Page 95 of I Ran Away to Evil
I hadn’t been tracking the experience points from defeating the mercenaries, griffins, or dwarves. “It looks like I’m 756 EXP from leveling.”
“Let’s party up to clear the dungeon,” Keith recommended. “I don’t know if it’ll be enough after we share the experience points, but it’ll get you close.”
I glanced behind me to the platform and sighed. Our date wasn’t going to last as long as I’d hoped.
“You don’t have to worry,” Keith told me. “We have the dungeon to ourselves, give or take one or two adventuring parties who arrived before us.”
“Really?!” I skipped ahead and turned to face him. With a flourish, I pulled out my sword and gave it the habitual practice swing.
Keith pushed up his glasses with his free hand and then held it aloft. He chanted, “[Fireball].”
The light flickered in the wind that blew across the field of golden flowers.
“Wait!” I cried. “I have the best idea! You’re an Arcane Sage … could we just burn down the whole level?”
“As you wish.”
CHAPTER 58
There Was Something Inherently Delightful About Lighting Everything on Fire
Keith
There was something inherently delightful about lighting everything on fire.
Henrietta was spellbound to the flames, making impressed noises every so often as it all burned.
Also, anything caught in the fire was consumed as experience points.
[You have defeated aGoblin Lily (Level 2). +1 EXP]
[You have defeated aFloofpoof (Level 1). +1 EXP]
“[Fireball].”
[You have attempted to use the Spell:Fireball(Level 1). You have succeeded. Damage 5 x Skill:Magic (Level 5).]
[You have dealt 25 damage toFloofpoof (Level 1). +1 EXP]
He had to say the spell aloud each time, as he’d never bothered to pick up [Silent Chant], only [Quick Chant]. He’d chosen it because chanting all of “Oh spirit of the eternal flame, hear my plea and grant me [Fireball]” every time he wanted something roasted was a bother. He still needed to bring up the diagram for the mana movement in his mind’s eye, but that wasn’t a problem for him.
Now, he wondered if heshouldhave chosen [Silent Chant]. It would have been more impressive to just raise his hand and rain fire down upon the earth without having to say [Fireball] every other second…
Maybe he would pick it up the next time he leveled up his [Magic] skill and qualified for a new perk.
A level one [Fireball] cost him barely any concentration and only ten mana. He didn’t even bother using his perk [Reduce Mana Cost]. Keith had three thousand mana points to spare, evenaftercarrying Henrietta one-handed and operating his wings to keep them in the air.
The only real contest to his concentration was the princess crushed against him, with her arms around his neck. She smelled like freshly baked cookies. He was beginning to feel hungry, and he wasn’t sure it was just for sweets.
It was enough of a distraction that he didn’t even bother trying the [Multicast] perk.
They flew together over the red-and-gold fields as he lit everything aflame.
They’d formed a party, and the EXP share was fifty percent, so Henrietta received half of every kill. Experience rounded up, which promoted teamwork, especially in the lower levels where each experience point was especially valuable. It was too bad that the division maxed out at four party members.
If they took their time and stayed a few days, it would’ve been fun to walk around each level picking off all the beasts. Unfortunately, Henriettareallywanted a chance to eat at Logan’s Noodle House.Keith didn’t mind where they ate; he just wanted to spend alone time with Ria.
Still, they would breeze through the lower levels and take their time with the bigger prey further on … and Keith didn’t know if he was as ready as the princess to sleep together in the dungeon.
