Tom led the formation, his blue eyes scanning the obsidian treeline with a veteran's paranoia. Behind him, Kenny and Christy huddled close, their nerves frayed by the silence. Arthas maintained the rear, his red eyes tracking the perimeter, while Morrigan walked beside him with a predatory grace that suggested she was comfortable in the carnage.
Arthas intentionally slowed his pace, drifting back until he was shoulder-to-shoulder with the redhead. "The fire you used," he said, his voice low. "How?"
"It's Magic," Morrigan replied, her golden eyes fixed forward. "Don't you have it?"
"Mine is still locked," Arthas admitted, the admission tasting like ash.
Morrigan gave him a sharp, evaluating glint. "Oh. So you haven't hit the threshold yet."
"What threshold?"
"To manifest magic, you need a minimum of 40 MP," she stated casually. "Anything less and you're just a physical brawler with a high metabolism."
Arthas fell silent. His recent evolution had only brought him to 30 MP. He was ten points away from being more than a man with a knife. He looked at her again, his suspicion deepening. "How do you know that?"
"I see no reason to answer that," she replied.
Arthas's eyes narrowed, but he bit back the retort. In this world, information was as lethal as a blade, and she clearly held a better hand.
"Mr. Tom, I hear water," Kenny's voice broke the tension.
"Any other thing?" Tom asked, his hand tightening on his baton.
Kenny stopped, closing his eyes to focus his hearing. His brows furrowed. "There's something else. We're on a hill; the river is down below. But I hear croaking... and heavy thumps. If I had to guess... frogs. Big ones."
The group moved to the edge of the charcoal forest. Below them, a jagged cliff dropped forty meters into a ravine. A wide, shimmering river cut through the valley floor. On the banks, nine massive frogs, their skin a vibrant, neon mosaic of oranges and purples, leaped between the rocks. Each one was the size of a small calf.
"They're colorful. In nature, that means poison," Arthas noted.
"Do we fight or turn around?" Christy asked, her voice trembling.
Morrigan ignored her, turning instead to the older man. "Mr. Tom, you unlocked Earth Magic, didn't you?"
Arthas raised an eyebrow. The veteran cop had magic too?
"Uh... yes," Tom answered hesitantly.
"How good are you with it?"
"I haven't used it yet," Tom admitted, wiping sweat from his brow. "But the interface says I can manifest stones or small boulders depending on the mana draw."
"Good," Morrigan said. "Manifest the boulders. Throw them down as hard as you can. We'll thin them out from the high ground before we descend."
Tom nodded, his face tightening with concentration. He extended his palm over the cliff's edge. With a low hum, particles of dust and grit began to swirl, solidifying into a jagged boulder the size of a basketball. With a grunt of exertion, he launched the projectile.
The rock tumbled through the air and, by sheer coincidence, crushed the skull of a purple frog instantly.
Arthas was looking at Tom. The man had turned deathly pale, his breath coming in ragged gasps after a single cast. He looked at Morrigan—she had tossed two fireballs earlier without breaking a sweat.
What's the difference? Arthas wondered. Efficiency? Or is her MP pool simply that much higher than his?
"Tsk." Morrigan clicked her tongue, the sound sharp with irritation.
"What's wrong with him?" Arthas asked, watching Tom sway on his feet. The veteran officer looked as if he'd just run a marathon in a desert.
"Mana exhaustion," Morrigan replied curtly. "He's drawing too much too fast with zero efficiency."
"What do we do now?" Christy asked, her voice hovering on the edge of a whimpering. Below, the colorful frogs had stopped their mindless jumping. They were clustered together, their massive throat sacs billowing as they croaked in a low, rhythmic frequency that vibrated through the ground.
"The same thing. We take them down from above," Morrigan commanded. She turned to the two teenagers. "You two. Go cut a tree. Use whatever tools you have. Now." She then pointed a slender finger at Arthas. "You. With me."
Why does she sound like an Area Commander? Arthas grumbled internally. He didn't argue, however. He walked to a jagged, heavy rock embedded in the hillside and tore it from the earth with his 11 Strength.
"Wait... I can help too," Tom wheezed, pushing himself upright.
"Then make boulders," Morrigan said without looking back.
"Ready?" She raised her palm, a fireball igniting with a roar.
"Ready." Arthas leaned back and launched the rock with the full force of his augmented physique. It whistled through the air, crushing an unsuspecting orange frog into the river silt.
[Ding! You killed a Level 2 Toxic Bullfrog. +40 EXP gained.]
The remaining frogs reacted instantly. They tilted their heads upward, their neon skin pulsing. With a collective, deafening croak, they scattered. A fireball the size of a compact car slammed into the riverbank where they had been standing, vaporizing the water in a cloud of steam.
Arthas threw another rock, but the target leaped five meters into the air, the stone shattering uselessly against the mud.
"They know," Arthas said, grabbing a football-sized boulder from Tom's trembling hands.
"I know that," Morrigan snapped. Another fireball lit up her palm, her golden eyes tracking the movement below.
The frogs weren't retreating. They began to ascend the hill in massive, forty-foot bounds. Arthas timed his next throw, catching one mid-air. The rock caved in the creature's chest, sending it tumbling back into the ravine.
[Ding! You killed a Level 2 Toxic Bullfrog. +40 EXP gained.]
Morrigan fired twice more, her blasts catching two frogs simultaneously, sending charred, twitching carcasses spiraling down the slope. Arthas reached back, his hand open for another delivery from Tom, but nothing came. He glanced back. Tom was gray-faced, his eyes fluttering as he fought to remain conscious.
"He's out of juice," Arthas told Morrigan.
"Tsk." She clicked her tongue again, but this time her fire was smaller, flickering.
"They'll be here in three jumps," Arthas warned, his Primal Perception tracking the four remaining frogs.
"Arthas!" Christy's voice cracked from behind. He looked back to see her and Kenny staggering toward him, carrying a fallen, charcoal-colored log.
"Thanks," Arthas said, a small, grim smirk appearing. He snatched the tree from them with a grunt of exertion, the weight testing his Strength. "Out of the way!"
He stepped to the edge and hurled the entire trunk down the incline. The heavy wood somersaulted, slamming into one frog and pinning it to the cliffside.
[Ding! You killed a Level 2 Toxic Bullfrog. +40 EXP gained.]
The remaining three frogs cleared the log in a single, coordinated leap, landing on the crest of the hill with wet, heavy thuds. Arthas jumped back, his black dagger sliding into his grip. Before the lead frog could lash out with its tongue, Morrigan blasted it point-blank with a final surge of flames, blowing it back into the abyss.
Arthas glanced at Morrigan. She was swaying. Her face had gone deathly pale, and her gold eyes were heavy, lidded with a sudden, overwhelming drowsiness.
"System," he called out, his red eyes scanning his own vitals.
[ SYSTEM INTERFACE: STATUS ]
User: Arthas Domino | Age: 23
Level: 2 (120/150 EXP)
Class: [UNASSIGNED]
HP: 53/66 | MP: 30/30