Blaze and I wrapped up our talk for the moment. She had work; so, did I. She claimed my couch. really, she sprawled across it…with her laptop balanced on her stomach, while I headed for my office.
Her agenda wasn’t light: studying the training manual for running a residency, catching up on email, and finishing reports. She admitted that being the boss, even of a small office, was a lot harder than she’d expected.
She now had two semi-permanent agents from the Capital, both staying in an Air B&B big enough for four. Cheaper than a motel, especially by the month.
Her senior agent had 18 years with the Bureau and was giving her all the help he could. They’d worked together for two years since her transfer to our state office, so they already had trust and rapport. Probably why he’d been assigned to her.
Her second agent was a six-year veteran who had transferred here almost a year ago to be closer to family.
Back in my office, I still had most of the book left to edit. All I could do was hope the author’s math and equations were correct. My own math skills hadn’t survived past Intro to Calculus in high school, and most of that had leaked out years ago. The publisher had someone else to check the numbers so I didn’t have to worry about it.
We both worked until almost the 10 p.m. spawn time. Then, like before, we headed outside to watch 19th & Fox handle the spawns.
James was tanking again, with Carlos the Paladin running melee and buffs. Carlos had somewhere picked up a metal trash-can lid for a shield, and…despite the dents…he was actually doing a decent job with it. They fought the spawns down to a single kobold, then deliberately let it through. That wasn’t a surprise.
The kobold took the hint and rushed Art R., their healer. He wielded what looked like an iron bar with something lumpy duct-taped to one end and more tape on the other for a grip. He wound up like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian and swung two-handed, baseball bat style. The kobold dropped from a head blow and stayed down.
Their guild cheered; Blaze and I clapped along.
Megan was watching from her porch. probably sizing things up for when her own turn came. Blaze and I went back inside; we’d already decided on making it an early night. Seven a.m. would come fast, and we wanted to see what changes the System had in store.
We said good night to each other as we headed off to our separate baths and bedrooms
The sun was just clearing the trees and distant campus rooftops to the east when we stepped outside with coffee in hand for the 7 a.m. spawn.
This time, their guild’s A-team took the field: Ryan, Megan, Jack, James, and Carlos, with a second team of mostly casters plus James’s mother, Mary Flanagan, as healer.
The spawn wasn’t the same as yesterday: two goblins, four kobolds…then a few seconds behind them was a thirdgoblin. This one wore a long brown hooded robe that hung to just below his green, knobby knees. He carried a peeled-sapling staff.
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A quick REVEAL STATS showed the truth: Goblin Shaman. He stayed back behind the other six.
The shaman struck first, casting a sickly, glowing green bolt, just like Morticia’s CURSE spell, at Falstaff. A sickly green bolt hit him and he screamed. His armor and shield were useless against it. Megan immediately spammed HEALs his way.
Ryan shifted left for a clean shot and blasted the shaman with LIGHTNING BOLT. METAL, FIRE, and ICE BALLs followed from the second team. The shaman toppled backward, dead.
[William of Brinsford:] [Irregulars] [Goblin Shaman! It has a CURSE spell.]
Jack and James held the line while the rest finished off the remaining spawns. James still clutched his stomach as Blaze and I dodged around a couple of cars whose drivers had stopped on the street to watch the fight.
“Good work,” I told them. “Especially with the shaman. The System just moved things up a notch by adding a caster. How hard did it hit you, Falstaff?”
“Five points, three times. Felt like getting head-butted in the gut without pads.” He glanced at Megan. “Meg…thank you. You got my health back before the next hit. I guess that means I took the same damage three times.”
Mary Flanagan rushed up, hugging him. “James! Are you OK? How do you feel, baby?” His mother had run over and was now hugging him. His father followed, but not as fast.
His dad followed, grinning. “Good job, son. Good call. We over-killed him with our BALLs. Still think you can tank them all next time?”
“Don’t know until I try, Dad. Next level, I get SWEEP. It hits three targets at once. That’ll keep aggro.” He still had his shield hand over his belly. Like it still hurt. But he’d live through it.
“I knew what it was when Yoshi yelled Shaman! Then that green spell hit me. So, I knew we had to get it down fast.” Falstaff said, looking at me. I nodded.
“Guys,” I said. “I’m going to pass it on that if you have the people, double team the newest spawns every day. What’s the loot from them? Anything new this time?”
“140 XP,” Ryan said. “The Shaman had this Staff drop, plus forty shields, and this pouch.”
I cast REVEAL MAGIC it. “It’s a ten-slot game-item pouch, which binds on use. Report it to Harry via the Joint System Response site. Include how you beat them. He can pass it on to the people compiling this info.”
Ryan and several others nodded their understanding.
“Do you still have that thing on for tonight?” James asked me, as we stood next to the sidewalk at the street edge of the Speedy Pizza parking lot.
“As far as I know. I’ll let you know when it’s confirmed. That may not be until this afternoon. If it happens, tell people to keep their non-guild family away. Half a block, minimum.”
“OK. I’ve talked to some of the guild, and so far, everyone’s good with it. One other thing,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“All of us want to thank you for what you haven’t done.”
“Haven’t done? What haven’t I done?”
You didn’t try to run our guild,” he said. You’ve been helping when we asked, or we needed it,” James said.
“I’ve already got one I’m barely running. Why mess with what’s working? Your guild’s building the way the System intended. I skipped steps. And day one, we fought real people. Real people died. I don’t want that again, but I think it’s coming.”
Blaze added, “I could probably solo the new spawns at Level 6, but I’d still bring a Healer until I’ve got potions. Which I don’t.”
He nodded. He’d seen the video of the battle. Some people standing nearby had too.
“Here’s the other thing. You see the game differently than I do. I’m still so overpowered it’s too easy for me. I’ll find out later today if I can solo the new spawns. The question isn’t can I kill them. I’m sure I can. The question is, am I at the point where I still need to bring a Healer along with me?”
“We’ll see you later today and tonight,” I told them. “The thing might not happen. But please, keep this in your guild.
Right now, we need to go and so do you. We can’t put off work for too long. We still need more than game money to live on. And some of you have classes.” He nodded his understanding. With that, Blaze and I headed back inside to get ready.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ubkx9CCT6I
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We are on Rising Stars, Contemporary List. As long as we stay on it, chapters will be released daily. Please Follow, Favorite, and Rate how much you like it. And tell your friends about Mana Mage. That will keep it on the list and new chapters coming to you sooner. With your help, we can make the main list too.
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