Pretending in front of Surata that they knew nothing about Kenshi's situation was not easy. Ken and Simm did their best to feign surprise. Whether their act convinced her or not, only she knew.
Ken decided not to go fishing that day, wary of being suddenly ambushed in the middle of the river. He was still too weak to be handling ambushes in stride. The variety of spells he had mastered were not exactly focused on direct combat. The huge hoard of destructive spells he had amassed as an Ultimate Rank expert many years ago were all so high-grade that Ken could not cast any of them right now.
Standing in the middle of his room, Ken waved his hands around his torso, trying to sense the subtle differences in his Physique.
Dexterity was not a common stat among the members of the human race. Through Simm's bloodline, it had reached Kenshi, and through Kenshi's bloodline, it had reversed its way into Ken's body. While the increment of 0.05 points was laughably small, the fact that it belonged to an entirely new type of stat meant a significant addition to his physique.
And indeed, he could feel the change. Dexterity, a stat that made warriors like Simm nimble as a feline predator by enhancing their limb coordination, giving them reflexes so quick that assassinating them would be a monumental task, and a surgical precision in their movements that brought forth an unmatched expertise in weapon-wielding.
Of course, he was far from reaching that level. Perhaps with his 0.05 points of enhancement, he could throw better darts in pub competitions, or snatch up a fish caught on his hook faster than before. Ken didn't mind that one bit. Because this wasn't the end of that path. The other three children were inching closer to the peak of level 1 each time they felt like making a ruckus. He couldn't wait to see what surprise their enhancements would provide him.
After having a hearty breakfast, Ken went outside to patrol the forest. This time he took some supplies from the hideout. His burnout counter had receded to the bottom, meaning he had more than 20 failures to succumb to while casting spells. It was high time to convert his spellcasting to a more threatening style by incorporating multiple spells together as a chain.
First, he chose an old stump of large oak as his target. From his backpack, he took out a bottle of oily flammables that were used by hunters to make small fires. He nailed a few tiny holes in the cork of the bottle.
"Ishu!"
A fist-sized fireball formed in his palm quickly. Ken reared his arm back and cast a Reflection-shift spell between himself and a tree nearby, forming the illusion that their positions had swapped. This was a delicate illusion that would be broken the moment Ken moved, but it would buy him the element of surprise.
Using a Basic liquefaction spell on the small bottle, he turned it into a rubbery ball carrying the flammable oil. When it came into contact with his palm, the ball caught on fire immediately from the residue leaking through the tiny holes on it.
Casting an Adhesion spell on the surface of the ball, Ken threw it as quickly as he could at the tree stump, careful not to let his fingers touch the adhesive fluid forming on its surface.
With a responding splat, the burning liquefied bottle stuck itself to the stump. The pressure of the collision forced the oil inside it to spray out chaotically. The sprays of the oil turned into small, fiery explosions, covering the entire tree stump with a shroud of flames. While the fireball in Ken's palm did not need real fuel to sustain itself, the flames burning on the tree stump did. They failed to truly damage the old stump, only charring its surface slightly by the time the oil fueling them was depleted.
But Ken felt satisfied. A human was not as difficult to harm as that stump. One good shot at his target's face would easily destroy a threat unless the opponent was a mage with the reflexes of a warrior.
Ken spent the entire morning fine-tuning his new assassination method. Instead of bottles, he ended up choosing sandworm eggs as the oil carriers. Even his sandworm totems could create these inch-wide eggs, albeit being empty inside which fitted Ken's purpose just fine. The eggs were brittle, but the liquefaction spell could take care of that issue. He only needed to make needle-sized holes in them to insert a few drops of oil.
Adhesion spells were only needed if the carrier was large enough. Ken chose a few sturdy balloons he had bought for the kids for this type of bomb. He poured enough oil inside each to ensure that whoever it landed on would be covered from head to toe.
There was also the aspect of hiding his traces before ambushing the enemy. The Reflection-shift spell was easy to cast, but not easy to maintain. The target chosen to replace his body with its reflection had to be close to his size and stature, greatly limiting Ken's choice in unfamiliar terrains. If he could cast the Rare version of the spell, such limitations would not exist, but Ken could only lament about that. He had to improvise with what he had.
The biggest problem with this ambush plan was that he could only perform it with ample time and preparation. Without his supplies, the best he could do was to slap an enemy in the face with his palm on fire. A competent opponent would never let him get that close.
For such situations, Ken devised a few destructive moves as his last resort. These were far too dangerous and eye-catching to practice here, so close to the hideout. Just as he was thinking about leaving the area to practice them, Surata came running from the direction of the tunnel with a panicked expression.
"Your wife! She did something to the children! Their vitality is going crazy!"