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’m just glad that I’m still alive and that my staff is still safe. But where’s Wind? There seems to be no trace of his presence due to the dust obscuring most of my vision. After what just happened, I’ve begun to regret my decision to take on the monsters by myself and ignore his insistence on saving ourselves. He can be annoying with his overprotectiveness, but I could never forgive myself if something happened to him in this world.

Worried about him, I call out his name many times throughout the domain. And as much as I want to blow this dust away with my magic, there’s a chance that those monsters will locate me and attack me again if I do. Eventually, the dust begins to settle, and there, I then witness a horrifying sight. I find Wind, but I found him underneath the large [Malevolent Vine] as it raised itself against him.

"Wind... run..."

I mutter as I fight to shake off my shock. And as the vine starts to come down on top of my brother, I scream again.

"WIND, RUN!!! BEHIND YOU!!!"

At this point, most of my thoughts stop as I watch him turn around to see what was behind him. He manages to see the danger, but it’s too late. If that vine squashes him, then he will die and I will be alone in this domain. What have I done? I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just want to protect this forest and keep my promise to Bai Hu! And now, because of my stubbornness against his warnings, he won't be able to return to the game for some time.

This is just like that time. I want to get help, but not just because my former tormentors were preventing me from doing so. I also don't want anyone to worry about me. And even if Hayate doesn't care about me back then, I also don't want him to get involved for the same reason. However, ever since he saved me from my bullies, I’ve begun to see him as my strength. He’s given me a reason to keep on moving past my trauma and my problems in school. Because of him, most of my bullies have stopped harassing me after our parents caught wind of the problem, and I’ve managed to get through my first year of middle school without any additional harassment and bullying.

But as time has passed, his overprotective actions towards me have become rather annoying, to the point that I have 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 makes me realize that not only that I’ve been too dependent on Hayate for so long, but my eagerness to explore the world of has caused most of our problems rather than resolve them. And even if this wasn’t real, I can’t do anything other than watch his impending death.

I can only reach out my hand towards Wind despite the distance between us. And as the vine comes down, about to squash him, my eyes start to tear up.

"HAYATE!!!"

[NOTICE]

[Due to your recent actions, your hidden racial skill, [Silent Invocation] has been unveiled and activated.]

My eyes widen as I see this new notice suddenly pop up right in front of me. But why did it appear right now?

Before I can react to this, I notice several lights blinding my eyes. When I look where they came from, I gasp at what I saw, namely my [Plasma Staff's] stones are starting to glow yellow and red lights. And not only that, I see my other hand reaching towards Wind's direction, now enveloped in electricity. Before I realize it, the electricity releases itself and transforms into a lightning bolt, which for some reason, is covered in flames as it stabs the [Black Willow's] right eye.

"W-What the?!"

I become speechless at the sudden turn of events. I’d only called out my brother's real name, yet I had managed to cast [Lightning Bolt] against the boss monster. Even more shocking, as soon the bolt hits it, the tree monster's eye becomes engulfed in flames and it screeches loudly in pain while its vines flail around, like the large one halts and move away from Wind. I don't know how it happened, but I know this is my chance to help him escape from those monsters. Without any hesitation, I rush to his side and quickly got him up to his feet, and we escape from the monsters before we hide behind another non-poisoned tree nearby.

"Wind, are you okay?" I ask 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 say this, however, I give him [Health Potions] 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 give him the potions, I notice him staring at the [Health Potion] with a solemn look on his face. "U-Um... Wind...? If this is about our fight, then I'm sorry..."

Now that I think about it, he might’ve been worried about me during our argument, and I had caused the monster to attack us while our guards were down. Just seeing him staring at me makes me think he might be mad at me to the point that he now hates me. However, he just responds with a sigh and a pat on my head before he says, "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’s right. I’d 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. Does it have something to do with that notice about that new skill? However, as I turn around, I gasp and tug on Wind's shirt and said, "Wind, look!"

To my shock, the [Black Willow's] vines are now flailing about trying to extinguish the flames around them. Even more shocking, the flames themselves have suddenly spread throughout the wall of the dying trees, including the ones that haven’t been poisoned by the Willow's plague.

"Kaz, what the heck did you do?!"

That’s what I’m asking 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 changes when I say this and he looks 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’m also confused by the sudden change of mechanics as well. Sure, it has managed to damage the vines a little bit, but I'm shocked and horrified that it’s 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, I notice something glowed right below me. When I look down, I noticed that my staff's magical stones were still glowing red and yellow. Now that I think about it, they started to glow after the notice about that strange skill appeared in front of me. Is it related to what was happening right now?

But then, as I recall from that incident, my staff had 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:

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". Does that mean every [Thunder] spell I cast will be treated as a [Fire] spell as well?

"Again, I don't know, but..."

I take another look at the [Black Willow] and the [Malevolent Willows], and they seem to back away from the burning vines as the former suddenly drops its smirk. Instead, it now sports a horrifying frown before it shifts into an enraged frown as it turned towards our direction, at which I quickly guess the reason behind its mood shifts. Before we can do anything after seeing this, several more vines grow out of the ground and charge towards us. However, instead of staring at this in fear, I just look at my staff as I get an idea.

"I want to try something first."

I quickly aim my staff at the raging [Malevolent Vines] right in front of us and start 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 cringe as I feel my tongue throb in pain. I realize that I’ve accidentally bitten it during my invocation, from chanting so fast. I cover my mouth in an attempted to pass through the pain of it. Unfortunately, this causes me to drop my staff in the process, which interrupted my casting in the process.

"Kazu, what are you doing?!"

Ow, ow, ow...

I know I can’t let the pain get the better of me. But the vines are closing in right now and I have to redo the whole incantation. But if I do that, they might reach us before I could even cast it! I figured I don’t have a choice, so I grab my staff and aim as I try to focus on my energies in casting [Lightning Scatter]...

All of a sudden, several small orange bolts of electricity release from the staff and hit the vines. I haven’t even finished the incantation and yet, I have managed to cast the spell without any problem. That aside, this confirms something that I’ve been wondering ever since that last spell. As soon as those bolts hit the vines, they generate small flames that grow as the vines flailed around in an attempt to put them out, which only fuel the flame and spread it into a raging inferno that consumes its entire body. However, what I haven’t expected was that after a few seconds, the vine starts to crumble into black ashes as we step back to avoid the smoke. And after that, the remains don’t regenerate or re-grow. The [Malevolent Vines] right in front of us become the first of the monsters in this domain to truly die.

I don't know how to react to this. The vine monsters are gone and just looking at the [Black Willow] again allows me to see its horrified expression turn into a rage once more as it screeches into the sky. Again, I don’t know why this was happening, but I know 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 steps forward and looks 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 declare as I raise my staff in the air.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I quickly show my staff to Wind and say, "It's my staff. I made it with some random magical gemstones as part of my [Magecrafting] experiment back in . 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 looks at me for a few seconds and turns to the monsters who are enraged at what is happening. He sighs 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 before the monsters do."

Oh, right. We’re 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 [Thunder] and [Fire] spells are the only ones that can hurt these things 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 can finish our [Quest], no matter what."

I know it’s not easy for Wind to accept this, but we only have about 30 minutes of Bai Hu's blessing left. We need to act fast and stop the [Black Willow] before it causes any more damage. I fear 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 smile once he says this. "Of course, I think I have some ideas on dealing with the vines first. Can you use your staff as a flint?"

I raise my eyebrow at the last word that he says. "A flint? What do you mean?"

I’m hoping for a straight answer. But to my surprise, Wind gives a small smirk as he looks 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 make me smile at a new realization: a realization that we're about to liberate the from the plague's grip.

Current Quest: Destroy the Plague *** [Special Quest]

Status: In Progress

Party Members:

[Wind]

[Kaz]

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

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