Chapter 14: Explosion Magic
"Did this dude just use a full incantation for a wall? What the hell is wrong with you?" Kael yelled. He watched as a massive magical circle formed, and from it a terrifying blast of what he could not even explain shot out and slammed into the wall.
KABOOM
The explosion was massive. It destroyed the wall and caused the entire floor to shake. Kael felt it.
"What the hell was that? That’s overkill!" Kael yelled, but after seeing that spell, he started to believe that this group might be capable of taking down the monsters. So he watched with more interest now.
The explosion had woken all the Kobolds that were there. They immediately rushed out to attack. The moment the group saw them, they immediately knew that they were in a lot of trouble.
The two pulled out their swords and stood up front.
"Prepare to attack with your strongest spell," one of the young men said. Surely they would have to rely on the mage in this kind of situation. After all, they were about to get their asses handed to them by some evolved kobolds. Even Kael thought this was a very nice idea, but nothing could prepare him for the words that left the mouth of the mage next.
"I can’t. I need at least an hour to recharge after using an explosion spell like that."
"What the fuck?"
Kael and the two men said at the same time, shocked to their core by the monumental stupidity that the mage had just displayed. But this was not the time or place for them to fly into fits of rage.
"Run, run, run!" one of the young men said. They turned tail and ran. The mage ran as well. He was at the front when they started running, but it did not take long for him to get into last position, as both adventurers were much faster than him.
While they ran, the adventurer kept looking back in a panic, filled with fear. That fear caused him to kick a rock and go flying face first into the cold hard floor.
BAM
He groaned in pain. The two young men looked back. They seemed like they wanted to help, but when they saw how close the kobolds were, they turned and ran, leaving the mage stranded and alone.
Kael watched. He saw the final struggle of the mage as he tried to swing his staff at the kobolds, his screams loud and echoing off the walls. A part of Kael urged him to help, but that help would be risking his operational energy, which he had very little of. He could not afford to help. The wall that the mage had broken down was the only help he could offer.
He watched as the kobolds tore through the flesh of the mage, limbs ripped apart while he screamed like a wild pig that was about to be slaughtered. Finally, his head was twisted off in a clean motion.
Kael watched, wanting to have a moment of silence for the mage.
[A Unique Skill Available for Absorption]
The system had other plans. It wasted no time throwing an opportunity right at Kael. Kael was meant to be the one who picked the skills that he wanted to absorb, but if the system had taken the initiative to tell him to do so, it meant that it was good, right?
Immediately, Kael forgot about the moment of silence that he was about to have and focused on the system screen, eager to see what the ability was.
[Ability Type: Explosion Magic]
[Cast an Explosion spell to destroy your enemies. Cost: 1 Operational Energy]
"One operational energy for that type of spell he used? That’s definitely a steal," Kael said eagerly. The skill was definitely worth it. He had seen the explosion, and the cost was even better. It was pretty low, and it meant he could use it multiple times.
"Absorb it."
[Are you sure you want—]
"Yes, yes, just give it to me," he said, cutting the system off, and he could swear that he heard some attitude from the next response.
[Fine]
[You have absorbed Explosion Magic]
All the knowledge that the mage had on explosions filled his head in an instant. Kael could now see how it worked and its power. Instantly, he became trigger-happy, wanting to test this somewhere fast. So he scanned around for a clear space to do it.
’But then again, using it against some adventurers would be fun. Seeing them scramble when a massive spell goes off, hehe, that’s for sure worth it.’
He immediately decided that he would not go after the empty spaces, but rather the adventurers. So he searched the second floor and found a party of five locked in an argument with a party of four about who got the monster that was lying on the floor, with either side saying it was their kill.
"How do you even come to such an argument? Did you both attack it at the same time?" Kael asked as he looked at them. "Oh well, it’s time to go," he said, and if he had a face now, he would have a wide grin like that of a villain, some evil mastermind about to unleash his plan.
He used the explosion spell, and out of nowhere a magical circle formed on the ceiling above them. The youngest in the group was the first to notice. He looked up and saw the circle, and immediately the air left his lungs as he tapped one of his teammates to look up. When they did, they immediately yelled,
"Get out of the way!"
They managed to all notice in time and scatter in all directions. The blast ripped from the ceiling so fast that it seemed instant and slammed into the ground, packing twice as much force as the one the mage had used before and ripping the floor to shreds, leaving a massive crater there.
