Daniel and I both stop moving once the tower door is closed, our chests heaving from our mad dash through the city streets. I slump against the wall and take out a waterskin from my bag, drinking deeply once it’s in my hand. My eyes move to Daniel, who is clearly more beat from our run than I am, probably thanks to my higher mana capacity letting me boost my legs with mana for most of our escape. He has a big grin on his face, one that tells me he is about to say something outrageous.
“We should kill that bear.” He says between breaths, dropping to the floor next to me. “The terrain of the city is perfect. We can use the paths and alleys too narrow for it to enter, and with your spatial senses it’s like we have some kind of overwatch, making it harder for us to get ambushed.”
I want to immediately refuse and maybe call him crazy, but I think back over today’s events with the bear. Despite it being a good bit larger than any bear back on earth, the city it chooses to live in negates most advantages it gains from its size. It must stay here because of the death-attuned mana that radiates from the city center. It probably uses it to grow stronger, or maybe it just lets it practice necromancy better. Either way, it chooses to stay in this cramped city, and we can use that.
“We have to play it smart, then. Smarter than we have been. We need to level up more, and I need a better way to deal damage. My sword isn’t enough, and my skills are more support-oriented unless I dump a huge amount of mana into them.”
“Agreed, the beasts of this world seem smarter. Well, the ones that use magic anyway. We can go back into the forest and hunt goblins to gain levels. And I don’t mean sitting in trees waiting for a few to pass under us, but we take the fight to the tribe, using ambush tactics and guerilla warfare to wipe them out entirely. We can use our skills in combination again, killing them before they even know what’s happening.”
I think back to the goblin camp I was imprisoned at less than a week ago, and the corners of my mouth lift up just a little bit. Goblins are worth far more experience, or whatever is needed for us to level up, than the undead, and we have some experience fighting them. I wonder how many goblins I could take at once, probably at least three, maybe four before they could do some real damage to me. It reminds me of the age-old question of how many twelve-year-olds you can fight at once, making me chuckle.
“Yeah, let’s do that. Beats wandering around this city, killing the few undead we come across as we sort through any scraps and garbage not yet decayed. Plus, the gem the shaman had is a step up in quality from the clear crystals we keep finding here, so another one or two of those would be great.”
“It’s settled then. For now, we rest. Tomorrow we hunt goblins.”
Sleep comes quickly after the heart-pounding events of the day, my current dwindling mana stores adding a lethargy of their own, pulling me deeper into the dark embrace of sleep.
I wake up before Daniel for the first time, just as the sun starts shining through the magic screens, illuminating the room for me. I get up and change my clothes, once again realizing how bad I smell. I haven’t properly bathed since I got here, as water is one of the main issues we have in the tower. Every drop of water we use must be brought up manually with the few waterskins we have, and we drink all of that. I have a few ideas to fix this problem, especially if we plan to live here for any significant amount of time, but like all of our current problems, I need to get stronger before I can attempt them.
I take out the enchanting primer Rayke gave me and start studying it, working through the next set of instructions, the basics of creating and anchoring spatial enchantments. A plan for my next magic item begins to form in my head during the next two hours as Daniel sleeps. I consider waking him up early, like he does to me so often, but decide against it. He would probably just thank me and then force us to get started right away. I’d rather spend the time sitting around and learning enchanting, especially this early in the morning.
Soon enough, Daniel stirs awake, slight surprise showing at me being awake first. “Did I sleep in? You should have woken me up. We could have gotten an earlier start on the day.”
Called it. “I wanted some time to delve deeper into enchanting, and you looked tired after yesterday.” I say while I put away the few enchanting materials we have, preparing to leave now that my partner in monster slaying is up.
“Yeah, using all that mana in such a short amount of time drained me like a full day's loaded march.” He takes a second to look at his mana battery gauntlet before putting it on. “The batteries worked great, though. I can store probably around half of my current mana capacity in it.”
The gems on the back of the gauntlet start to faintly glow, an indication that mana has started to fill them, travelling in a circuit between all three crystals, waiting to be called upon.
“I’m glad you like it, but I think pretty soon you'll outgrow the capacity. I think the crystals I used for it, the ones we have been finding in the city, are some of, if not the, worst quality. Their storage capacity and transfer rate are worse than this one,” I say, holding up the red gem that is my enchanting primer. “So if we can find more, I can upgrade the gauntlet.”
Daniel nods at my words, and I can see the gears turning in his head. “Where do we get more? Where do shamans get them?”
I tap my chest over my heart, a grin on my face. “Halon mentioned that this one most likely came from a monster, and since my heart is now a [Beast Mana-Heart], I think I know where. Powerful monsters gather mana in their hearts, creating a small crystal that grows larger and denser as the beast ages. At least, I think that’s how it works, like some kind of mana organ.”
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Daniel's face turns contemplative, and he starts asking me questions. “So it’s a crystal growth in your heart? Do you have to manually cultivate it, or is it like any other organ?”
“Yes, it lies right in the middle of my heart and causes no issues other than increased mana production. I have to do it manually, and it takes quite a bit of mana and concentration. I’ve only been able to grow it by about half as big as it started, and the density grows even slower. I can only assume beasts have it the same, but with it probably being instinctual for them, having evolved with mana.”
Daniel's grin grows even bigger somehow, a knowing look in his eye. “So we kill things and are able to use their body parts to grow stronger and kill more things? This planet gets better and better the longer I stay.”
“Pretty much, we just need to find creatures strong enough. I’m willing to bet the bear has a good-sized heart, but we need to level up first.”
“Let’s get to it, then. Daylight’s burning away, and there are goblins to kill.”
We both set off, leaving the safety of our tower and following the tunnels built into the wall, eventually finding ourselves at the edge of the city. The stretch of desert before the forest is mostly clear of undead, just a few stragglers left aimlessly wandering. Daniel takes the lead, and I follow, reaching the tree line in about fifteen minutes.
The first thing we do is look for a source of freshwater, as we only have a few days left at most. After a little while of searching, we find a path in the forest, clearly created by one of the big-ass bears. We follow it for about twenty minutes before it leads us right to what we were looking for, a small stream of freshwater.
After Daniel tastes some of it, giving the all clear, I strip down and walk into the water, finally able to get some of the stink off.
“Good idea,” Daniel says after smelling his own armpit and wincing at the stench.
The water is freezing, and we have no soap or anything, so I quickly scrub myself down with one of the rags from my pack. Afterwards, I know that I only smell better, not good, but I feel so much more human. Like I haven’t been gallivanting in a magic forest and undead city for the last few days.
After our quick baths, we note the general location of the stream and get back to our search for goblins. We decide to follow the stream downriver, hoping to find any signs of potential prey along the way.
As we move along the stream, we fall into a pattern of watching our surroundings. Daniel watches in front of us, paying attention to where we are heading. I use my spatial senses to keep a constant watch behind us and to the sides, looking for any small trails hidden in the trees and bushes.
After a few hours of hiking along the stream, Daniel pulls me behind a tree, gesturing for me to stay quiet.
“There is a goblin ahead of us, drinking at the stream, about two hundred feet up.” He whispers, barely audible.
Too far for my spatial senses to pick up. I peek my head out from the tree slowly, looking in the direction Daniel pointed. A small goblin with a simple wooden spear is filling two buckets up with water.
“It’s gathering water,” I whisper back. “It might be heading back to its camp after. We should follow it.”
“I agree. Let’s wait for it to leave and then follow its trail back.”
I nod my head and wait, hoping this tribe is richer than the last one. We wait for twenty minutes, only leaving our hiding spot after we are certain it has left.
The trail the goblin came and left from is new but well used. It was clearly cut recently, as the floor is lined with the branches and bushes that used to stand in the way, now stomped into the earth by many sets of small green feet. I give Daniel a nod, and we move off the trail, deeper into the forest. We walk parallel to the trail in order to avoid being spotted, using my spatial senses to keep a constant watch on it, slowly making our way toward our next target.
A few minutes later, and we spot wooden walls through the gaps in trees ahead of us. Daniel slows us down, and we start hearing the unmistakable language of the goblins. Screeching, cackling, grunting, and screams sound from further ahead, urging us to be cautious. We creep up closer to the wall, about three hundred feet away, before we stop.
“Looks like they’re set up in a clearing, with a defensive wall. We should do a full circle around the camp and look for any obvious weak points.” Daniel says.
I nod my head, fully letting Daniel take the lead on this. He has much more experience with combat than me.
We complete a loop around the camp in about an hour, dodging a few small goblin scouting teams on our way, but we never get spotted. The camp is in a clearing, providing them a good line of sight between their walls and the forest, but they made one big mistake. They only have one gate to enter and leave through and a clear path that leads from it into the forest. A small plan begins to form in my head, and I motion to Daniel for us to retreat. He gives me a small nod and pulls back, leading us away from the goblin camp.
Ten minutes later we stop, and I check our surroundings with spatial senses to make sure we’re clear.
“All clear,” I say, letting Daniel know we are alone.
“Well, I think we found our target. Now we just need a plan.”
“Did you notice they only had one gate and one path?”
“I did,” Daniel says, giving me a knowing look. “Any ideas?”
“If these goblins are anything like the ones that captured me, then every night, around sunset, they send out a raiding party to look for loot and captives. If we hide along that path, I think we can set up an ambush and get the whole party at once, taking out a huge chunk of their fighting force.”
I see Daniel's signature smirk appear on his face as I tell him the beginnings of the plan. “How big are these raiding parties? Do you think we can take out an entire party?”
“Yes, I know we can. We just use your shots through my rifts. And if some of them get away and run, so what? We already plan on wiping the whole camp out.”
“That could work, but we’d need to be fast and stealthy. These aren’t mindless undead. We’d have to reposition after every shot.”
“Got a better plan?”
“Let’s find a good spot and set up then.”
We find a large tree in a particularly dense part of the forest near the main path leading to the goblin camp, about a mile down the road. We come up with a pretty simple plan for ambushing the raid party. I will stay up in the tree, using my spatial senses to watch the raid party and Daniel, opening up rifts for him to shoot through while using our communication amulets to talk. He will do all the real work, running around on the ground to reposition, leading the goblins on a wild goose chase while thinning them out.
An hour after the sun sets, from my vantage spot up in the tree, I see the flicker of torches heading towards us.
“Get ready, they’re almost here.” I whisper into the amulet.