Ow... That really hurts... Guess I'd been so focused on the argument that I hadn't noticed that the barrier had broken and the vine almost squashes us to bits. I was just glad that I was still alive and that my staff was still safe. But where was Wind? There seems to be no trace of his presence due to the dust obscuring most of my vision. After what had just happened in front of us, I began to regret my decision to take on the monsters by myself and disobey his insistence on saving ourselves. He could be annoying with his overprotectiveness, but I could never forgive myself if something happened to him in this world.
Now worried about him, I called out his name many times throughout the domain. And as much as I wanted to blow this dust away with my magic, there was a chance that those monsters would locate me and attack me again if I did. Eventually, the dust began to settle and there, I witnessed a horrifying sight. I found Wind, but I found him underneath the large [Malevolent Vine] as it raised itself against him.
"Wind... run..."
I muttered as I fought to shake off my shock. And as the vine started to fall on the top of my brother, I screamed again.
"WIND, RUN!!! BEHIND YOU!!!"
At this point, most of my thoughts stopped as I watched him turn around to see what was behind him. He managed to see the danger, but it was too late. If that vine squashed him, then he would die and I woul,d be alone in this domain. What had I done? I hadn't meant this to happen. I just wanted to protect this forest and keep my promise to Bai Hu! And yet, because of my stubbornness against his warnings, he won't be able to return to the game for sometime.
This was just like that time. I wanted to get help, but it wasn't just because my former tormentors preventing me from taking that action. I didn't want anyone to worry over of me. And even if Hayate didn't care about me back then, I also didn't want him to get involved for the same reason. However, after he saved me from my bullies, I began to see him as my strength. He gave me the reason to keep on moving past my trauma and my problems in school. Because of him, most of my bullies stopped harassing me after our parents caught wind of the problem, and I managed to go through my first year of middle school without any additional harassment and bullying.
But as time passed, his overprotective actions towards me had become rather annoying, to the point that I had to hide from him whenever became overly worried about me dealing with something dangerous in his eyes. But now, just seeing my brother about to be killed by the hands of a high-level boss monster made me realized that not only that I had I been too dependent to Hayate for many years, but my eagerness to explore the world of <Volo> had caused most of our problems rather than help solve them. And even if this wasn't real, I couldn't do anything other than watch his impending death.
I could only reach out my hand towards Wind despite the distance between use. And as the vine came down, about to squash him, my eyes started to tear up.
"HAYATE!!!"
[NOTICE]
[Due to your recent actions, your hidden racial skill, [Silent Invocation] has been unveiled and activated.]
My eyes widened as I saw this new notice suddenly pop up right in front of me. But why did it appear right now?
Before I could react to this, I noticed several lights blinding my eyes. When I looked at where they came from, I gasped at what I saw, namely my [Plasma Staff's] stones were starting to glow yellow and red lights. And not only that, I saw my other hand, which was reaching towards Wind's direction, was now enveloped in electricity. Before I knew it, the electricity released itself and transformed into a lightning bolt, which for some reason, was covered in flames as it stabbed the [Black Willow's] right eye.
"W-What the?!"
I became speechless at the sudden turn of events. I only called out my brother's real name, yet I had managed to cast [Lightning Bolt] against the boss monster. Even more shocking is that as soon the bolt hit it, the tree monster's eye became engulfed in flames and it screeched loudly in pain while its vines began to flail around, as the large one halted and moved away from Wind. I don't know how it happened, but I knew this was my chance to help him escape from those monsters. Without any hesitation, I rushed to his side and quickly got him up to his feet , and we escaped from the monsters before we hid behind another non-poisoned tree nearby.
"Wind, are you okay?" I asked once more as I gently set him down on the ground. "Hang on, I have some potions for you and don't worry, I think that the monsters are distracted for now from that spell."
As I said this however, I gave him [Health Potions] in order to replenish most of the [HP] he lost from the last attack as well with a [Mana Potion] to recover some of his [MP]. However, after I gave him the potions, I noticed him staring at the [Health Potion] for a few seconds with a solemn look on his face. "U-Um... Wind...? If this is about our fight, then I'm sorry..."
Now that I thought about it, he might've be worried about me during our argument, and I had caused the monster to attack us while our guards are down. Just seeing him staring at me made me think he might be mad at me to the point that he now hates me. However, he just responded with a sigh and a pat on my head before he said, "I-It's okay, Kaz. It's just that spell that you did earlier. You didn't do any chant or invocation before you cast your [Lightning Bolt] spell and yet, you managed to cast it and stop that monster momentarily."
He was right. I had only screamed out his name before the spell suddenly activated and I was too focused on him to try to cast a spell against them. Did it have something to do with that notice about that new skill? However, as I turned around, I gasped and tugged on Wind's shirt and said, "Wind, look!"
To my shock, the [Black Willow's] vines were now flailing about trying to extinguish the flames around them. Even more shocking, the flames themselves had suddenly spread throughout the wall of the dying trees, including the ones that hadn't been poisoned by the Willow's plague.
"Kaz, what the heck did you do?!"
That was what I was trying to ask myself after seeing this.
"I-I don't know! I just used a [Thunder] spell on the vine that was about to attack you. Unless I had some flammable liquid with me, they can't start a fire by itself."
Wind's expression changed when I said this and he looked at me with a doubtful expression on his face. "You did cast that spell right in front of me. So how do you explain that?"
I was also confused by the sudden change of mechanics as well. Sure, it had managed to damage the vines a little bit, but I'm too shocked and horrified that it was starting to burn down the forest, the very opposite of what we were trying to do here in the first place! So how did this all happen, even though the [Lightning Bolt] spell is not a [Fire] spell? But then, something glowed right below me. When I looked down, I noticed that my staff's magical stones were still glowing red and yellow. Now that I thought about it, they had started to glow after the notice about that strange skill appeared right in front of me. Was it related to what was happening right now?
But then, as I recalled from that <Crafting Hall> incident, my staf hadf also released several unusual bolts of lightning after its completion. And then, there was the description and the effects of the staff itself.
[Prototype Plasma Staff]
[An unusual staff with a [Burning Gemstone] and [Sparking Gemstone] inserted alongside with a usual [Mana Stone]. Because of this, it can combine the powers of electricity and fire into a powerful plasma magic attack. This staff is experimental and may experience some problems. Some adjustments may be advised.
Creator: <Kazu>
Effects: +11 Magic ATK, Imbued Fire Element, Imbued Electric Element, Combination Bonus
Quality: 17]
It said that it could "combine the powers of electricity and fire into a powerful plasma magic". Did that every [Thunder] spell I cast will be treated as a [Fire] spell as well?
"Again, I don't know, but..."
I took another look at the [Black Willow] and the [Malevolent Willows], and they seemed to back away from the burning vines as the former suddenly dropped its smirk. Instead, it now sported a horrifying frown before it shifted into an enraged frown as it turned towards our direction, at which I quickly guessed the reason behind its mood shifts. Before we could do anything after seeing this, several more vines grew out of the ground and were now charging towards us. However, instead of staring at this in fear, I just looked at my own staff as I got an idea.
"I want to try something first."
I quickly aimed my staff at the raging [Malevolent Vines] right in front of us and started to chant a different [Thunder] spell.
"Spirits of thunder, hear my call. Help me gather your power and mold them into bolts which I can smi-"
I quickly cringed as I feel my tongue throb in pain. I realized that I had accidentally bit it during my invocation since I had to chant so fast. I covered my mouth in an attempt to pass through the pain of it. Unfortunately, this caused me to drop my staff in the process, which interrupted my casting in the process.
"Kazu, what are you doing?!"
Ow, ow, ow...
I knew I couldn't let the pain get the better of me. But the vines are closing in right now and I had to redo the whole incantation. But if I did that, they might reach us before I could even cast it! I figured I didn't have a choice, so I grabbed my staff, and aimed as I tried to focus on my energies in casting [Lightning Scatter]...
All of the sudden, several small orange bolts of electricity released from the staff and hit the vines. I hadn't even finished my incantation and yet, I had managed to cast it without any problem. That aside, this confirmed something that I'd been wondering ever since that last spell. As soon those bolts hit the vines, the generates small flames that grew as the vines flailed around in an attempt to put them out, which only fueled the flame and spread it into a raging inferno that consumed its entire body. However, what I hadn't expected was that after a few seconds, the vine started to crumble into black ashes as we stepped back to avoid the smoke. And after that, the remains didn't regenerate or re-grow. The [Malevolent Vines] right in front of us became the first of the monsters in this domain to truly die.
I didn't know how to react to this. The vine monsters were really gone and just looking at the [Black Willow] again allowed me to see its horrified expression turn into rage once more as it screeched into the sky. Again, I really didn't know why this was happening, but I knew one thing: we might've just had a chance to strike back and defeat those monsters after all.
"No way..." I heard Wind mutter behind me as he stepped forward and looked at the ashes below us. "You managed to defeat all of them with just one spell?!"
"Y-Yeah. I thought it was just a coincidence when I made this staff. But now, I realized that I've made a weapon to stop the source once and for all!" I declared as I raised my staff in the air.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
I quickly show my staff to Wind and said, "It's my staff. I made it with some random magical gemstones as part of my [Magecrafting] experiment back in <Initio>. I remember that I was trying to mix them up because I wanted my [Thunder] spells to be able to function like the [Fire] spells. But I never expect that adding [Burning Gemstone] and [Sparking Gemstone] into one staff could create a new power!"
"So are you saying, it can not only combine the power of both elements, but give them each other's' effects as well?"
"Looks like it. Plus, we could stop the vines' regeneration with fire! If we do that, we might able to defeat that arrogant tree once and for all!"
Wind then looked at me for a few seconds and turned to the monsters who were enraged at what was happening. He sighed as he said, "It's true that we might able to beat it if you use those spells. But there's a risk that we might burn down the whole forest. There's a reason Mom always said that playing fire is dangerous, and if you keep spamming them with it, we might end up being the ones who will destroy <Tested Wilds> before the monsters do."
Oh, right. We were supposed to be trying to save the forest and using fire could up backfiring on us due to its uncontrollable nature. But...
"I know it's dangerous, but it seems that both [Thunder] and [Fire] spells are the only ones that can hurt them completely. Besides, you're here with me and if we work together, we might able to mitigate the damages and eliminate the plague for good. I know we have our different opinions about how to go about this, but we have to settle them so we can finish our [Quest], no matter what."
I knew it was not easy for Wind to accept this, but we only had about 30 minutes of Bai Hu's blessing left. We needed to act fast and stop the [Black Willow] before it could cause any more damage. I feared he might refuse again, but...
"You're right. We did make a promise and we're going to fulfill it for Bai Hu's sake." I smiled once he said this. "Of course, I think I have some ideas on dealing with the vines first. Can you use your staff as a flint?"
I raised my eyebrow at the last word that he said. "A flint? What do you mean?"
I was hoping for a straight answer. But to my surprise, Wind gave a small smirk as he looked at the monsters in the distance. "Trust me, if we want to get to the big boss itself, then we'll just have to disable the source of its power."
I still have no idea regarding the "flint" part, but just those words alone from Wind makes me smile at a new realization: a realization that we're about to liberate the <Tested Wilds> from the plague's grip.
----
Current Quest: Destroy the Plague *** [Special Quest]
Status: In Progress
Party Members:
[Wind]
[Kaz]
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Wind's Masteries
[Archery] Level 15
[Woodcrafting] Level 7
[Swordsmanship] Level 15
[Cooking] Level 7
[Wind] Level 10
[Physical Enhancement] Level 12
[Hunting] Level 13
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Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 19
[Thunder] Level 12
[Wind] Level 14
[Alchemy] Level 12
[Magecrafting] Level 10
[Magical Affinity] Level 16
[Scribe] Level 4