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 a Goblin Lily (Level 2). +1 EXP]

[You have defeated a Floofpoof (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 to Floofpoof (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 he should have 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, even after carrying 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, Henrietta really wanted 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.

"I've never flown before," Henrietta spoke into Keith's ear, and his current [Fireball] fizzled out, burning his pinkie and hitting him with backlash damage. Not enough for [Mana Burn] or anything serious, just enough to sting. [Mana Burn] required a critical failure of a spell strong enough to rip open the mana channel, not something a failed [Fireball] could do to an Arcane Sage.

He ignored the burn and replied calmly, "How do you like it?"

"I love it!" She leaned into his chest and sighed. "I love wide, open spaces. You can't get much more open than the sky."

Keith waited until she was settled before activating another [Fireball].

[You have defeated a Floofpoof (Level 5). +3 EXP]

[Dungeon Boss defeated.]

[Level 2 Portal activated.]

Keith closed his notifications and tossed the last [Fireball] casually into the blaze below. The monsters on the first level only had about five to ten hit points, so it was a bit overkill. The heat and the smoke were only manageable because of the strong wind that fanned the flames. For comfort, Keith thought through some of his harder memorized spells.

"[Elemental Barrier]."

With that, the smoke started to wrap around them as if they were protected by a giant bubble.

They didn't wait for the blaze to die down, simply descending to the glowing platform that would take them to the next level.

"I'm happy no one else is challenging the dungeon today," Henrietta told Keith. "How long until the floor resets?"

"Two hours and everything will start putting itself back together," Keith replied. "The dungeons around the Dark Enchanted Forest are all midsize. Green Oak is weaker, and monsters respawn every four hours or so. The Deep Shoals Dungeon restarts every five hours."

"That's a lot of time to collect monster materials." Henrietta nodded. She would have plenty of opportunity to loot in the coming levels.

They touched down on the glowing pad, ready to take on level two.

Keith enjoyed the sheer joy that lit up his princess's face when she saw the white sand beach stretched out before them.

A tropical sun beat down and made the waves dance with reflected light on the sea.

"I'll be right back." Henrietta tore off her adventuring boots and dipped her tiny, adorable toes in the sand.

Then she ran down the beach, enjoying the hot day. There was a moment when a giant crab popped out of the sand ready to attack her, but she punched it in the face and blasted it into pieces.

[Your party member: Henrietta Doryn of Drendil has defeated a Giant Crab. +2 EXP.]

"Come on, Keith!" The princess rolled up her sleeves and started pulling out the giant crab's legs with her bare hands. "We can have crab for lunch!"

Lunch wasn't for an hour yet, but he wouldn't pass up on Henrietta's cooking.

"The beaches should have a few more giant crabs"—Keith waved around them—"if you want to clear the area before going inland."

She nodded, harvesting the last crab leg into her storage. "Perfect. We can eat some of these and sell the rest to the merchants outside."

They finished up and headed down the beach, Henrietta dealing with anything that came their way in a quick, clean, professional manner. Keith had a moment where he remembered the first time they'd met.

He was insanely grateful she hadn't punched him into lunch meat.

They were halfway around the beach when there was a scream that echoed out from the tropical forest. "Help! Please! Somebody?! Anybody!"

Henrietta took Keith's hand and dragged him toward the voices. "Let's go check it out!"

Keith mentally sighed. His alone time had ended so soon.