Nico took a picture of the night sky, making sure that some of the trees were included.
"Quit that," said Ava.
"What? It's wallpaper worthy." Nico took a picture again.
Donovan smiled upon seeing this. He's right, it's wallpaper worthy.
"What Category are you guys in now?" Donovan asked.
Ava blushed, scratching the back of her head. "We're at Shower Rank, Category 2 now."
They were at Category 1 when I last saw them. Good progress.
"Keep it up." Donovan nodded.
If memory serves me right, Ava's an Assassin, Nico's a Healer, and Arden's a Fighter-type. I wonder what Path they chose?
"If you don't mind me asking, what Paths did you guys go for?" Donovan asked once again.
"Ah, we don't mind. I chose Vampire and Lurker in Shadows." Ava was the first to answer.
Nico then said, "The Healer Class doesn't really have Paths since our main purpose is to heal and buff others."
Ah, I see… Donovan was reminded of this after forgetting about it, since he didn't really pay much attention to the Healer Class.
Arden cleared his throat. "I went with Berserker and Flaming Warrior."
Donovan nodded.
"What about you, Mr. Donovan?" asked Ava.
"I went with Light Mage and Lightning Mage."
In Umbrellas, every class except for Healer and Tank have "Paths." Upon first advancing to Category 5 of Drizzle Rank, a Visitor gets to choose the first path they want to go for. The path they choose first will be the main focus as they further advance and rank up.
And as they advance to Shower Rank, Category 1, they get to choose a second path. This second path will be less focused on as they further advance.
The original Donovan went with Light Mage as his first path, hence, his arsenal of spells are mainly light-based spells, with only two spells coming from the second path he chose, which is Lightning Mage.
Hm. If memory serves me right, the Mage Class has more paths than the other classes. Assasssin, Fighter, and Ranger have only 4 paths at most. Meanwhile, the Mage Class has 7 paths… It is truly a "jack of all trades" type of class…
"I see. Hm… I wonder if I should've just gone for the Mage Class…" said Nico.
Donovan raised a brow. "Why? Are you dissatisfied with the Healer Class?"
"Well… Not exactly, no, but Mage Class just seems a lot better. I'm not saying that I'm dissatisfied with Healer…"
Healer… A very valuable teammate to have on a mission… Wait, now that I think about it, don't Healers also have high survivability?
Tank, Assassin, Fighter, and Healer… They're all excellent in terms of survivability. The ones left out are Mage and Ranger…
Ranger… Hm, I wonder how Vincent is doing? He should also be Storm Rank now.
In a planet, far, far away, inside a seemingly ordinary house in the flat green hills.
An insufferable voice resounded across the house. "Vincent! Where the hell did you put my charger?!"
"I did not use your charger! And can't you see I'm busy here?!" Vincent was in the middle of washing the laundry.
Their house was modest, but the interior was far from it. The interior of the house was similar to how a hunter's house would look like. A bearskin rug, a deer mount on the wall as decoration, etc. It was very different from the apartments in Umbrellas.
"Ugh! Mom, where'd you put my charger?!" shouted Vincent's sister.
Vincent's arms were tired. Goddamn it! I returned here to celebrate dad's birthday, but I ended up having to do the laundry! Someone, please take me back to Umbrellas!
***
"The Annihiliths sure are taking a while," said Arden.
Nico chuckled. "Maybe they changed their minds? Haha!"
Arden sighed. "I'm gonna go take a piss."
"Don't go too far," said Nico.
"I'll contact Mr. Tiero and ask if the Annihiliths are still arriving or not." Ava stood up, walking away as she dialed Tiero.
Miss Sylvia also had to wait at Benedict's wedding for the Annihiliths to arrive. But should it really be taking this long? Now that I have mana detection as a trait, I'm sensing a lot of life forms around us with mana.
But Drones and Reaper-type Annihiliths don't have mana in their bodies. Why is that?
After a while, Ava returned. "Mr. Tiero said that the mission is still ongoing, and that the Annihiliths will be arriving any minute now."
Donovan nodded. "Alright."
Nico looked at the direction that Arden walked off to. "Arden's taking a while. What—"
Suddenly, Arden's body came flying across, hitting a tree.
The three Visitors were immediately alarmed.
Nico went to Arden's side, immediately casting a healing spell. Ava readied her umbrella, and so did Donovan.
"Arden! I told your dumbass not to go too far!" yelled Nico.
"Goddamn… Watch out…!" Arden struggled to speak.
"What? Just don't speak, man! I'm trying to heal you!"
"Nico! What the hell got you?" asked Ava.
"A… deer…"
"What?"
Suddenly, Donovan said, "Watch out!"
A creature emerged from the bushes. A deer. Or at least, what looked like one. Its eyes were glowing white, and had dark wings on its back. Its skin was dark blue in color.
"What the hell is that?!" Nico screamed as he continued on healing Arden.
…Shit. My mana detection… This deer's got a sh*t ton of mana!
Donovan tensed. "Nobody move."
The deer was not moving.
"Arden, what the hell did you do?" Ava sighed.
Arden groaned as he spoke, "I only… approached it… and it attacked me!"
"So I'm guessing it only shows hostility to those who show hostility to it first…" said Nico. "Does approaching it even count as being hostile?"
"I guess so." Donovan said. "Ava, let go of your umbrella."
"Huh?"
Just as he said that, Donovan let go of his umbrella, raising his arms.
Ava did the same.
The deer stared with its glowing eyes.
"M-Mr. Donovan, are you… sure about this?"
"No. But we gotta try something. We're only here to hunt Annihiliths, not this planet's natives."
After precisely fifteen seconds, the deer turned around and walked away.
The group collectively let out a sigh of relief.
"Ugh… Good thing I used Ironblood just in time…" Arden sat up.
Suddenly, Nico gave him a smack on the head. "Next time, don't approach any weird things while you're taking a piss! And don't go too far!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Donovan and Ava picked up their umbrellas. Arden stood up.
Phew… Close call. That "deer" had a lot of mana.
Donovan took a seat on the log. "Stay alert. The Annihiliths should be arriving soon."
But just as Donovan spoke, a "tear" appeared right in front of them!
Donovan's eyes widened, and he immediately flew high into the air. The trio hid behind a large tree.
A pitch-black blade emerged from the "tear," and slid downwards, the "tear" becoming a full portal.
One Reaper-type Annihilith walked out of the portal, followed by four Drones. Sounds of a distant black hole resounded across the air.
Letting out incomprehensible sounds, the four Drones walked forward.
Now!
Suddenly, chains of light appeared out of thin air, binding the four Drones! A beam of light descended from above, instantly evaporating the four restrained Annihiliths, creating a cloud of dust.
Donovan's beam of light was much stronger now than when he was at Shower Rank. Right after that, Ava and Arden revealed themselves, emerging from the cloud of dust, and heading straight for the Reaper.
"No!" yelled Donovan.
…Blood. Everything happened too fast.
The Reaper was nowhere to be found from its original position. Ava and Arden felt extreme pain surging throughout their body.
Ava rolled all over the ground, hissing in pain. She was bleeding on her right shoulder, her right arm, and her left leg.
As for Arden, he hit a tree. His wounds were minor compared to Ava's. A strange steam was emitting from his wounds. He used Ironblood before charging towards the Reaper.
As the cloud of dust settled, the Reaper could be seen standing there on one knee and its hand on its fallen fellow Annihiliths.
Chains of light appeared once again, binding the Reaper Annihilith's limbs.
"Nico! Tend to Ava!" roared Donovan from above.
Just after Donovan's roar, Nico revealed himself, rushing past the restrained Reaper and going to Ava's side. He immediately casted his healing spell.
Above, Donovan's hands were shaking. This was because the Reaper-type was trying to free itself from Donovan's chains of light.
"Ava! Hang in there!" said Nico with a slight tremble in his voice.
Suddenly, Arden slowly stood up.
"Arden, no! Just stay down!" yelled Nico.
"And let… Mr. Donovan do all the work…? I don't think so…"
With that, Arden lunged straight towards the restrained Annihilith.
"Die!" With a desperate scream, Arden cast his Bonebreaker Strike spell.
He swung his umbrella, putting all of his strength into this one strike. His umbrella connected to the Reaper's neck.
…No effect. Its armor was too tough.
With that, Arden's Umbrella Fuel had run out. He was completely spent. He let go of his umbrella, and fell to the ground.
Finally, the Reaper freed itself from the chains made of light.
It turned around, and raised its sword.
"Arden!" Nico screamed with despair.
Just after Nico's scream of desperation, Donovan instantly appeared at Arden's side with a bright flash of light!
Donovan had used one of his spells: Light Blitz!
The Annihilith brought down its long, pitch-black sword.
But a corpse was nowhere to be found.
Donovan brought Arden's unconscious body to Nico's side.
"Take care of him."
Nico didn't dare let his tears fall. He nodded, now healing two of his friends.
Donovan turned around, facing the Reaper-type Annihilith. This would be the first Reaper he'll face since becoming a Storm Rank.
And he can't let himself lose in front of these three Visitors with a bright future ahead of them. For now, he'll show off in front of an audience.
The Reaper-type's head, which was just a floating, burning green flame, intensified, letting out an incomprehensible sound which seemed to be a "chuckle."
"Mr. Donovan…"
Donovan heard Ava's low voice.
I know.
He immediately cast one Light Spear, grabbed it, and cast Light Blitz, instantly appearing in front of the Reaper.
The Reaper parried Donovan's spear. He instantly flew away, casting a Lightning Strike on the Reaper.
The Annihilith dodged. Then, with its strong legs, it jumped straight towards the flying Donovan!
Donovan immediately used Light Blitz again, barely dodging the Reaper.
As the Annihilith was falling down, Donovan used Light Beam. It can't dodge in mid-air, after all.
The beam connected, sending the Reaper rolling all over the ground with a beam of light burning its body.
Yet it was still alive.
High above, Donovan used a spell: Lightning Bursts. This spell makes the caster's movements become faster than ever before. It also heightens their senses, including their reaction time.
Brief sparks of lightning appeared on his body.
Then, he appeared directly above the trio, and used another spell: Holy Light.
This spell was similar to a Healer's. It heals and temporarily buffs allies.
A pillar of light descended from the sky, landing on the four Visitors.
Nico looked up, and watched as Donovan flew towards the Reaper.
Donovan still had plenty of Umbrella Fuel. He flew over, and saw the Reaper Annihilith standing up.
His eyes widened.
The Reaper's head, which was a floating green fire, had turned dark red for a moment.
Amidst Donovan's surprise and confusion, the Annihilith pulled out a small, pitch-black scythe out of thin air.
Then, it pointed its sword towards Donovan.
Right after that, multiple spears of light went directly for it. The Reaper disappeared, running around the forest.
Because of the trees, Donovan had no idea where it was. Mana detection was useless, since Reapers apparently don't have any drop of mana in their bodies.
Donovan panicked, and immediately cast Barrier. He could use it while flying now because of the new trait he had gotten upon advancing to Storm Rank.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. Dread struck his heart.
The others…!
Just as he turned around to look at Nico and the rest, the Reaper immediately appeared behind him, and broke through his barrier.
Its blade met Donovan's flesh.