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nI have to do something about them! Eldrian thought, pivoting on the spot. Grabbing a handful of dirt as he did which he threw into the air at the group of undead birds.

nThe birds weren't at all worried about the dirt, not even bothering to try and avoid it. Their vision seemed to not be all that great, because they didn't even see the fireball behind it. That or they simply ignored the incoming threat.

nEldrian had really thought they would scatter because of it. He had done this move because it was often depicted in movies. Yet when he had thrown the dirt, it had hardly scattered. Staying in a fist-sized group it simply flew and fell to the ground. Not even having covered half the distance.

nIt hadn't even started to hide the fireball!

nYet somehow the fireball had made it into the mids of the group, where Eldrian had let his control of the spell go. Causing it to explode and set a good amount of them aflame.

nDammit, that isn't good enough. Eldrian cursed as he turned and continued to run. Three birds aflame, yet somehow capable of still flying even as all their feathers burned to crisps. That is until the fire finally burned through all their HP, which took around six seconds.

nThe only thing notifying Eldrian of their deaths was the system XP notification, the birds not even falling to the ground. Instead, they burned into ash in the air, which dispersed and disappeared into the wind with their death.

nRealizing how effective the spell had been, doing crazy amounts of damage to the little birds, compared to what it normally did. Eldrian wished he had managed to learn how to control the flames. If he could spread it out more during the explosion, then it would have taken them all out.

nAs he ran Eldrian didn't think this trick would work twice, however, he still had to try it. His next attempt only getting one bird.

nThey spread out! Eldrian cursed, realizing that the target he had hit had only failed to dodge because the fireball would explode. The area it covered was only a meter and it only barely caught this undead bird.

nEldrian knew the same trick wouldn't work again, ducking behind a large tree he quickly thought about what to do next. Volida was easy to dodge, seeing as it flew quite slowly. He also couldn't really control the spell's flight, not yet.

nAs the birds circled around the tree they were welcomed by small finger-sized rock spikes.

nEldrian had used Vrachos to transform a bunch of small rocks into these spikes over the past few days. Which he had then stored in his inventory to act as arrows, magical rock arrows.

nUnlike Frost Needle, where the ice would melt when he stopped controlling the spell, the rocks stayed rocks. However, one had to actually have rocks and couldn't just cast them with nothing.

nOver the past few weeks with all the PVP, Eldrian had realized that his range offensive was lacking. He still sucked with a bow, he could only shoot at things around ten meters away. At that distance using Frost Needle or any other spell seemed the far better choice.

nIt was faster, stronger, and had amazing accuracy. He still hoped to master it someday, if only for the Tier reward. However for now he needed a replacement, and Vrachos was it.

nBefore he had to always rely on Frost Needle. While it was a great spell, with it being castable almost anywhere, it took some time to let the ice spike form. The same held for all spells in fact, while the formation time wasn't long in general.

nThat second or two could change things, luckily Eldrian's spells formed much faster than normal players. However, he would still like to be even more effective.

nNormally this formation time was not a problem, taking just half a second for Frost Needle in particular. Still, Eldrian had realized that it wasn't ideal. With Vrachos he could skip the slight delay if he prepared beforehand. And he had, having made nearly fifty of them during the past three days.

nWhile doing so Eldrian had naturally also practiced the spell itself. Becoming more comfortable and reaching Rank 1 with it, really close to making it to Rank 2. This meant he couldn't fully control it like Frost Needle, yet. However, he could alter the flight path.

nHe had also realized he could fake out his opponents, throwing the sharpened rocks at them. Only to have it alter direction at the last moment. He did not even need to let them know it was a spell. Though most people would be caught unprepared even if they knew it was a spell.

nEldrian even felt he might be able to use this spell with proper weapons, however, he first needed to figure out the core of the spell. The core that it and Forst Needle shared, the force which drove it forward and allowed him to control the spells.

nBoth spells had their strengths and weaknesses. Leading to Eldrian also realizing he needed to try and learn as many as possible, yet he also needed to learn stronger spells and reach higher Tiers. He truly felt he needed a few months of peace. Yet naturally, this game would never give him that.

nThis was a perfect example, he had just tried to make some quick cash and now he was being chased by a massive horde. His surprise attack had managed to kill two more birds. The last three screeching in anger.

nEldrian nearly stumbled, having yet to plug his ears again. Their screeching also caused the horde to speed up, the tremors becoming stronger and making Eldrian all the more eager to never encounter them.

nSpeeding up again, Eldrian kept sending the small rock spikes at the birds. This kept them from screeching, however, they dodged it easily in their flight. Not being able to fully control the rocks meant a lot of them missed entirely.

nHowever, thanks to his stockpile this meant little. He just kept throwing them, and when he only had ten or so left, he finally managed to kill the last bird.

nHaving been slowed as three rocks had become stuck in its body. Eldrian had used Volida to burn it to ash, the bird too slow to escape the meter-wide explosion. With its death, Eldrian rushed away from the scene, not daring to stay anywhere close.

nAfter ten minutes of sprinting, Eldrian fell onto the ground gasping for air. Struggling to think, he called up the map and made annotations on it. Only roughly being able to recall what happened.

nOnce he was done he logged out. Hoping that the undead would return to where they had started. Else his next login was going to be really bad.

n...

nWaking up on the chair, Eldrian stretched. He had become used to the fact that his body would be stiff. He was still unsure if it was due to the chair being less comfortable than his bed, or if it was something else.

nLooking around his room, Eldrian sighed as he stood up and turned on the lights. It was the first time in a really long time that he was awake at night. Since he had gotten the headset he would always play at night. Even when the game had been offline, he had chilled in his virtual home and fought with the others in their PVP matches.

nI need to wait a few hours, just in case. Eldrian thought, pulling out his phone and looking at the messages that have been pilling up. He had been avoiding talking with his sister for nearly a month now.

nWhile he hadn't outright ignored her messages, he had mostly replied shortly. Yes, No's, or leaving her on read. Not saying much and keeping her at arm's length. This was mostly because he knew his sister would pick up on him hiding things.

nShe had always been good at reading him, and he didn't want to worry her. Especially with how things keep getting more and more complicated.

nNostalgia took over as Eldrian thought of their weekend dinners. Opening the messages he started reading them properly, finding the first ones filled with scolding. But then later they became more about concern.

nReading the messages and listening to the voice notes again, Eldrian started tearing up. Having never realized how much he had hurt her by ignoring her. She was truly worried.

nBefore he could even think clearly, he had called her.

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"He-hello...

" An all too familiar sleepy voice answered before Eldrian could regain his senses and end the call.

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"Hello? Who is this?

" Jen asked still half asleep, soon followed by a much more awake voice.

"Eldrian! Are you safe? Why have you been so quiet?

"

nHearing the true concern in her voice made Eldrian feel even worse. Taking a deep breath he did the only thing he could think of,

"I'm sorry Jen. I just knew I wouldn't be able to hide things from you, and I didn't want to get into a fight.

"

nHearing this Jen naturally only became much more worried,

"What's going on? I recall that there was something strange going on. Are you in danger?

"

nEldrian paused, unsure how to reply. He even wondered about that question himself, was he in danger? He was currently a target for most of the races in ANW. A great number of them could seemingly get past the safety features of the game.

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"Eldrian!? Eldrian don't you dare ignore me again!

" Jen's voice increased and her anger became clear. She only barely managed to keep it down, else the entire house would have been awake now.

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