Kraant regretted not sleeping. He was sore all over, his had felt muzzy, and he could swear Pebl was gloating. Stupid rocks, what with their ability to ignore fatigue… Kraant was a wielder of Life, able to give and take away sentience and sapience both! But, alas, he was still a Kobold at heart. No amount of stolen Life mana would let him ignore the demands of flesh. He’d tried, using Siphon Life on trees and the like, but it was only ever a temporary high. His body had an MP limit, and that was that. Anything else felt good, but quickly dissipated.

He idly wondered if he could bottle a Mana Overcharge, but decided that alchemists could handle such things. Maybe he should replace the Trapper sub-class…

Gina’s shout pulled him back to reality. There was a group of Kobolds, judging by the swarm of reptilian bodies rushing toward Gina. Or, rather, toward the pit Gina found had fallen into.

Luckily, Kraant mused while preparing Ward: Living so he could cast it at the far edge of the pit, these were bad Kobolds. That is, they were all Warriors or Leaders, which meant they would prey on the weaker castes like Trapper or Forager. What with Kraant’s previous experiences, he felt no sadness blowing apart one or two of the faster Leaders by releasing his spell right on top of them… whoops. Sorry. Heheheheh.

Gina almost managed to pull herself off of the sharpened sticks at the bottom of the pit, but she had lost too much blood and been stabbed too many times. She was weak, and getting weaker. Kraant divided his attention between giving Pebl orders and casting Imbue Life on Gina; he wasn’t sure how this would work out, but it had to be better than nothing. Right?

Just as Peblus Magnificus released a veritable torrent of flame (compared to his usual little falsh; it really wasn’t impressive unless you knew the context like Kraant did), Kraant sent a flood of green-tinged Life mana toward Gina. She absorbed it, or it invaded her spirit, one of the two… Kraant was too busy to tell for sure. He was rapidly alternating between Raging Flurry and normal, controlled strikes and all the while he hemorrhaged mana from his Ward: Living and Sculpt Flesh. Normally, Sculpt: Flesh wouldn’t drain mana, but in this case it kept him from devoting enough attention to Ward: Living to really use the spell efficiently. The Ward itself was only half-effective, keeping about 40% of the Kobolds at bay. And that for only a few more moments… he was glad that the Shin of Trent had counted as a staff and not, say, a club. He really needed new gear…

A snapping sound brought his focus back to the battle. He’d let his Raging Flurry take over on accident, which let him think but also let him get distracted. In this case… definitely the latter. He’d missed Gina pulling herself out of the pit, cloaked all over in a strange flickering. He understood instinctively that Two Shadows was interfering with a Light-Aspect spell or ability of hers, but also that the combination led to some… unique opportunities. Gina seemed to flicker between two points, each of them obscured by radiant Light mana, and it was impossible to predict which one would launch the next Light-Aspected arrow. The Kobolds were dropping like flies, unable to defend against Kraant’s wild flailing, Gina’s constantly shifting positions, and Pebl’s occasional spell. Eventually, the small group won against the larger- although, all three of them bore scars. Even Peblus Magnificus, the Eight-Fold Path Divine Gem of the Order of Kue, would likely hold these… blemishes… for another Evolution or two. And that was if he kept himself in top condition the whole time; somehow, knowing how useless his Master was in a straight fight, he doubted that would happen. He sulked.