Chapter 16: Toasting the [Recliner]

Bethany stretched, finally waking up after her thirty minute nap. Peter had spent the time pacing the room and shadow sword fighting. Since I was still a little tired after going below my [MP] limit, I rested on my pillow bed and occasionally stretched my tight muscles. The soreness was already fading, which meant I was probably through the worst effects of the [MP] overdraw.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I greeted Bethany as she sat up with bleary eyes.

“Hi. Wow. That was a good nap. It seems like it's been ages since I got to nap in peace and quiet,” she said.

“A one and half year old will do that. How’s your [MP]?”

While Bethany called up her screen, I did the same to remind myself how close we were getting our next level up.

Before I could see my status screen, a notification window appeared.

[Temporary Effect: MP Overdraw]

[Duration: 10 Hours Left]

[Consequences: All skills cost double MP to use, and MP regenerates at half the rate]

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.

“What?” Peter asked.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and explained the notification to my siblings.

“Oof. That really sucks, Madi,” Peter said.

Bethany gave me a comforting smile. “At least you got that passive, so this only takes you back to what you would have been without it. It’s not so bad.”

“Yeah. Except that my [MP] regenerates even slower. The enemies are so close together, I’m not going to be able to help at all after I run out,” I pointed out.

Bethany patted my shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this. It’s not the end of the world.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take on the extra work.” Peter winked at me.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my screen, closing out the notification box so I could see my regular stat screen.

[Temporary Class:]

[Kinetic Mage, Level 5]

[MP: 30/30]

[XP: 330/500]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 4]

[Speed: 3]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Charisma: 2]

[Luck: 1]

[Attribute Points Available: 0]

[Temporary Effect: MP Overdraw]

“Less than two-hundred [XP] until our next level up,” I said, closing out the screen entirely. “Maybe that stupid [Recliner] will give it to us. That would also make it so I regain all my [MP] after the fight without having to wait for it to recharge.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Peter rubbed his hands together. “Are you guys ready?”

Bethany and I both nodded at him, and he put his hand on the door handle. He put his fingers up, counted down from three, and then ripped open the door.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I held both hands out, ready to [Push] whatever came through, but the doorway was empty. Peter had his sword in his hands, but he stopped his swing as he realized he was slashing at nothing.

“Huh. I guess those monsters found something better to do,” Bethany said, walking up to the door.

Peter put his arm out to keep her from going through and went through first himself, keeping his sword at the ready. Bethany followed with an eye roll while I took up the rear, casting one last glance around our little haven. I knew we had to keep pressing forward, but I’d enjoyed having time to just sit around and talk with my siblings, something that hadn’t happened for a long while.

“You spoke too soon, Beth,” Peter shouted.

I glanced down the hallway to see the raging [Overused Recliner] monster charging towards us. The picture frames on the wall were shaking, but I remained calm since I knew what to expect this time. And now that we all had our [MP] back, it would be a lot easier of a fight. I was more worried about the monsters we’d be running into after this with my slow [MP] recharge.

Peter dived at the chair with his sword, and Bethany put up a [Shield] to protect him from the incoming [Last Traces of Bitter Ancestors].

It was pretty clear that Peter had his hands full with the [Recliner], so I put both hands out and focused on the nearest [Bitter Ancestor]. Time to see if equal levels in [Pull] and [Push] were as effective as I wanted them to be.

“[Pull]. [Push].” The frame spun end over end, but the [skills] hadn’t torn it apart the way I wanted.

“Dang it. I was hoping that would work.” I dropped my hands to my side.

“Try again, Mads. Peter’s busy with the chair, and we already know I can’t do anything against them except put [Shields] up,” Bethany reminded me.

“Okay, okay.” I put my hands back up, but I didn’t use my [skills] quite yet. I wanted to think through the problem a little more thoroughly. Using [Push] and [Pull] didn’t seem to harm the frames, but it’d worked on the [Grass Clippings] and it affected [Rocky] when I tried it on the boulder monster. The difference was that these things were flying so I couldn’t anchor part of the creature to the ground and then shove the rest of it away, creating the tearing motion I usually used.

These flying picture frames called for a different strategy.

“[Pull]. [Pull].” Reasonably, it would react the same as a [Push] and a [Pull], but this way I could anchor the [skills] to come from the center of the [Ancestor] and then [Pull] outwards.

The frame ripped apart, shattering into bits of translucent dust.

[Last Trace of a Bitter Ancestor Defeated]

[15 XP Gained]

“I did it! I just had to readjust how I anchored my [skills],” I explained to no one. Still, I was proud I found a solution to the problem.

“Great. Now do it again.” Bethany put a [Shield] up as the other three [Bitter Ancestors] turned their attention to us.

“Right. Good plan.” I focused on the next frame as the [Shield] fell and tore it apart the same I did the last one. Now that I understood better how to anchor my [skills], I could probably go back to using [Push] and [Pull] together or even two [Pushes], but since [Pulls] worked so well, I was going to stick with that against these frames.

[Last Trace of a Bitter Ancestor Defeated]

[15 XP Gained]

Bethany and I both ducked as the other two [Bitter Ancestors] dove at us, avoiding their chomping mouths.

I [Pulled] apart the next one, rolled to the side to avoid a lunge from the last one, and then tore it into pieces as well, ending all of the [Bitter Ancestors] and gaining a total of [60 XP]. Unfortunately it used up over half my [MP] in the process.

With the mutant picture frames taken care of, Bethany and I turned our attention back to Peter and the [Overused Recliner] he was still battling. Only the [Recliner] was obviously losing. Its leather surface was ripped open in a dozen places and stuffing poured out of it with every motion. Peter dodged the tongue as it lashed out and swiped at the chair again, adding another wound to the many he’d already given it.

“See if you can use your [Shield] to stop it from getting too close to him so Peter can give the killing blow,” I told Bethany.

I knew that I could use my [skills] to stick the chair in place, but that would eat into my precious [MP]. Not to mention that I was still aware of the [Quest] given to us, and I considered this a good opportunity to practice integrating more of my sister’s [skills] into our fighting strategy so we could try to complete it sooner rather than later. I really wanted that free level up.

Bethany nodded and put her hands up. She used two [Shields] at once, something I’d never seen her do, trapping the [Recliner] against a wall. There was a small gap between to the magic walls which allowed Peter to stab into the monster repeatedly while keeping the beast from fighting back.

After one final stab, the [Overused Recliner] stopped moving and disintegrated into brown dust, creating a small pile on the carpet.

[Overused Recliner Defeated]

[40 XP Gained]

Peter’s sword disappeared as he trotted over to us, sweaty but happy.

“Thanks for the help, Beth. I didn’t even think of using your [Shields] like that, but it made the fight a whole lot easier,” he said.

She smiled. “I’m glad I could help. Seeing Madi find unique ways to use her [skills] inspired me to think more about how to use mine.”

Peter patted her shoulder. “Keep up the good work. If we keep going like this, we’re sure to overtake the others.” He motioned ahead. “Now let’s go find some more monsters.”