Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

I was able to get more done.

We had to take a break after lunch for Klix to attend to some administrative stuff. I was proud of myself. I'd managed to get almost five percent done in about three-quarters of the time that it had been taking me. The seal had degraded down to about seven percent since I left it, so I was only about an eighth of the way through, but it was progress.

I don't think Klix trusted me to stay in the room and not try to keep working on the seal without her, because the Goddess used that opportunity to send us to the training ground. A tree-lined yard behind the palace where the others were training.

The first thing I noticed when Fray and I walked into the yard was the targets. Ether was standing in front of Aelin, who was shooting at small red targets that were also shooting back. It was a painful game of dodgeball from the look of it, with Justia there to heal Aelin whenever a magic attack got around Ether.

"What are you doing?" I looked at the poles that had targets on them as well as spells to shoot back.

"There are monsters that are immune to taunting. Or maybe you run into a roaming monster that is high enough above your level that you can't taunt it. In those cases, Ether will need to intercept attacks that aren't going directly for her. And it doesn't hurt for Aelin to learn how to shoot at something while it's shooting back." Miel folded her arms in front of her as she watched the women.

The blonde turned towards me and held up her right arm. "It hurts a lot. Those stupid… OW!"

The poles hadn't stopped firing and a bolt of electricity zapped her arm.

Her brown skin started glowing green where she'd been hit. Aelin turned and glared at Miel. "Haven't we suffered enough?"

"Monsters aren't going to take a break just because you're tired." Miel clapped her hands. "Let's go!"

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A few more blasts of electricity had been shot at them while Aelin was talking, eliciting shouts of surprise mixed with some frustration at being hit.

"You should get in there with them." Miel motioned towards them.

I shook my head. "I'm low on mana from the seal sculpting." I held up my hands before she could speak. "I know, monsters and bandits won't wait until you're rested." I sat down on the grass. "But if Klix finishes early, then I can work on the seal again and I don't need to be tired when I do that." I grimaced thinking about the analogy. "That could be bad for everyone."

Miel stared at me for too long. No doubt trying to think of an argument that would counter mine. Instead of talking to me, she turned to Fray. "What's your excuse?"

Fray took a step back, so that she was standing behind me. "Wha..what do you want me to do?"

Miel pointed at the pole. "See how many times you can hit that without getting a lethal injury."

The green woman behind me didn't move. I looked up at Fray and saw pure terror on her face.

"It can't actually kill you?" I nodded at the pole.

"No, but it'll make you wish it had." Miel clapped her hands. "Come on! Show me what you've got!"

I did a half twist, so that I could grab her left hand. She was trembling and as soon as I touched her cold fingers, she looked at me.

"Don't worry." I hesitated, but decided it would probably be more helpful than debilitating. "Gesai put you through worse in Tres."

"You were there…" Fray mumbleed where I could barely hear her.

"I'll be right here." I rubbed her hand between mine to warm it up. "I know you can do this." I nodded towards the pole. "Go show her."

Fray pulled her hand away so she could take her white katana.out of her CB. After hesitating for a moment, she pulled out her hooded leather jacket. She was wearing her Mundane clothes, which weren't useful as armor at all, but the jacket would cover the upper half of her body. The others had on all of their armor, but somehow I doubted that Miel wanted to wait for Fray to find somewhere to change.

Fray took a deep breath, then rushed towards the pole, ignoring the shot that hit her in the shoulder as she slashed the pole before she had to back up to keep all of the targets from shooting her. Once she was behind Ether, she turned to see if I was still watching her. I gave her a thumbs up, drawing a huge smile.

I chuckled as I watched the scared woman start to relax and have fun.