'Can I really kill the entire Starla family?'
This wasn't a question about physically but morally. With enough time, Kai was confident he could surpass them in level, but could he justify doing it?
Sitting in his previous spot inside the carriage, Kai was fighting an internal conflict.
'I know I already agreed to it, but how could I just kill them? Like their life was meaningless.'
His facial expression must have reflected what he was thinking because Atar spoke, "I understand how you feel, but if you knew what I know and saw what I did, there wouldn't be a hint of hesitation."
Hearing Atar's words, Kai couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was talking about.
'Is the Starla family hiding something? Or is he talking about Enta?'
As more questions kept coming and no answers, Kai could only give up for now. There was no point in worrying about it till he knew all the variables.
The family to his right were confused by Atar's words but chose not to ask about it. They only wanted to get to their destination, not be caught up in Vampire problems.
Shaking his head free, Kai closed his eyes, entering a meditation state. Feeling his conscience being moved, Kai found himself in a familiar garden.
His Magic Garden!
Looking at his ice plant, he noticed it was bigger than last time, not by much, only a few inches, but nonetheless, it grew.
Kai wanted to evolve his ice magic into tier:1 as soon as possible. He wanted to achieve tier:1 magic before he became tier:2; that way, his magic wasn't far behind his tier.
Sitting down next to the plant, he started examining every detail he could, how the icicles were molded and the way they were connected to the plant. Taking in how the cold made him feel, the way ice moves and takes shape.
Closing his eyes, he focused on everything he knew about magic and ice, how his mana moved to create ice, how his ice moved to his will—the density of his ice, and how potent his mana was.
As time ticked by, Kai could feel his connection with ice and his connection with mana increase. Slowly unbeknownst to him, the ice plant started to grow, its roots dug deeper, and ice began to cover the ground and stem.
A foot taller!
The ice plant grew a foot taller while Kai was in his meditation state. And it would have continued to grow if not for the disturbance.
"We're here, the town of Tuloc!"
'Already?!'
Before leaving his Magic Garden, Kai took note of the ice plant's growth, smiling as he left.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Atar looking at him.
"Did something happen?" He asked, seeing the look on Atar's face.
Atar shook his head, "No, I was just surprised you were asleep for so long; the day is almost gone."
'What?'
Looking at the small gap, Kai could see the orange, soon-to-be dark sky.
'Meditating takes a long time! I must be careful next time.
"Are you going to get off?"
"Oh, yeah. It seems I'm still waking up, haha."
Hoping off the carriage, the small town of Tuloc lay before him. Yet something was off.
"Why's there smoke?"
"Damn, we gotta hurry!"
Running past him, Rathal took the lead, with 'Dream Walkers' behind him.
Kai was about to follow, hoping to watch how they fought, when Atar spoke behind him, "Make sure to get the last hit, okay? Haha," The sly Vampire smirked, and so did Kai.
Kai quickly caught up with the 'Dream Walkers,' running through the town toward the smoke. They ran on a standard dirt path, running past many different stone and clay buildings.
Many of the buildings didn't have doors or windows; they were just buildings with holes and gaps.
'Odd,' Kai thought.
There were some trees inside the town; they had rough-looking brown trunks with dark green leaves. The trees grew at a slight angle, making them appear to be looking like they would fall over at any minute. There was brown-looking grass around the trees and along the many roads, the group ran past.
"AHHHH!"
"HELP ME!"
"I want my mommy!"
As they drew close, they could hear the screams of the townsfolk.
"When we get there, Hycis take its attention, Lorgug, Ramon. You back her up! Get it away from the townsfolk!"
"Got it"
"Yes!"
"Edea, you'll heal the injured, and I'll protect you all from afar!"
"Roger!"
Surprised at Rathal's change in behavior, Kai was getting excited to see what else would happen.
'It's like he changed completely; I guess he can't joke in a time like this.'
"I know it's a little late, but what class are you, Kai!" Rathal asked.
After a moment of silence, Kai answered, "Mage."
"Good, come with me, and we'll support them!"
Kai didn't respond but instead looked ahead.
Arriving at the scene, he saw a 3-foot-tall red cat, it's tail like a blazing fire, underneath a tall tree about 50 feet tall. In front of it was a boy no older than 10; he had little to no clothing. A white, dirty cloth wrapped around his waist that looked like shorts was all he was wearing—exposing most of his tanned body.
It was different from what Kai saw in Nightmare City; there, people wore rags, and here, the boy wore a nice cloth, not some rag.
Not far from the boy was a man lying face down, not moving. He only had a cloth around his waist, but the man had well-developed muscles and tan skin.
Tears ran down the boy's face, and he pleaded.
"H-help me! Dad!"
The boy looked at the man faced down.
Behind the boy from afar were many people, old and young. They stayed still, paralyzed in fear as they watched the Fire Cat, ready to pounce on the boy. All of them wore similar clothes to the boy and man. The men wore a cloth around their waist; some even had necklaces with teeth hanging on their necks, while others wielded spears. The women wore cloth high up on their chest and a cloth around their waist. To Kai, it looked like skirts; the men wore shorts while the women wore skirts. Unfortunately, it wasn't the time to comment on their attire.
~Swoosh~
An arrow made of pure ice flew through the sky, hitting the ground just between the boy and Fire Cat.
The boy looked at the arrow in shock, while the Fire Cat jumped back, looking for where it came from. Looking around, it spotted a group of people rushing toward it.
~Rooar~
The Fire Cat let out a low roar, trying to sound intimidating. Though it didn't shake the group in the slightest.
"AHHHH"
Hycis let out her own war cry, and a slight red around surrounded her. The Fire Cat seemed slightly dazed after hearing it before focusing on Hycis and her only like she was the only thing in the world.
'I'll have to ask about that later.' Kai thought, looking at Hycis.
Out of thin air, a giant metal shield with black spikes on the front appeared in Hycis's hands as she and the Fire Cat rushed at each other.
Wasting no time, Edea appeared next to the boy, and after checking him for injuries, she went off the man on the ground. Turning him over, she gasped! Deep claw marks across the man's chest. A golden staff with green gems appeared in her hands as she talked, mumbling something Kai couldn't hear. A white light enveloped the man's body; Kai recognized it as the same light Edea used when healing Floo's prisoners.
Returning to the battle, Ramon was circling from behind with two black, long, sharp daggers, looking for an opportunity to strike. While Lorgug equipped a black hilted longsword, the blade was shiny silver, reflecting what little sun there was. He was poking at the Fire Cat behind Hycis's shield; although it made it hard for him to get a good hit, he did scrape it a few times, drawing blood.
Rathal had a long red and blue wooden wand, the two colors intertwined like they were mixing. While Kai had his bone bow out.
"We're going to attack it from the side; the Fire Cat can't defend all our attacks! Got it?"
Nodding, Kai and Rathal ran to the side close to the townsfolk; this was in case they missed a spell; it wouldn't harm them. This did bring the risk of the Fire Cat getting lured toward the townsfolk, but with Hycis grabbing its attention, it wouldn't be a problem.
"Water Bullet!"
"[Ice Spike]!"
Little water balls surrounded Rathal while four ice spikes hovered next to the Kai.
~Zoom~
All the water bullets and ice spikes were sent flying straight toward Fire Cat.
~ROOOOAR~
The spells hit directly, causing blood to flow from the Fire Cat's side, causing it to release a furious roar.
~Boom~
Fire engulfed the entire Fire Cat's body, causing Hycis, Lorgug, and Ramon to take a step back.
The Fire Cat got back on its hind legs, staring at Hycis.
"GET BEHIND ME!"
Kneeling, Kycis propped up her shield with both her arms and all her strength.
~Flooo~
A stream of red hot fire attacked Hycis's shield, pushing her back slightly.
"Haa Haa!"
After a few seconds, the stream of fire ended, and Hycis breathed heavily. Hopping back onto its front legs, it looked like it was ready to pounce.
"Get ready, Ramon!" Rathal shouted.
Kai and Rathal sent another barrage of water bullets and ice arrows. Using his bow, Kai was sure that his ice would hit despite the fire.
~Spat~
He was right; although weaker, his ice arrow managed to bypass the fire around the Fire Cat, penetrating its skin.
~Roar~
The Fire Cat shook its head and looked straight at Kai with eyes filled with bloodlust.
During the battle, Ramon circled the Fire Cat, appearing to be setting something up, but Kai couldn't be sure. He even saw Ramon doing something with the tree, but Kai figured he was just looking for a critical spot to attack.
~RAa~ Letting out another roar, the Fire Cat jumped high up, intending to reach Kai.
~Slice~
Before it could go far, the Fire Cat was stopped mid-air. Like it was frozen. Its legs were spread out, and its claws were extracted.
Just as Kai was going to question it, Rathal smirked, "Good job Ramon!"
Just as he was getting more confused, with the gleam of the sun, he saw it. Thin strings were attached to the tree to the ground, going all through the air, holding the Fire Cat suspended in the air.
'I never expected that.' Kai smirked not because of Ramon's strategy, although it was good, but because he now had the perfect chance.
He knew they might be mad at him, and Kai was enjoying his time with them, but the benefits could be enormous for his next evolution; he couldn't give up on such an opportunity. But to his surprise, Rathal spoke before he could prepare his attack.
"Quickly kill it, Kai!"
"Uh, are you sure?" Although he wanted to, he didn't expect Rathal to ask him to finish it off.
"Haha, of course, you stopped it from attacking that kid; if you hadn't, that boy might have died, so go on, take it." Rathal smiled, looking at Kai with honest eyes.
Aiming his bow, Kai gathered 1000 mana into his ice arrow; this arrow was much denser and gave off a cold aura.
~Swoosh~
Letting go, his arrow soared through the air, heading straight for the Fire Cat.
~Spat~
His arrow passed straight through the Fire Cat's head and continued with the little mana left inside, but it finally died off. The fire surrounding the Fire Cat dispersed, and its body went limp.
Looking at Rathal and the rest of 'Dream walkers, ' Kai faintly smiled, 'Maybe there are people you can trust.'
{Earned ...}