Chapter 72- Sister Training Arc Part 2

The Wetlands was a place for lower level adventurers where they could hone their skills and earn a living from the loot they got. It was a marshy area near the coast- roughly 30 minutes drive away from New London. It was a hilly area with mountains enclosing it. It was mostly filled with bright green long grass where spikebacks and slimes spawn.

They were the easiest monsters to kill, fairly slow attacks and the slimes’ Goo Shoot skill could be dodged with a lazy side step.

He could see Summer’s right knee shaking slightly, she was clearly nervous. There was nothing he could do or say to comfort her right now. As soon as she would get into it she would be fine.

“We’re here,” The bus driver said.

He parked it and Sol and his sisters got off.

“Are you guys feeling ok?” He asked.

Both of his sisters nodded, they were meek nods but at least they weren’t backing out.

Ahead of them was a guard tower and a large man made mounds of dirt that went from the beach to a mountain on the side. It basically blocked off the spawning ground.

They got in line to enter.

“You guys got your badges?” Sol asked.

“Yeah, it’s kinda heavy.”

“I know, your mana signature is imprinted onto it. They’re cheap and industrial. So if you die and your pouch gets destroyed they can identify you.”

Both of his sisters looked scared.

They handed their badges to the guards at the entrance.

“Fee is 5 coppers to enter,” The guard said with a thick and rough accent.

“Since when? Adventurers enter free.”

“Since I said so, you've got a problem with that?”

“Yeah, I do-”

Summer put 15 coppers in front of the guard. “Sorry about my brother,” she said and pulled Sol away.

“Sol, you can’t start a fight with everyone,” Summer angrily stated as they were walking down a pathway.

“The guy is a prick. Imagine if you’re a starting adventurer- 15 copper would last you a week for food if you’re that skint.”

“But are we?” Summer asked.

“That’s not the point, Summer.”

She crossed her arms and did the ‘Summer’ thing.

“Sorry,” Sol said. “I’m here for you guys. I’ll stick to that.”

He cooled himself down, he was slightly stressed.

You have entered a Field Dungeon called Wetlands

Average level requirement: 5

Difficulty: Very easy

This dungeon can not be completed.

Event for Field Dungeon called Wetlands

x2 Experience

Increased rarity chance from drops

Increased spawn rates

Increased boss rates

Increased unique rates

“Alright you two,” Sol said as he brought a map out on his phone. “We’ll head to the easiest area first and ease our way in.”

“What are we expecting?” June asked.

“A spikeback first. You should know that their main attack is with a weighted tail. One hit won’t do serious damage but it will hurt. It’s shell is fairly resistant to magic but if you can use area ice magic on it then it should slow it down enough for Summer to get hits in. That sound good?” Sol asked.

Summer nodded as she gripped her battle-axe.

“You might want to tie your hair up too,” Sol said. “This isn’t a fashion show.”

She rolled her eyes and brought out a hair band.

“June, your mana feeling loose?” Sol asked.

“What does that mean?” She asked.

Sol kept forgetting they had never done this sort of stuff. It was completely the opposite for him.

“Your mana veins- the mana in your body. No problems?”

“Why would there be any problems?” June questioned.

Sol sighed. “Just a saying.”

Once Summer had tied her hair up they headed over to the newbie section. There were kids as young as 11 fighting monsters. Poor of the poor, just trying to make ends meet for their family.

Sol took them to an area out of view from everyone else.

“Ewww,” Summer said as her foot sank in some boggy water.

“Alright,” Sol said, ignoring her. “There’s a spikeback over there, it’s a small one.”

He invited his sisters to a party and selected all the experience and loot to go to them.

Level 5 Spikeback

It was a slow armored tortoise with keratin spikes on its shell. Its only real attack method was its weighted tail. It was only a metre long and two with its tail.

“Summer, stand 5 metres away from it and start luring it towards you. Just remember to keep your distance at all times. June, I need you to stand at an average casting range and aim mainly for its tail. If you freeze the tail then Summer gets free hits. You all understand?”

They nodded.

“I need a yes. This is serious.”

“Yes,” his sisters said in unison.

“Begin,” Sol said as he pulled Lucia from her sheath. He held it with a throwing grip just in case something went wrong.

“Remember to communicate!” Sol shouted.

“June, I’m going to pull!” Summer shouted, there was hesitance in her voice.

“Ok,” June replied with more confidence than her sister.

Summer started to pull it in a circle, it was incredibly slow.

“I’m gonna freeze the tail now!” June shouted as runes formed in her hand.

She first summoned a large water ball then another set of runes in front of it. She pushed the water ball through the runes and icy air shot out towards the spikeback. It wasn’t the best of shots but a third of it connected with the tail.

Summer hesitated for a moment but then activated her void flames and charged forwards. She brought it into the air and slammed it down the doubled edged battle axe into its shell.

The spikeback tried to move its tail but the ice reduced the momentum and the attack failed.

Summer pulled the battle axe out and went to swing again. The power was lesser and the form worse but still the blade went in deep.

“Summer! It’s gon-”

The spikeback’s tail whipped forwards but was still slowed down. Summer freaked out and fell onto her back.

Sol’s arm was twitching.

June summoned another water ball and rune in front of it. She tried to fire it quickly and completely missed.

The spikeback moved slowly forward and Summer started pushing backwards and screaming. As it brought up its tail for a full strike, Sol threw his dagger into its armored head and then into its heart.

He rushed over to Summer who was crying on the floor. She was half way in a pool of water, her flames were still on.

“Flames off,” Sol said as he bent down.

She turned them off and Sol helped her up. She started to cry more into his shoulder. He kinda knew this would happen.

“You’re ok, Summer. It’s dead.”

“I almost died,” she said with teary eyes.

“So?” Sol said, “It was your first monster. That’s why I’m here.”

“What did I do wrong?” Summer questioned.

“We’ll talk about that in a sec,” Sol said, “Who wants to loot the body?”

“I think Summer should do it,” June said with embarrassed cheeks.

Summer bent down and looted the body. They both received the rewards equally.

“Sol,” June said, “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me,” Sol stated as he looked over to the drenched Summer.

“Sorry… Summer,” June said without making eye contact.

“It’s fine,” Summer said as she rubbed her nose, “I should have seen it was coming.”

“Shut up you guys, this isn’t some sob story” Sol said, changing the mood, “It was pretty good for your first monster. There’s a lot of things that went wrong.”

Both of his sisters looked at him surprised.

“I almost died and you want to speak to me like?” Summer questione.

Sol shrugged, “I didn’t have anyone to help me for my first monster. C’mon, tell me what went wrong.”

Both of them looked shy but June spoke up first.

“I didn’t hit it properly the first time, then I rushed the second spell.” June said.

“Good, you understand. You could’ve used a smaller, more concentrated spell when it was approaching Summer on the ground rather than a large one. Apart from that, you did fairly well.”

“I didn’t see the attack.” Summer said.

“That's it?” Sol questioned, “For one, you didn’t buff your weapon with your void flame. Two, you fell down in a panic. Three, you went in for another attack. Never push it. If you get in an attack, pull out straight away to assess the situation again. This doesn’t apply to every situation.”

Summer looked down to the floor.

“You did better than what June would do in your place.”

“Hey!” June said.

“You want to swap?” Sol asked.

“... No.”

“Cheer up you two. You killed your first monster.”

“No,” June said, “You killed it.”

Sol shrugged, she had a point. He thought of Lucia and she shot out of the stripped down corpse and into his hand. The soul bound feature was very useful.

“What was that?!” June said.

“My new weapon,” Sol replied.

“It’s like Thor’s hammer,” June added.

“It’s nothing special,” Sol said, “Another one?”

Summer nodded.

“And your flames should extinguish the water on your body,” Sol said.

“Really?” Summer questioned.

“Yeah, I think anyway. Think of the removing water and it should warm you up,” Sol said.

She activated the buff again and sure enough, the water was steamed from her body. Sol was surprised she managed it so easily.

“How did you know that?” She asked.

“You have control over your own fire,” Sol said.

He carried on walking as he left her to her own thoughts.

“C’mon,” Sol said, “I see another next to that tree.”

The two sisters followed Sol over to a slightly larger spikeback, it was munching on a few large cockroaches.

“Try it again. And try to remember, you don’t need to kill it fast. Fighting monsters is an attrition of endurance.” Sol said.

Both his sisters nodded and repeated the same formation.

It went slightly better than last and they actually killed it all by themselves. Sol was impressed at how fast they learnt. Summer kept her buff the whole time and let the void fire eat away at the tough keratin shell until it died- of course mixed in with a few more hits.

June kept slowing the monster down with an array of ice magic, it was really spectacular how she did it. If anyone saw her they would think she had been rune writing for years. She even used some basic healing runes to heal some scratches and bruises on Summer.

They moved on and on, making less mistakes each time.

“I gained a level!” Summer shouted.

“I’m so close, Sol, how long have we got?” June asked.

“All afternoon,” he replied.

They carried on for another few hours. Summer gained another level. Sol remembered how easy it was to level up between 10 and 20. It was like a drug to level up, it was a euphoric feeling.

Summer pulled her axe out of a spikeback when they heard a bunch of shouts.

“Boss!”

“A boss spawned!”

June and Summer turned to Sol.

BOSS Level 9 Spikeback, Hardened Shell

“We’ll head over,” Sol said, “But if I say no then that means no.”

They glanced at each other with glee. The trio headed over a knoll and looked out over a large marshy area. A giant spikeback the size of a small car was swinging its tail wildly.

Sol wasn’t so sure, it was moving fast.

“I don’t mind June firing at it, but Summer.”

“Pleaseeee, Sol.”

He breathed in deep, “Have you tried throwing weapons that have void fire?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Summer questioned.

“June, can you summon an ice spear?” Sol asked.

She summoned one and handed it to Sol. It was a bit cold so he brought out some gloves.

“Put these on,” Sol said.

“Why?”

“I’m trying to help you,” Sol said.

“Fine,” she said as she put the gloves on.

“Activate your buff and spread it to the ice spear,” Sol said.

She took the ice spear, “It’s really cold,” she said.

Sol didn’t respond.

She used the buff and then spread it to the ice spear.

June shivered, “It feels really strange.”

“What? The void?” Sol questioned.

“Yeah, it's empty but strangely full.”

“Can you throw it?” Sol asked.

“I learned to throw a spear in a show once,” she said.

“Great, watch out for the people below. Make sure to aim for the top of the shell and don’t let it spread down below.”

“Ok,” Summer said and threw the ice spear covered in fire void magic. It was a great hit and stuck itself on the top of the shell.

“June, you can fire too,” Sol said.

“I don’t think I’ll be as accurate as Summer,” she said.

“Then try some other type skills, just make sure to not hit the people below.” Sol said.

“I can heal them,” June said.

“No,” Sol said, “Don’t. Only if I say so. Maybe try and freeze the tail with a large attack.”

“Ok,” June said as she started casting runes.

People had already started to look, writing runes was very rare and so was Summer’s purple flames.

Sol also knew that scouts liked to lurk about here. Like the Unwanted, scouts would take in young people that had potential.

The boss itself didn’t take much to go down, roughly 30 people took part in it. Summer extinguished the void flame on the top where it had burnt a considerable portion and the trio headed over.

“Loot for contribution?” A man asked the group.

Everyone agreed.

“I got bracers!” Summer yelled.

UNCOMMON Spikeback Bracers

Made from the underbelly hide of a boss spikeback and lined with pieces from its tough keratin shell.

Defense Rating: 32

Durability: 21/21

Affinities: Armour

“Whatttt,” June moaned, “I only got some meat and copper.”

“We can cook it up tonight if you hold onto it, boss meat always tastes better,” Sol said.

“Excuse me, young dearies,” An old man in a robe said. His face was kind and he gave off quite a relaxing aura.

Summer turned to him, “Oh, hi.”

“I must say, you have such an unusual flame skill. And I believe that is your sister who possesses such excellent mana control.”

“Thank you very much. Our brother has been teaching us.”

“They’re not looking for any sponsors,” Sol said, “Piss off.”

The old mans face screwed itself up into a scowl and he spat on the floor, “My fucking luck today is terrible,”

Both of his sisters looked shocked at how quickly the man's face turned.

“How did you know who he was?” June asked.

“You pick things up. Just remember to keep your wits about you,” Sol said.

“Hey!” An adventurer shouted over to them, “You guys were amazing.”

The adventurer was a tall and handsome blonde guy, Summer was already falling for him. He was wearing decent metal armour mixed in with fur, there were another two men by his side.

She pushed her hair back and smiled, “Thank you, you were great too.”

“We’re gonna grind for another couple of hours, want to join us? Your friend can come too if she wants… And your other friend.”

His sisters looked at him, Sol took a very long look at the man. He had a cheap pouch, average sword and his armour was roughed up. He looked to be an ordinary adventurer. He was the leader of the other two behind him, one looked to be a tank and another an archer.

Mages, specifically June and Summer who had unique skills were sought after for any group. It seemed like the three guys just wanted some help in hunting- of course, most guys had ulterior motives and Summer and Junes’ looks played a big part. Sol wanted them to experience what it was like to be an adventurer so he agreed.

“I won’t partake but I’ll watch from a distance,” Sol said.

“You sure?” June asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be watching in case you guys need help,” Sol replied.

“Great, we’re heading over to the slightly harder zone with adult spikebacks.” The guy said, “Oh, my names Phillip, this is Grey and Charlie.”

Summer smiled brightly and waved to the both of them, “My name’s Summer and this is my sister June.”

“You two are sisters?” Phillip asked, “I never knew you could get two beautiful sisters.”

Summer blushed whereas June almost threw up in her mouth. He knew June only wanted to get experience with working in a team.

“We’re going to head to the north area, by the mountains.”

The two sisters looked at Sol who nodded, he just wanted them to enjoy being an adventurer. He kind of had a similar situation, except it wasn’t just killing monsters- it was men, crazy noble and sometimes innocent people.

He held quite a distance between the group but never took his eyes off them. They were just exchanging details about their skills and weapons and how they would do things- typical adventurer talk.

They were getting closer to the mountain where the higher levelled ones were. Sol made his way around them to scoop out that it was safe. It was and he sat himself down on a rock formation overlooking his sisters.

Behind him was a chasm, it was a large drop down where he couldn’t see the bottom of. He just needed to be careful.