Despite her significant misgivings about Mana Blast, here James was experimenting with it. She had decided to have a slow day after building her shelter the day before. But she had been getting bored. And really, really frustrated. She went fishing earlier, catching some of that same Sharped Carp and handling it with leaves again. She just wanted to cut it properly. Maybe actually be able to call her meal sashimi rather than raw fish, even if she knew she didn’t know what cuts to follow for it to be true sashimi.

Her fishing had again taken the form of experimentation, deciding that she was going to try and reduce the Mana Blast size. Maybe that way she could make the Skill be a bit more selective in what it killed with its blast.

Concentrating hard, it took her a while to find success. At first, she had tried to attack the problem solely from a Skill perspective, examining the information that was imprinted in her. But the only thing that told her was how to release the Skill, not what it was capable of. She then moved on to doing some silly movie inspired hand-movements. That idea hadn’t panned out, distracting her and making the cost of the Mana Blast increase. Besides that, she hated the arm movements, she felt like they telegraphed her intentions too much.

After recuperating for a while after her maximum of two blasts and trying to think of new methods to experiment with, she tried to be more purposeful in her actions. Keeping the idea of hand movements for a second, she compressed her hands into a ball until she imagined she could practically feel a force between her fingers in her mind. That proved mildly successful, decreasing the size of the blast by half a meter while increasing the cost of the Mana Blast to 300 mana points.

With that result in mind, she tried to see what would happen if she visualized what she wanted and how she thought it would look with her Mana Sense. In her mind it was going to be a controlled blast of her signature white mana three feet around her. To her astonishment, that seemed to work, costing her around 160 mana points and netting her a Skill level.

Your Skill Mana Blast has increased to Level 2!

With that previous success buoying her up, she naturally assumed she could transfer it elsewhere. Confidently approaching the problem, she proceeded to try everything, visualizing a blast in the shape of a knife, moving her hands for the Mana Blast to follow, but nothing worked to change the shape of the blast. It remained a sphere in each iteration, sometimes costing her more mana than she expected. Apparently her Mana Blast could only be a sphere with her at the center.

Now, she was dealing with the repercussions: fish guts all over her along with cuts from its exploded skin. And goblin calls that were only getting louder and louder. Oh well, it’s not like they ever bothered her before unless the clearing was under attack. And, surely, she smelled too bad to be approached. While earlier instances of the Mana Blast hadn’t made anything explode, continued exposure to it evidently did.

Sighing to herself, James got up from the ground, letting the goop slide off of her. She hadn’t planned on taking another dip in the river today, but she hadn’t planned on having a fish explode on her at point-blank range. She ignored the growing goblin calls and shouts, running her hands through her dirty blonde hair. She’d need to find a way to cut it- it was more dirty than dirty blond at this point. The wind seemed to rustle the trees around her, and she looked up.

Goblins were coming. And they were coming directly for her. For the first time she felt a sliver of the enmity the rest of the clearing had for the monsters. Holding back a scream lest that attract even more goblins, she started to run for the river. The sight of the trees shaking under the weight of the goblins was absolutely terrifying, and she was grateful she hadn’t been subjected to it yet because of her special circumstances.

The previously easy walk to the river turned into a trial of scratches and bruises, especially compounded with how she was already slightly hurt from the exploding Sharped Carp. All the while, the cries of the goblins seemed to envelope her. Checking her mana reservoir, she cursed as she saw that it was still too low to let out a Mana Blast. She’d need to buy herself another two minutes before she could unleash it and end the fight. Cursing herself for her overconfidence and naivety, she continued to sprint to the river.

Before she could make it, the first goblin jumped at her. Her agility let her dodge its body, but its long arm managed to grab her opposite shoulder, making her twist in space, and costing her a second as she fell down. Scrambling back up she continued to run, the second goblin coming for her, teeth bared and canines on full display.

She had to admit its morning breath was horrible, but she didn’t imagine that it would appreciate the comment. She slapped its face as it came down at her, a crunch making its way to her sensitive ears as its face twisted around to an unnatural angle. This too cost her time, and she could feel the adrenaline in her system going into overdrive.

She had to get to the river. She had to get to the river. The goblins wouldn’t follow her into the water. She had to get to the river.

The next goblin that came after her was smaller, a fourth of the size of the adults. Hardening her heart, she grabbed its arms and flung it around at the other goblins that tried to crash into her, pivoting on her feet, until she let it go flying like a discus into the treetops. Repositioning herself she continued her mad dash to the water, checking her mana again, 30 seconds until she could blast them all away.

The cacophony of the frenzied goblins was surrounding her in a way she hoped to never experience again, and the trees started to rain goblins. It was all she could do to dodge them, lest she be crushed underneath them. Each adult was at least two hundred pounds after all.

At this point she couldn’t move underneath the newly created hill of goblins, and she felt for Louis. He had managed to put up a much better fight than she currently was, even while being hampered by trying to protect her. Finally, the countdown was over, and she released her Mana Blast, her world filling with white for an eyeblink.

You have increased your Endurance by 1 Stat Point!

You have killed Goblin level 4! Experience is granted.

You have killed Goblin level 3! Experience is granted.

You have killed Goblin level 8! Experience is granted.

…

You have killed Goblin level 6! Experience is granted.

Your Class Pure Castor has reached Level 4! Stats allocated.

Your Race Human has reached Level 4! Stats allocated.