Touch of Fate

The group followed the youth through the cavern tunnel until Philomena held up a hand to stop them. She pointed up ahead at a small crouched figure which seemed to be scratching at the ground, before having everyone settle down to watch.

The creature looked more like an overgrown rat than anything else. It was a pale, pinkish color and had a long sinuous tail. With the exception of its long, lizard-like muzzle, it was almost exceptionally slender. Standing a little more than 1m tall when fully upright, Mike guessed the kobold weighed less than the average human child.

Devin advanced cautiously, and it seemed like he might manage to sneak up on it without too much trouble, but at the last second, the kobold lifted its mouth, sniffed the air and spun on the youth. The youth lashed out with his dagger, seemingly in a panic and succeeded in opening a bloody gash across the creature's throat. Devin looked on in apparent horror as the kobold wheezed feebly, collapsed and bled out on the tunnel floor.

"Good work. You have some impressive stealth skill, but it doesn't do anything to mask your sent." Philomena commented. "You should all take this under advisement. Kobolds have excellent senses of smell, so it's frequently difficult to sneak up on them. Luckily, they are in general quite weak, so fighting them directly is usually a good answer."

"Next up are the twins Lloyd and Rita. Seeing as you probably plan to adventure together, let me see your teamwork."

Mike followed along as the members of the group each took on a kobold in their own way. The twins worked together to defeat their opponent. Lloyd providing a vanguard force, while Rita shot it with arrows from a distance. Tal simply ordered her spirit to attack. The bound armor charged forward swiftly and pulverized the kobold with a single punch. Brendon managed to cut his in two pieces with an overhead chop.

It was soon to be Mike's turn, but he was still lost in thought about the oddity of the situation. After the kobolds died, their bodies quickly dissolved, leaving behind small, red colored crystals. Philomena had called them mana cores.

The dungeon itself bothered him a little more. It was strangely regular in nature, with a grid-like pattern and easily discernible rooms and hallways.

[Honestly, this place has obviously been created by something intelligent. It reminds me of a video game, and a lazily made one at that.] He was interrupted from his thoughts by Philomena who was pointing towards another kobold. [Ah, she must want me to play along too. I guess I'll just hit it with a fireball, they don't seem too strong.]

He lazily summoned a fireball in his hand and flung it into the general vicinity of the kobold, not really aiming.

A protest could be seen forming on Philomena's lips when an earthshaking explosion took place in the other room. A flash of light and a burst of wind swept over the group as his hastily made fireball leveled the room. After the dust and smoke cleared, the charred husk of the kobold could be seen still standing in the position it was in previously.

[Whoops, I haven't really messed around with my fire magic since it went up a tier and I picked up the Hero title. I guess it's a lot more powerful now.]

He walked forward and pulled the mana core out of the disintegrating corpse of the kobold. He glanced back at the rest of the group that was still standing, shocked, by the entrance. "Well are we going?" he said with feigned nonchalance.

After all of the students had proven that they were capable of fighting the kobolds, Philomena had them start practicing group tactics as they advanced towards the boss room. Mike however, was left out since, in her words "You clearly don't need any practice fighting enemies of this level. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up surpassing me in rank in the future."

So, quickly getting bored with watching their cautious advance, Mike started working on unlocking other forms of elemental magic. He had been trying off and on for the last month to get the skills for air and earth magic, but for whatever reason he was having a hard time doing so.

He was attempting to force mana into the air in order to create wind, when a female voice cut in.

"Stop forcing it. Air is more flexible than other elements. Try adding the smallest amount of mana you can, then letting it slowly build until it causes motion."

Feeling that he was on to something, Mike closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel the strange tingling of mana in his body as he exercised his will upon it. Slowly, with as little force as he could manage, he brought it to the surface of his palm and directed it outwards. He could already feel the difference. His previous attempts had led him to feel that his mana was merely dispersing into the air without accomplishing anything. Now he could tell there was a steady build-up of pressure, as if he was about to break through something. Finally, after a seemingly long wait, it seemed to burst through some barrier.

Mike opened his eyes and smiled at the results of his efforts. An invisible breeze was now circling his hand. It was a little different compared to creating water and fire. He could feel his mana continuously circulating around his hand rather than remaining static in one place. It was almost as if Air Magic couldn't exist without some form of motion. He put aside the implications about the physics of this world for later consideration, and turned to offer gratitude to his advisor.

"Thanks a lot. That tip really helped me." Mike said to Tal, as the elf watched his hand with some fascination. It was hard to tell, since her facial expression remained unchanged, but Mike thought see seemed excited for some reason.

"You seem to have a natural affinity for elemental magic. It normally takes a lot trial and error to learn a new branch, but you managed it in a few minutes." She commented in a slightly more animated voice than usual.

"Haha, well I've been working on Air Magic for a while, I just suddenly had a breakthrough now."

"Hmmm…." Tal didn't seem to fully believe him, but before she could make any additional comments Philomena interrupted.

"I know you two are higher ranked than the rest, but that is no reason to drop your guard. Even a kobold could get in a lucky hit if you aren't paying attention. If you want to be adventurers, you need to know that even the highest floors of a dungeon are dangerous, and even veterans can die of carelessness." She said, sounding genuinely angry for the first time since the class started.

Mike realized that, even though this floor seemed pretty harmless, he had been taking it for granted that it would always be so. Even though it felt like a video game, he had to remind himself that he was here in reality, and could suffer real consequences if he screwed up.

"Sorry about that Philomena. I'll focus from now on." He said with a lowered head. Tal simply wandered to another section of the cavern, seemingly losing interest in the conversation.

Philomena watched her go, before turning to Mike. "So long as you understand, its fine."

Mike took a brief moment to check his [Status] to see is new skill, before concentrating on his surroundings.

- Basic Air Magic (Tier 1, Rank 1) -

One of the most basic forms of Elemental Magic. Air magic allows the user to create and manipulate wind and air. It is characterized by its speed and constancy of motion, providing strong offensive power, mild defensive strength, and some utility. Higher skill levels increase the mana efficiency and power of the magic produced.

After the group had continued for another hour or so, Philomena halted the group in front a large set of seemingly wooden doors. "Beyond this point is the boss room for this level. In there you will find a kobold chieftain accompanied by a group of common kobolds."

She paused to look each of the students in the eye. "Consider this your graduation test. If you can work together a group to defeat the monsters in this room, you can be considered official adventurers of the Wyrport Adventurer's Guild."

"Should I participate as well?" Mike asked.

"Since you are already a Rank 3, I won't force you. After all this is primarily optional for you. However, if you do choose to participate, I only ask that you refrain from using your fire magic."

After a moment's consideration, Mike agreed. He felt that coming this far without taking part in the final battle would be a waste. Besides this would give him a chance to work on some of his lower rank skills.

"From this point on, I'm only going to help in emergencies. You've been practicing some group strategies, so you should have some idea of what role you should play in a fight against multiple opponents. Tal will be the party leader in the event you need direction. Mike, you will be an independent fighter, since you haven't practiced with the group. Stick to the sidelines and look for an opportunity to hamper the enemy. Try to avoid interfering with them during the fight. Now get ready. As soon as the door opens, they'll be coming at you."

The group got into a loose formation and prepared themselves. Once she was sure they were in position, Philomena nodded to them and pushed on the door. It creaked open slowly, revealing a large room shrouded in a light mist.

Once the door was fully open, the lead elements of the group burst into action, charging into the room. The rest swiftly followed.

In mere moments they had reached the center only to find that they were alone.