The amount of exp my skills gained proved your theory correct. So I think I'll be training a little bit more with my skills now. Would you... will you help me?"
Kenan blinked at the way Kate had asked that question. There was something bashful about her tone and mannerism. It was the part of her he was used to—the way his love always asked him for something when she knew he'd rather not do it. But in this case... perhaps an attempt to start mending the broken bridge between the both of them. He smiled at her.
"It will be my extreme pleasure, my love."