The sixth Rift-Sprite chittered as it launched a stone bullet toward Margaret’s head. She ducked behind the fallen log Reidar had pointed out moments earlier; the projectile shattered the bark where her skull had been seconds earlier.
"Frank, now!"
Frank stepped from behind his tree and swung his large knife at the Wind Rift-Sprite’s back. A nasty wound opened up, causing the creature to screech in pain.
[Large Knife strikes Wind Rift-Sprite for 43 slashing damage.]
The creature spun toward Frank, mouth opening to cast a wind blade. George appeared from the left, driving his metal pipe into the back of the monster’s head before it could complete the spell.
[Metal Pipe strikes Wind Rift-Sprite for 31 bludgeoning damage.]
[Wind Rift-Sprite defeated.]
[Gained 42 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[Earned 15 Survival Points.]
Three sprites remained. Reidar’s Aqua Rift-Sprite engaged the two Stone variants while his Stone sprite circled the remaining Aqua type. The summons kept the wild monsters from focusing their attacks on his party members.
"Sarah, Mike, flank left," Reidar called out. "Linda, stay behind Margaret and watch for openings."
In truth, even Reidar didn’t exactly know what to do. This whole mess started less than two weeks earlier, so it wasn’t like he suddenly turned into an expert; he was still figuring things out. His combat proficiency, though, helped him see and think things the others didn’t.
<If I let them get the Basic Combat Proficiency, that would be an enormous boon.>
Reidar saw how useful that proficiency was, so for them to have it would be great.
The survivors moved carefully. Hours of hunting monsters and plenty of close calls had taught them to stay on guard, even against creatures that looked weak or were lower level than them. They were usually lower level than the monsters anyway.
Regardless, they were at a good point in pushing away the fear that crippled them for more than a week. It was still there, though, but that was true even for Reidar.
Sarah gripped her heavy wrench and approached the nearest Stone Sprite. The creature was locked in combat with Reidar’s summon; stone bullets flew in both directions. She waited for the right moment.
The wild sprite pulled back to gather more power for its next attack. Sarah thrust her weapon forward, hitting its back and interrupting the beast.
[Sarah’s heavy wrench inflicted 28 bludgeoning damage on the Stone Rift-Sprite.]
The creature spun around with a furious shriek and tried to claw at the woman. Mike’s crowbar swung in just in time, knocking the attack aside.
"Together!"
Both humans pressed their advantage. Sarah’s spear found the sprite’s throat while Mike’s club crushed its skull.
[Sarah’s improvised spear strikes Stone Rift-Sprite for 35 piercing damage.]
[Mike’s Crowbar strikes Stone Rift-Sprite for 26 bludgeoning damage.]
[Stone Rift-Sprite defeated.]
[Sarah has gained 42 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[Sarah has earned 15 Survival Points.]
[Mike has gained 42 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]Thɪs NoveI-Fire.ɴet
[Mike has earned 15 Survival Points.]
The remaining Stone Sprite broke free from Reidar’s summon and charged toward Linda. She raised her weapon to block but stumbled backward over a root.
<She won’t make it.>
Reidar’s water attack struck the sprite before it could reach her. The creature’s skin cracked under the pressure, and the monster collapsed to the ground.
[Aqua Pistole strikes Stone Rift-Sprite for 164 Water Damage.]
[Stone Rift-Sprite defeated.]
The last wild sprite fell to Reidar’s summons moments later.
"Everyone okay?" Reidar asked.
The survivors checked themselves for wounds. Margaret had a small cut on her arm from flying stone fragments. Nothing serious or that would alarm the rest of the group about infections.
The others were instead spared harm. The survivors were pleased they had all made it through the battle with no major injuries. Especially because they had no way to treat them.
"We’re getting better at this," George said, breathing hard.
"You are," Reidar agreed. "But these were only level six. Most of what we’ve faced in the past day was level ten or higher."
The group had spent the rest of the previous day, plus a good part of the current one, searching for monsters they could actually fight on their way to the three lakes.
Level ten creatures killed normal humans in single strikes. Even with Reidar’s help, fighting the monsters was hard for the others.
They needed to come up with a new way to fight the monsters if they wanted to make it to the lakes alive.
Finding properly leveled enemies had been frustrating since the world’s monster population was growing, which meant they were getting stronger.
While Rift-Sprites were pretty common, stronger monsters showing up must’ve either thinned their numbers or pushed them somewhere else.
Even if that was true, most of the Rift-Sprites they found were around level 9, which was too high for the group to fight.
"How much progress did you make?" Reidar asked.
The survivors checked their status screens. The notifications had shown their C.L.A.S.P. point gains, but individual progress varied.
"I’m at 387 out of 1000," Sarah said.
"419 for me," George said.
"368," Mike added.
Margaret and Linda gave similar numbers. Frank had reached 441 C.L.A.S.P. points. None had crossed the halfway mark to level one. The reason was that most of the kills were made by Reidar, and the others ended up with very few kills.
<At this rate, they’ll need at least another month just to reach level five and unlock the party function.>
The numbers weren’t looking good, but at least they were getting close to the three lakes town.
The problem was, Three Lakes should’ve been a lot closer by now. They should’ve reached it already just by walking. But here they were, still stuck in the middle of the woods.
Besides, George was having problems understanding where to go. Not because he didn’t remember the way, but because almost nothing remained of it.
"Let’s loot these bodies and find somewhere to camp," Reidar said. "The sun’s setting."
The survivors searched the bodies for anything useful. They weren’t sure what most of the stuff did; the system called it "crafting materials," but that meant it had to be good for something.
[Loot gained: Sprite Essence Crystals x3, Cracked Sprite Shells x2.]
The group moved deeper into the forest as soon as they were done, with George trying his best not to get lost.