Katai smiled with relief when he heard the Fire Mage. He hadn’t escaped.

“Hurry up! Something is out there. It ripped Johanna apart right in front of me — forget your bloody bedroll, get the saddles tightened and let’s go!”

The smack of leather being hit and a muffled exclamation could be heard, as Katai crept closer. The time was well spent, as the slower pace allowed him to recover somewhat and settle his churning stomach, which he’d been trying his best to ignore. It wasn’t enough to completely remove the nausea, but it might be enough for him to use Lacerate again.

Thinking of his skills reminded him — he’d gained an attribute point for reaching level thirty with his Warrior Class. With hardly a thought to consider it, he added it to his Constitution, the small increase helping to further relieve the ill feeling. He still felt weak, but it wasn’t quite so bad. Perhaps he did have one more Lacerate in him.

He crept forward, nervous now that he was so close to his target. He didn’t want to move too quickly and alert them to his presence, so he tamped down on his feelings and cautiously moved forward, carefully placing each foot and keeping his sword at the ready. If only the Questor were here to mark them, or do whatever he did to track people. Then he wouldn’t have to worry so much.

As he stepped around a thick clump of bushes, he finally got a proper look at the small clearing. On one side was the bank of the gulley, with a few sparse trees and some smaller bushes hiding the area from the view of the nearby village. On the other, a stream trickled along, supporting an area covered in thick reeds and dense greenery. The area was perfect for the bandits to hide in, as long as there weren’t too many of them and they’d obviously taken advantage of that fact. This must be their fallback position in case something went wrong and they needed to retreat. Clearly, a mysterious force attacking his companion was enough for the Fire Mage to decide that retreat was the preferred option for this fight. He didn’t even bother alerting the rest of his band.

Katai wasn’t surprised at that – it was unlikely that a roving band of murderers would have fostered a close bond. They were together out of necessity, not loyalty or pride. Pretty much the opposite of how the Village Guard operated.

A couple more steps and he’d be in striking range. Katai analysed the situation, quickly recognising the main threat as the Mage, who was drinking from a vial of luminescent blue liquid. He was kneeling next to an open chest, while two other men were leading a trio of horses over. Now would be the perfect time to attack.

His low health however meant Katai was hesitant to use Lacerate once more. The Mage didn’t look too badly wounded; there were some cuts on his face and neck, but for the most part he seemed fairly healthy. One more Lacerate wouldn’t cut it. He briefly considered using his newest skill, Bond of Blood, to use Silas’ life force to power the skill, but quickly dismissed that thought. He could sense his friend in the distance, his health dipping as he attacked the larger force. There was no way he was going to use an untested skill when his friend was in a fight for his own life.

Luckily, the Mage was out in the open, which meant Katai’s Warrior skills would be effective now.

Stepping forward confidently, Katai didn’t make a sound, even as one of the bandits shouted a warning. The mage turned to him, a look of terror on his face, but it was too late. Katai rushed in, the full weight of his body behind his blade as he activated Lunge. The skill aided him, adding a burst of speed and power.

Katai’s eyes widened as he sensed the blood haze in front of him convulse, his Blood Sense giving him no time to react to what it was telling him. The Mage had hurriedly activated something.

Time seemed to slow, his body in mid-air, sword extended in a perfectly executed strike. The sword was only millimetres away from piercing the chest of the robed figure, who’s expression was twisted with surprise and fear. It was a perfect moment in time.

The next instant, all hell broke loose.

Flames burst out from the Mage, exploding outwards in all directions. The flames moved even faster than Katai, who could only watch in slow motion as they expanded, transforming the Mage in front of him into a literal fire bomb.

The flames washed over him, shoving him backwards as time resumed its normal course. Hot air battered him as he flew backwards, the pain of his burning body not reaching his brain until after he’d hit the ground. He sprawled on the soft ground, aches and pains blossoming across his body, adding to the burning pain that he now felt consuming his flesh.

Screaming, he opened his eyes and saw flames. He was on fire.

Frantically he rolled around on the ground, trying to put the unnatural flames out as they burnt through his clothes and ate away at his skin. The pain was worse than anything he’d felt before, the heat melting his skin in places.

His chest pounded with the panic he felt; his throat raw as he screamed uncontrollably. He couldn’t even think, his entire body transfixed by the pain.

Sometime later, the pain had died down enough for him to think clearly. He didn’t move from his position on the ground, instead looking internally. His Blood Sense showed no-one nearby, but that wasn’t what he was most concerned with. The dim red area that represented his life force was almost completely transparent.

He could still feel the heat from his wounds eating away at his body. The fire had gone out, and the pain had died down somewhat, but still his health was slowly getting lower and lower. He had a huge amount of constitution, but he’d used up far too much powering his Blood magic skills early in the battle. That had been foolish of him.

Groaning, he tried to roll over, but the pain and his injuries worked against him. He tried again, gritting his teeth against the pain and managed to roll onto his side, using his arms to keep himself there long enough to roll his hips over and up onto one knee. Now on all fours, he breathed through his mouth shakily, his arms struggling to hold his weight. The trickle of health leaving his body was enough motivation to crawl over to a nearby tree, though his progress was slow and laboured. Using the trunk, he managed to claw his way to a standing position, his shaking body starting to stiffen up as shock settled in. Now what could he do to stop the damage he was taking?

He could feel the heat still trapped in his flesh, burning as it seeped deeper and deeper into his body. The heat… must stop the heat. His mind felt sluggish, weary from the battle and in shock from the massive amount of damage he’d taken. It was hard to form coherent thoughts with the constant waves of pain that washed over his body.

Katai stumbled, almost falling as he stepped away from the tree. Each footstep took an effort of will, but remained focused on his new goal, the only way he could think of surviving — reaching the brook.

He could hear the trickle of water; it couldn’t be too far away. The gulley itself wasn’t very wide or deep, so he should be able to find the small stream without needing to search the area. He just needed to keep moving.

His head pounded as he shuffled his feet, slowly moving forward. He kept his eyes on the ground, careful not to trip over, as he didn’t have the time to waste on struggling to his feet again. He needed that cool water more than anything.

One more step...just one more step. He repeated the mantra, until finally he placed his foot in the tiny stream that bubbled happily along.

Relieved, he sunk to his knees and then collapsed into the water. He lay, panting on his back. The sweet coolness of the water soaked into his body. He closed his eyes, letting the darkness take him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“Great Maraie! I cannot make another of these blasted things.” Emilia muttered to herself, as she slumped down wearily. Her chest heaved from her efforts and she could feel sweat dripping down the back of her neck, making her feel sticky and uncomfortable. After a minute or two, once she’d had a chance to catch her breath, she looked down at the lump of dirt that had splattered on the ground and frowned.

“Two days of this and I only gained a single point in Dirt. Bah!” she said, kicking angrily at a loose clod of dirt, “Not even a single skill point!”

Frustrated with her lack of progress, she got up and paced around her home. Calling it a home was a bit of a stretch, temporary shelter was probably more like it. One she had unfortunately been living in for the past few months. The hollowed-out cavern was only a couple of meters wide, with a bed set into one wall and a seat in the middle. Everything was made of hardened dirt; the chair and bed, even the small ledges holding a few candles were sculpted from the bare earth. It was as bare and unwelcoming as a ‘home’ could possibly be.

“How am I meant to be useful when my skills are so slow to level!” she asked the empty cavern. No-one replied of course, and even if they did it’d probably be someone telling her she’d be ‘oh so powerful’ and ‘a great boon to the village’. Honestly, she was about ready to pack it in and damn the consequences.

She paced until her body cooled and the patches of sweat felt cold against her skin. The chill made her wish for the warmth of the sun, her thoughts turning to the happier memories of the previous summer. That was before she’d accepted her Uncommon Class, when she had the freedom to explore the golden fields that dotted the area. But she knew she couldn’t risk leaving the cave and being seen now. She wasn’t that far from the village after all, and sometimes travellers passed through. The only thing she could do was continue with her exercises and wait for her Mama to visit.

Before long, the familiar feeling of fullness returned. With a resigned sigh, Emilia returned to the centre of the room.

The disturbed earth started to rise, flowing together like liquid clay until it hovered in the air before her. The perfect sphere could easily fit into one of her palms, but it was the largest mound of earth she was able to handle at her skill level.

Narrowing her eyes as she examined the ball of dirt, she absentmindedly tucked a strand of frizzy brown hair behind her ear. Satisfied with the compactness of her creation, her lips tightened as she prepared for the next step.

The sound of footsteps splashing through the brook outside however, broke her concentration. A smile broke out across her features as the ball fell back down to the ground.

A plump figure appeared in the mouth of her small hideaway. The woman gasped with relief, her hand clutching at her heart. She took several shaky breaths, her body nearly collapsing onto the muddy ground.

“Mama! What’s wrong? Why are you here so early?” Emilia could see the anxiety practically wafting off her mother. Besides that, she usually visited at lunchtime and it was barely an hour or two past sunrise.

The woman rushed in and wrapped her in her arms, crushing the young woman against her chest.

“Ah! You old bat, stop already.” Emilia tried to push her back, embarrassed at the sudden affection. “What’s wrong?”

Her mother continued to hold her around the waist, but loosened her grip enough to look Emilia in the eye. The face that looked into Emilia’s eyes did not give her any comfort. Her mother was terrified, her eyes wide and fearful.

“Ra—raiders! They’ve attacked the village.” Her voice shook, but the words spilled out quickly. “I saw Darius going to fight them, but there were so many! I don’t know…I just don’t know Emilia—there were so many.” She took a deep breath, tears running down her face.

Emilia blanched, her face rapidly shifting through a mix of emotions. Shock, fear, and anger, before finally settling on something resembling anxiety.

“Mama, what should I do?” her voice rose, anxiety clear. “If Darius is in such danger, I can use my powers. Though, they’re still so low level…” her voice quickly trailed off as she realised how useless she’d be in a battle. Maybe if she’d gotten her Mage Class sooner, or had someone to teach her, she could do something. Even with her focus on farming. After all, everyone knew a Mage was a dangerous opponent in combat, right?

“No, no, I came here to make sure you were safe, not to send you off to help your brother! I was worried someone might have found you out here all on your own and… well, they’re ruffians. Who knows what could have happened.”

Emilia felt a little sick as she realised what her mother had been worried about. She suddenly didn’t feel quite so safe, camping out in her tiny cave without anyone in shouting distance. The cave was just a hollowed-out section of hillside that she’d dug out, in one of the many small gulley’s that criss-crossed the plains around Waycrest. She wasn’t particularly close to the village either, since the whole point was to keep her hidden.

Emilia smiled comfortingly at her mother and squeezed her into a quick hug.

“And what would you have done if there were bandits? Did you even think before you ran off?” she demanded, arching her eyebrows at the older woman as she stepped back.

 “Oh!” her mother replied, flustered now as she thought it through.

Emilia shook her head, unsurprised. She had taken after her absentee father, inheriting his sharp tongue and talent for Earth magic, while her twin brother Darius, had taken after their mother. He could be incredibly thoughtless.

Before she could come up with a plan, more footsteps sounded from outside, splashing through the stream near the entrance. Before either of them could react, a dark figure appeared in the entrance. A stranger.

Her mother screamed.

As the stranger glared at them from the entrance, scattered globs of dirt flowed together, forming into a hardened projectile that rose up into the air.