Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 17: The Hero of the Wind

When I heard Wind volunteer to leave, my eyes widened in horror. Sure, I knew he won't go that far since straying too far from him was against the [Guardian Player] rules, but this was the very first monster I felt scared of for a while now.

I was completely nervous. Not because of the [Wild Bear] right in front of me, but because the fact Wind was leaving me for a while had made me lonely and panicked. Sure, this was part of the plan to distract it and somehow avoid one of their attacks, but I couldn't do this without him by my side. And with a high-leveled monster right in front of me, I wasn't sure if I can do this.

"Kazu..."

I gasped as I turned around and saw Mari staring at me. "Don't worry, your brother isn't going to ditch us. Besides, he's your [Guardian Player] and I doubt he can do that. Remember, this is part of the plan and if we can't divert the bear's attention away from Wind, we won't be able to finish this quest on time."

I didn't know for sure if I could take her word for it, but she did have a point. This was Wind's choice and he was the only one out of the bear's line of sight. If this worked, then we might be able to turn the tables against this beast. "Y-You're right. We promised to play together and explore [Volo] together and I can't always rely on him." I gripped my staff as I stood up from our hiding spot and glaring at the [Wild Bear]. "To tell you the truth, I didn't want to become a strong mage like you. But now I want to be a great mage by mastering some spells just like one of my favorite wizards from my favorite novel!"

Once I said this, I aimed my staff towards the large bear, preparing myself for the worst. As I did, I saw Arthur was still fighting against the beast as he swung his sword at it while screaming like you would see in those war movies. I could do this. I took a few deep breaths and prepared my spell.

"I call the thunderous spirit of my aura. Let my small spirit dashed through my staff with this power!" I chanted as electricity began to dance around my staff's glowing gem. "[Lightning Bolt]!"

I swung my staff like a baseball bat once the blue bolt of electricity was released through it. As I expected, it was a clean hit to the bear's back. But to my shock, it wasn't enough to slow the bear down as it was somehow unaffected from the spell's electricity. In fact, it just made it angrier as it turned its attention and slowly came towards me. That wasn't supposed to happen, but I couldn't give up. So I tried another spell.

"Energy waving around the elements around me. Gather to me and create the force against my enemies!" I shouted as I aimed my staff towards the bear once more. "[Mana Blast]!"

With that, I quickly released a ball of purple energy at the [Wild Bear]. But like before, it was unfazed by my spell. I continued to panick as it slowly getting closer. Oh man, if Wind was here right now, he would know what should we do next. But with him gone, I was practically a sitting duck. So I tried another spell...

"Spirit of Slyph, I call the gale to my growing au-"

"Stop!" Mari shouted as I saw her grabbed my wrist and forced me to put down my staff. "The more damage you inflict to the [Wild Bear], the more aggressive you'll make it!"

Oh man, she was right. Arthur was supposed to be the one being the "Tank" of the group and I ended up ruining his role in the process. As I looked behind the monster, I could see Arthur charging towards it, swinging his sword towards it's back. However, it just swatted him away like a fly, causing him to fly into a tree, dropping his sword in the process.

I called out his name as I tried to run up to him. But Mari stopped me just as the bear swung its claw at me. It barely grazed my face a bit, but I could feel like I was about to have a heart attack after that close call. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to escape our current predicament. Just before we could recover, the bear roared very loudly again and just as I tried to move my legs, I could feel the numbness coming back to them. And then, that same warning appeared right in front of me once more. I knew this was be a sign of my first death, so all I could do was close my eyes and brace myself as I could feel Mari still hugging me.