The Man in the Rain (Part 2)

The One in the Rain (Part 2)

Being taken out so easily with a single axe meant it was merely the weakest kind of animated skeleton. That was good news.

But no one had the leisure to celebrate, because there were more of them.

After casting Light, Pei Renli hurriedly raised his fingers again, leaving three flickering runes in the air.

"Magic Missile!"

Orbs of magic wrapped in azure power flew from between his fingers, nimbly curving around Litia at the front and striking another skeleton in the shoulder.

Magic Missile came with built-in tracking—its greatest feature—but its power really left much to be desired.

The skeleton staggered from the hit. It seemed to have struck right where the arm bone joined the shoulder, and one of its arms fell off.

Undead creatures like skeletons had one trait: as long as the flames of undeath in their eyes did not go out, they would not truly die. Even taking them apart piece by piece made no difference.

Having learned from being besieged by goblins before, Litia did not dare charge too far ahead this time. After taking down one skeleton, she remained where she was on guard, keeping herself within both Pei Renli's spell support and Moen's buff range.

"Behind us! The skeletons behind us are coming!"

Anna called out a warning. Turning around, they saw more than a dozen dark figures rounding the cabin and heading toward them.

At the very back, Pei Renli covered his mouth and spoke in a voice so low that any quieter would have been swallowed by the wind and rain:

"Did you call these skeletons here?"

Lavna, hiding in the shadow at his feet, replied, "No. I didn't call them."

If they had nothing to do with Lavna, then what was going on with these skeletons?

Litia immediately made her decision.

"Fall back! We're heading to the riverbank!"

Skeletons moved slowly. Even though they moved faster the closer they got to the living, they still could not match a living person's speed or agility.

The four quickly moved away from the cabin and put their backs to the river. This way, they could be attacked from at most three sides, and every skeleton would remain within sight.

The four also formed up with Litia in front, Moen and Anna at her sides, and Pei Renli shielded at the very rear.

Protecting the DPS first was the most basic of basics. At least they knew that much.

Pei Renli fired off two more Magic Missiles. One of them got lucky and struck a skeleton squarely in its bare skull. The violent impact shattered its flame of undeath, reducing their number by one again.

But by then, the skeletons that had only been vague shadows at the edge of their vision had already surrounded them.

Anna did not draw her bow, nor did she use the scimitar at her waist. Instead, she wielded a wooden club picked up from the ground, relying on her outstanding agility to help Moen—who could not spare a hand while playing—hold off the approaching skeletons.

Undead creatures resisted both slashing and piercing damage. Whether shooting them with arrows or hacking at them with a scimitar, the results were not very good. But they generally feared blunt force. One blow would crack their dried-out bones; another would smash them apart.

With the distance now closer, the skeletons entered the range of the Light spell, making them easier to aim at. Pei Renli switched from Magic Missile to the more powerful Force Ray.

This spell was essentially a high-speed version of Magic Missile, except it lacked tracking.

Almost every time Pei Renli completed the runes and pointed at a target from afar, a skeleton would erupt with sharp bangs. Sometimes a hit to the skull killed one instantly, giving him the illusion that he was firing a handgun.

Just when things were going smoothly, Litia, holding the front line, shouted:

"Watch out! They aren't all animated skeletons—there are skeleton soldiers too!"

No sooner had she spoken than she raised her shield to block a rusted longsword. She swung her axe backhandedly, but unlike the previous skeletons, this one did not collapse on the spot. It merely swayed before steadying itself again.

Skeleton soldiers were level 15, even higher than Pei Renli. They were also far harder to deal with than the pathetic animated skeletons.

As mentioned before, skeleton-type undead varied greatly in level, and it was difficult to tell which one was tougher just by looking at them.

With skeleton soldiers mixed among them, the group immediately felt the pressure that had been absent before. Litia could handle one or two skeleton soldiers, but more of them forced her back step by step, and the defensive circle they had established began to slowly shrink.

Seeing this, Pei Renli immediately spread his five fingers.

"Burning Hands!"

A broad wave of scorching flames tore through the misty rain and crashed down over the advancing skeletons.

It was an excellent choice. Among corporeal undead, other than sunlight, what they feared most was fire.

The grease lingering in their bones ignited under the magical flames, and they became humanoid torches almost instantly. After only a few steps, they toppled over, their bones scattering across the ground.

Seeing this, Anna, who was covering the flanks as the "off-tank," immediately praised him.

"Nice job! Mages really are amazing!"

Moen said unhappily, "I'm working hard too! You could at least praise me."

"Fine, you're amazing too."

"Hey, that was way too perfunctory!"

Spellcasters were so sought after because magic could accomplish far more than a sword. Whether it was direct damage or other wondrous abilities, it was incredibly useful.

It was simply that few people could read, and not everyone possessed the aptitude to become a mage, so spellcasters had always remained scarce.

Burning Hands was a beginner spell, but for Pei Renli, it already counted as a major move. A distinct sense of emptiness rose within him, signaling that a great deal of his magic power had been consumed.

Replenishing magical power took time. He had already used up quite a bit dealing with the goblins, and Pei Renli's total magical power was nowhere near an absurd level, so of course he would feel this way.

Once his magical power was completely depleted, he would be unable to move as if paralyzed. But compared to the time when he had foolishly drained himself dry, Pei Renli had gained some experience through relentless training. By his estimate, his remaining magical power should be enough to handle this battle.

Wiping away the droplets on his forehead—whether sweat or rainwater, he could not tell—Pei Renli took a deep breath and prepared to press on.

But then, a sound came from behind him.

—Splash!

The violent churning of water sounded distinctly different from the rush of the river. It felt...

Like something had emerged from the water!

Pei Renli immediately turned around to see what it was, but before he could move, he felt a slick, rope-like thing coil around his waist and yank him backward with all its strength.

Luckily, he was not alone. Anna had been nearby all along, dealing with the skeletons that approached so Pei Renli and Moen could focus on supporting them with magic. Thus, the instant Pei Renli got into trouble, Anna threw away the wooden stick in her hand, drew her curved blade, and slashed at whatever was behind him.

He had no idea what had wrapped around him. He only heard a sound like cloth being torn apart, followed by the force around his waist suddenly loosening.

His feet touched the ground again, and Pei Renli hurriedly turned to look. Just in time, he saw a huge octopus-like creature raise its head from beneath the rushing water. Two of its lifted tentacles had been severed and fallen by the riverbank.

It was called a swamp octopus, a large freshwater creature that could reach five meters in length. It usually surfaced during heavy rain to obtain oxygen. Unlike its ocean-dwelling relatives, swamp octopuses resembled amphibians and could rely on their powerful tentacles to move about on land for short periods.

Though all of this information was recorded in the monster guide, Pei Renli still wanted to loudly complain.

What kind of nonsense was an octopus doing in freshwater?!

Well, this was a world with magic. It was naturally very unscientific...

Putting that aside, the octopus that had attacked Pei Renli was like a signal. One after another, more swamp octopuses broke the surface and stretched their eight tentacles toward the people on shore.

"What happened back there?!"

Litia, who was holding the front line, had no idea what was going on. All she had heard was the sound of water.

"Swamp octopuses! There are more and more of them!"

"Pei Renli, hurry up and use one of your spells! Think of something!"

"Magic isn't omnipotent either!"

"They're coming! Don't touch me!"

Moen shrieked and hurriedly dodged away. Litia shouted:

"Don't run around! Formation! Don't break formation!"

"Waaah!"

The frantic commotion carried through the thinning rain curtain. It was clear they were having an utterly chaotic time dealing with them...

Storms often appeared near the Great Tree Sea, but since it was not the rainy season, they came quickly and vanished just as fast.

As the sun set and flame-like evening clouds reddened the horizon, four figures slowly approached Naspar, whose city gates were about to close.

From afar, they looked like they had their arms around each other's shoulders. Up close, they were supporting one another. The four miserable figures returned to the school just like that.

First they had been chased and beaten by goblins, then caught between skeletons and swamp octopuses. None of the monsters had been especially strong, but for this bunch of rookies, it was enough to leave an extremely deep impression.

It was said that even Litia, who loved eating fish, claimed that she did not want to see anything fishy for quite some time. One could imagine the size of their psychological shadows...

Though bad luck had played a part, they had truly underestimated adventurer commissions before this. Next time, they absolutely had to be more careful.

After returning to the school and handing over the branches that served as proof, the commission was considered complete, and they received their reward.

After deducting the school's ten percent, the four split the payment evenly. Each of them received a little over a dozen copper coins.

What could that money buy?

If spent only on ingredients such as flour and vegetables, a dozen or so copper coins could buy roughly enough food for one person to eat for a day...

This reward was not even enough to cover equipment repair costs. They would have to pay extra out of pocket.

The school did not provide weapons or armor, and everything they used was their own. That was why the others all had armor to wear, while Pei Renli had gone out carrying nothing but a short sword.

If they truly could not afford equipment, the school offered interest-free loans. However, the profits from each completed commission would be used to repay the debt.

Normally, adventurers earned a great deal, since they were making money with their lives on the line. If the pay were too low, no one would do this job.

But this had been the simplest beginner commission. If Naspar had not had an adventurer school, ordinary cities would not even assign this sort of commission to adventurers.

Moreover, the task had merely been to inspect the dam, so naturally the reward could not be very high. The reason they had suffered so badly was purely because their luck had been terrible, and bad luck was not a reason to increase a commission's reward...

So all they had received in the end was a little over a dozen copper coins.