Altera, a week ago
One morning, Gochi was doing his standard rounds around the territory, looking for refugees, clearing monsters, and at the same time taking note of the plants there.
His teammates were not too far away. They didn't mind him 'slacking' occasionally to check out plants because that meant a short break for them, too.
In fact, at first, even if it didn't take too long, he did feel a bit guilty. But his teammates convinced him that it was good to have someone who knew more about plants and that maybe he'd trigger the Pharmacist occupation someday.
Gochi couldn't bear to tell them it didn't work that way, but he smiled for their well wishes anyway.
His ears moved when he heard distant rustles, guardedly looking in the direction of the sound. Immediately, his teammates stood up, alert, and they immediately softened when they saw who it was.
"Miss Althea?"
Then they also stood straight, recalling her position. "We're doing our rounds, Miss Althea!"
"Yes, Miss Althea!"
Their silliness made her smile. "So you guys are here," she said.
"Hello, Gochi," she said, and then turned to greet the other people behind him, mentioning their names, which made them all feel a bit giddy.
"Don't mind me, I'm just looking for a few things," she said, continuing to peruse the area and her eyes ended up on the plant Gochi was holding. "Where'd you get that?"
Gochi blinked and pointed at a cluster of plants nearby, partially hidden by the shrubs.
"Ah, thanks," she said, walking over. Her eyes brightened and she immediately kneeled down, a small shovel appearing in her hand.
They watched as she gracefully dug up a whole plant including its roots. She took out a small pot from her space, planted it there.
As she settled the plant to its new 'home', she began to speak. "This is called Amerie," she said. "It's a fire retardant and we're experimenting on its various uses."
"Fire Retardant?"
"It's something that would slow down the spread of fire," she said. "It's also the main ingredient for the fire killer ball."
Gochi happened to be there when they tested it out. His lips twitched. "I see… it's amazing."
She smiled and looked at him, telling him of the various signifiers as well as characteristics found in certain plants. This would give him an idea of its potential uses—even without an appraisal skill.
Gochi shook, flattered at the selfless giving of knowledge. "T-Thank you, Miss Althea."
"No problem. I hope you awaken a pharmacist occupation someday."
His eyes widened and he blushed, shaking his head. "A half-orc's use is in their physiques."
"Aw, don't limit yourself like that."
Gochi shook his head. "I mean, as a natural rule of nature, we do not receive inheritances from the World Knowledge."
It simply didn't work that way, much like how humans suddenly couldn't grow claws and tails like they could.
This made Althea pause, and everyone else looked at him in pity.
But then she opened her mouth again, and Gochi's eyes widened at her next words.
"Who says the system has to tag you for you to become a pharmacist?
…
____
Fargo Village, Present.
The air around them moved sharply, converging around Belize. The next moment, they condensed into sharp blades. With a wave of a hand, the slashes were barrelled in Althea's direction—arriving in front of them in a blink of an eye.
Even before the attack was thrown, Gochi moved to place himself in front of Althea, but she pulled him back, placing herself in front of them instead.
"Miss Althea…!" he yelled, but it was too late to change positions again.
The wave pounded on them like as if a car hit them—or rather, Althea—straight on. Gochi caught her back to cushion the movement, but the force was still there and they were carried far, all the way to the adjacent roof a few meters away. .
The wind blades were composed of many smaller wind shrapnels and Gochi, who was behind Althea, was still punctured and stabbed a lot. His armor had also given way under the relentless attacks.
The damage, if he had stood in front of her instead, could've been debilitating.
But Gochi didn't notice his own wounds as he was focused on the woman in front of him, heart warm and eyes tearing a bit as he looked at her.
Althea's outerwear was also damaged a bit, revealing a silky white camisole inside but, otherwise, she didn't seem particularly damaged at all.
However, she was showing a lot more skin than proper because her outer clothing was shredded, revealing the few layers of cloth underneath.
If a normal human man was in Gochi's place, he'd have had a nosebleed. Fortunately for him, he didn't feel attraction to another race so he was safe from Garan's future hunting.
The air settled, revealing the roof area they were just standing in.
The attack made most of the wood shingles detach and fly. Considering that her low-level bombs could cause similar damage, this attack showed the damage a higher level elementalist could create.
Belize heaved a deep breath, panting and sweaty. This was not surprising. After all, he used one of his premier—and most mana-consuming—techniques.
Despite the tiredness though, he had a smile on his face.
He was confident that they'd come out of it damaged. After all, how many people of the same level had he killed with this same technique! When he received the inheritance for this, he felt that he had finally been blessed with strength after struggling for so long!
Elementalist attacks also had special strengths against defense equipment, especially if it was against a weaker opponent.
If Althea was wearing Class C defense equipment, she'd have indeed been greatly damaged by that attack.
If it was a B class, she would also get some damage because of her level. This was because like with her weapon, she wouldn't have been able to maximize its defensive properties either. This was what Belize had been counting for.
Too bad for him, Althea had Class A undergarments she received from the World Knowledge. Obviously, such rules would not apply to such equipment.
Belize's eyes constricted when he saw the two of them still standing stably, more or less still okay when normal enemies would've been shredded!
"IMPOSSIBLE!!"