Chapter 5: Players

Jaxir felt something soft and sticky coat his palms. He had his hand stretched out, an accumulating white energy pooling forward.

It twisted in his hand, charged, and then suddenly shot out in a concentrated bullet of thick twinkling energy.

[-5]

The Level 1 twinkle twinkle fox tried to dodge, but the beam still managed to hit its side.

"My aim could be better," Jaxir thought as he cast a gaze at his MP. As expected, the cost was a lot heavier than using a Vestigem Card. That alone had drained 10 MP from him.

Granted, he had charged it a small bit using Channel, but not enough for a drastic change.

The fox tried to run, but this time Jaxir aimed toward where he thought it would be. He raised his hand again and a pulse came out from it even faster this time.

―

Cast Lv3 > Cast Lv4

―

[-4]

"That one only took 9 MP, but I dunno if that’s because I charged it for less time, or if it’s because Cast got better..."

Jaxir ran up to the fox and gave it a kick. It had lost enough HP that it was in a near crippled state.

This game seemed more realistic than others. The closer to zero your HP was, the more of a hit your movement took. The fox probably only had a point or two of HP left, so it was all but immobile.

[-2]

Jaxir couldn’t help but laugh when his poor excuse of a kick was almost as good as an attack that took up so much MP.

―

+1 Exp

+1 Copper

―

"Rewards are as pitiful as usual."

This was the fourth twinkle twinkle fox he had killed. He was getting kind of used to their patterns. Their defenses were weak, even at Level 2 their HP was only around 15 or 16 at most, and they had a little bit of agility to them, but they were programmed to be quite cowardly, so they rarely closed the distance unless they felt they might be able to gain an upper hand.

Jaxir had yet to suffer a blow from them. Honestly, he felt that even if he did, he might only lose a couple HP at most, but he wasn’t going to test that if he didn’t have to.

His Body stat was quite low. For all he knew his defenses were just as poor as the foxes’.

Unfortunately, as easy as the foxes were to kill, the rewards were equally as pitiful.

He had killed two Level 2 ones and two Level 1 ones. The Level 1 foxes only gave +1 Exp, and the Level 2 ones only gave +2. So he still needed 94 more experience points before he could get to Level 1.

At this pace, it would take him at least another hour, probably two or so, and that was only if his MP lasted.

He burned through about 20 MP per battle after the first one. Luckily, he replenished mana at about 1 MP every two or three seconds.

"I’m going to have to practice with Cast a bit more. I feel like there’s an extra layer to it." Jaxir spoke aloud to himself.

DING.

Jaxir looked above his head as an arrow appeared again. But his smile immediately became a frown.

"Five seconds this time... well, that’s not good..."

He thought that it would just be three seconds again, but it seemed the timer would only keep increasing.

Jaxir didn’t move, there was no point. If someone was close enough to see him, then moving now would just reveal to them which direction he chose to go.

When there was two seconds left on the timer, he dashed in one direction. The instant the timer dropped to zero, he doubled back and then rushed off the opposite way.

"He went that way!"

The echo of voices rang through the forest just as Jaxir dove behind a tree, his breath hitching in his throat. Everything felt so real, his blood was pumping like he was back on a sports field again.

He peeked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of some shadows rushing past the clearing. With a slick movement, he pulled a Vestigem Card out of his pocket. The instant he saw a bow on the back of a woman, he knew that he couldn’t wait.

Without wasting a moment, he shot up and triggered Flare Burst.

The card lit up in his hand, his mana pooling through the circuits and lighting up its intricate patterns.

"Wait! He’s not in this direction!" The woman called out.

She spun the other way, only to find an arc of fire coming right for her. It was already too late for her to react, it landed squarely on her chest.

Jaxir closed his eyes just in time, but the other two men were a step slow. They screamed out as a searing heat and light blinded their eyes.

"Three seconds." Jaxir spoke aloud out of habit again, recalling the effects of the card. "I have to take her down."

[-27]

Jaxir put his hands out, mana accumulating across his palms.

―

Channel Lv3 > Channel Lv4

―

Cast Lv4 > Cast Lv5

―

Cast Lv5 > Cast Lv6

―

Channel Lv4 > Channel Lv5

―

Mana rolled through Jaxir’s arm, and the more he poured in, the more he sensed the circuits within him.

For a moment, it felt like his arm wasn’t just an arm anymore, it was a Vestigem Card itself, one with a complex web that was accumulating just the right way no different from the technology his parents had spent their entire lives crafting.

―

Attune Lv3 > Attune Lv9

―

One second remaining.

Jaxir drained it down to the last possible moment and then let Cast erupt the moment their visions started to clear.

Once again, the woman was far too late to react. By the time she could see, she was blinded by another light, this one colliding right with her body.

[-43]

"She’s still not dead."

It seemed not every class was as glass cannon-y as his own. That would have been a one-shot for him, but the woman just fell to a knee, her body twitching.

If HP recovered slowly like MP did, she might be able to stand soon. If she or one of her teammates had a recovery potion of some sort, his situation would be even worse.

And more unfortunately for Jaxir, not only had that last charge drained over 30 of his MP, leaving him at just 80 or so remaining, but her other two teammates were still at max health.

Jaxir found himself grinning. "What a tricky situation."

His words didn’t slow his action. He held out both his hands, forming a Cast in both of them. He didn’t charge them at all, sending out a quick burst toward the heads of the two men.

The moment he had crossed Level 5, he felt he had enough control to split Cast into two streams, and he was quickly proven right.

One of the men raised up a simple staff in some attempt to counter, but whatever he was trying to do came out slow and he was interrupted.

[-5]

The other man, however, raised a dinged up sword and tried to split the attack. He succeeded, but splash damage got to him as the bullet of magic burst.

[-1]

[-1]

"Drink a damn potion, Vera! Quick! He can dual cast!"

BANG.

The three of them were thrown back.

Jaxir’s last use of Concussive Wave echoed outward and the card crumbled to ash in his hand, floating into the wind.

"It was definitely more powerful that time," Jaxir thought aloud.

[-19]

[-7]

[-7]

The woman, Vera he thought they called her, rebounded against a tree.

[-9]

Maybe it was because she was in a crippled state, but the damage she took was much worse than the others, and that seemed to be near the last straw.

―

Cast Lv6 > Cast Lv7

―

Cast Lv7 > Cast Lv8

―

Near wasn’t good enough. Jaxir raised his hand again and sent a rapid fire magic bullet at her chest.

[-2]

―

[You have killed player "Vera Kench"]

―

+27 Experience

+103 copper

―

"Vera!"

Feathers fell from her body, as well as her bow and quiver.

Jaxir grinned. "Encore."

He pulled out a faded Flare Burst and activated it again. He aimed it at the swordsman, but just when the flare was about to erupt, he shifted his gaze to the mage and it burst out.

Taken off guard, the mage was interrupted once again.

[-36]

―

[You have killed player "Ervan Blake"]

―

+33 Experience

+127 copper

―

"It seems we mages really are glass cannons. Better luck next time."

The swordsman screamed as his eyes were blinded once again. He swung out his sword wildly, lunging at where Jaxir had been just moments ago, but Jaxir had already dodged away, pouring mana into his arm.

―

Cast Lv8 > Cast Lv9

―

Cast Lv9 > Cast Lv10

―

Channel Lv5 > Channel Lv6

―

Channel Lv7 > Channel Lv8

―

Channel Lv8 > Channel Lv9

―

The three second timer hit rock bottom, and the moment the swordsman could see, he spotted Jaxir’s grin and a burst of magic the size of his head that shattered against his chest.

[-53]

"I’m so much better at that, but it only took a little bit more of your HP. Your defensive stats must be a lot better than the girl."

The swordsman roared with fury, charging Jaxir. He thought Jaxir was taunting him. Who spoke everything out loud like this if that wasn’t what they were doing?

He was going to teach this bastard a lesson he’d never forget. Jaxir was way too close to a Melee Class right now, and he would quickly learn the problem with that.