Canary POV

After falling down deep into the ruins, we were separated. We had just finished introducing ourselves.

“Why is a little kid joining the raid?!” complained Stan.

Stan was an adult-looking man. He had curly black hair and black skin. He was tall and muscular. Like Crow, Stan offered his services to middle-tier Parties to be hired. Since he was participating in the Swordmaster tournament, Hawk analyzed him quite a bit. He wore a tight-fitting sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscles.

Stan was a Metal Swordsman. He uses an Uncommon Rarity Two-handed Sword named Broadsword. He used heavy equipment. Hawk said that his movements were slow even factoring in the weight of his equipment and the stats of his Job Class; however, he made up for his lack of speed with the sheer power of his attacks. His ability, Sword Body, immobilized himself but doubled his attack and defense.

“While I don’t know Canary’s skill, Hawk acknowledged him, so he is definitely capable.” said Mura.

Mura was an Electric Archer from the Golden Warriors. Since the Golden Warriors had the highest average strength in Naut City, Mura was probably the strongest Player here. He had messy purple hair that touched his shoulders. Like his hair, his eyes were also purple. His face was like a shut-in with dark eyebags and dry skin. He was very thin even compared to other thin people. He wore brown ragged clothing that made him look like a beggar.

“Do not judge a person by his looks. A true person’s value cannot be determined by his outer appearance.” said Sophie.

Sophie was an Electric Monk from Platina Knights. Sophie looked like a female athlete. Beautiful, tall, and muscular, Sophie felt like a person who would protect others. Sophie had tanned skin and sharp blue eyes. Her hair was hidden by the habit she wore. Compared to most female Players, Sophie wore highly conservative clothes. In fact, the only skin that she showed was her face due to her long-sleeved violet robe covering her entire bodu.

“Who cares? Let’s just go fight already!” insisted Rize.

Rize was a female Fire Priest from Gemini Mages. She was around fourteen years of age and was short even for her age. She had blue eyes and blonde hair. Her face was quite cute. After she woke up, he jumped around checking the surroundings quite a bit. She wore a frilly white dress with similarly frilled and colored stockings that reached higher than the skirt.

“Can’t you relax already? You’re being annoying.” said Aim.

Aim was a male Sniper from Zoe’s Party. Hawk mentioned that he met Aim once during his childhood. Aim, like Hawk, looked like an average university student. While Hawk was more of the intelligent student, Aim was the average student. He had black hair and black eyes and an average body. His clothes could also be described as that of a common man. A plain t-shirt, pants, and shoes.

“…”

The other Player with us remained quiet. Even during the introduction, he only said his name. He was Block, an Earth Paladin from Crimson Swords. He had large build further enlarged by the heavy armor he wore. While I’m no expert in nationality, it was very obvious that he was from the Middle East with his big black eyes, dark brown skin, black hair, and sharp nose.

Since Block was participating in the Swordmaster Tournament, Hawk studied him quite a bit although I don’t remember what he said because it was none of my business. I did remember him saying that out of all the Players in Crimson Swords, Hawk would have the hardest time fighting him not due to skill but due to the nature of their abilities.

Our formation ended up as follows. Block was up front. Stan stayed inches behind him. Rize and I stayed in the middle of the formation. Beside us on each side were Mura and Aim. Sophie was behind us to defend from backstabs.

Our first encounter was against eighteen Goblins: Eight normal Goblins, four Black Goblins, two Goblin Archers, and two Black Goblin Archers.

The Goblins only came from the front. The Goblins attacked Block who was in front. Rize used her Ability, which she called Healfire, on Block. Healfire gave Block a very fast Health regeneration that offset the Goblin’s damage.

The undamaging attacks on Block triggered his Ability. It also made me remember Hawk’s explanation of Block’s Ability. Block’s Ability was named Rockhard. According to Hawk, Rockhard had a one in five chance to trigger every time Block was hit by a physical attack. Rockhard would mini-stun and slightly damage the attacker.

Stan already broke through the Goblins in front and went directly for the Archers. When he reached them, he activated Sword Body and hit the Archers for significant damage per strike. Sword Body turned the rest of his sword and his entire body into the same steel as his sword.

Since the beginning of the battle, Mura and Aim continuously fired arrows at the Goblins. Both of them fired with amazing accuracy. While Dove no longer missed her arrows when fighting monsters, Mura and Aim could target specific parts of the Goblins to deal more damage. Aim, as a Sniper, hit harder than Mura, but Mura, as an Archer, fired arrows faster than Aim. When the Goblins clustered up, Aim appeared to use his Ability. He fired an arrow covered with energy that pierced its way in a straight line and damaged all that lied in its path.

Sophie, who took a while before joining the frontlines due to making sure there were no enemies behind us, punched the Goblins with great strength. Her Ability created lighting in her palms. While the lightning did not increase her damage on her target, it created a small electrical shockwave behind the target than mini-stunned other enemies that lay behind the target.

When one of the Black Goblin Archer half Health due to Stan’s efforts, Mura used his own Ability. He fired an arrow at the Black Goblin Archer and killed it from 42% Health.

My job was to use my Electron Overcharge to hit any Goblins that broke past Block.

While I wanted to make calls about strategy and the status of the battle like I did with ARF, Hawk told me not do so for two reasons. First, people were unlikely to listen to a kid like me. It’s better to have no coherent strategy than to have a strategy only a few are following. Second, ARF wanted to hide as many of its battle strategies as possible since they may become our enemies in the future.

With every Goblin falling, the battle became easier and easier. Rize healing Abilities except the first were used on Stan, who was targeted by all the Goblin Archers constantly. Stan never went below half Health, so we were in no danger of losing someone on this battle.

The battles that followed did not hold much difficulty either. While teamwork was obviously lacking, we managed to beat most encounters through individual skill.

After a few hours of exploring, we found a Safe Zone with a staircase behind it. We rested there for a while.

“You’re pretty good, kid!” said Rize.

“You’re only two years older than me. Anyway, thanks.”

As I spoke with Rize, I rechecked and affirmed that Hawk and Dove where still alive.

“Why did you choose to be a Sage? I didn’t choose Sage because I didn’t think I could handle complex magic, so it surprised me that you, who is younger than me, actually chose it.”

“I believed I could manage it.”

“Hoho, you’re quite the confident one.”

Since our Health and Mana had regenerated to full, it was time to proceed on. I recalled my reason of choosing to be an Electric Sage.

I admired Sister Trice greatly. I loved her very much as well. While she did love and care for me, I wanted to be acknowledged by her. I knew I was inferior to her in every way. Deep down, I wanted to surpass her.

I wanted to fight and defeat Sister Trice on equal terms. I wanted to defeat Sister Trice, who would have chosen to be an Electric Sage, as an Electric Sage.