Minute Mage: A Time-Traveling LitRPG

Chapter 28: Earthquake?

Erani and I had a pleasant start to our morning. To start with, when I woke up, I had an exciting notification.

Threshold reached. Noxious Grasp XP has reached 130.

Noxious Grasp Rank has increased to 9.

Due to Noxious Grasp Rank reaching 9, it has undergone the following changes:

Mana Cost: From 3.67 to 3.76

Health Drain: From 14.8 to 15.5

Stamina Drain: From 7.39 to 7.76

The next Rank up would bring me to 10, which would bring along with it a significant upgrade.

But…

I checked the next Rank’s Spell XP requirement. Yep. Just as I remembered, the XP requirement went up hugely whenever it was about to reach any tenth Rank.

Noxious Grasp 9 - XP 22/355

Compared to the 130 needed before, 355 was a massive jump – it almost tripled the requirement. However, at the rate I was gaining Spell XP, hopefully it wouldn’t take too long before I Ranked up again. I already had the Spell Crystal, so all I was waiting for was the practice.

Once Erani and I each got out of our beds, we had some breakfast provided by the inn we stayed the night at, and discussed the agenda for the day.

“So,” Erani was saying, “the college won’t open for a bit. What do you want to do until then?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a walk, isn’t it? Why don’t we just make our way over there and look around as we go? It’s a big city, I’m sure there's some stuff you haven’t shown me.”

So we headed out after breakfast, passing through one of the main market areas that seemed to be aimed toward the adventuring crowd. It was apparently located near the building for the local Adventurer’s Guild branch, so their targeted wares made sense.

The Adventurer's Guild was essentially a more advanced version of the job board back in Ordensville; people would put up jobs they needed done – as would the city itself, occasionally – and adventurers would go in and pick up the jobs to make money. It was just organized a bit better so as to keep the adventurers and the requesters safe – both from monsters and each other.

There were rules in place so that adventurers couldn’t take jobs that were rated as being too difficult for their Levels, where they would simply use the degree badges that all Classers in the city had to ensure everyone was of an appropriate Level for their job. They also had strict rules and regulations in place to ensure that everyone was paid and compensated fairly for their work – it was there to help keep situations like what had gone on between me and Akinsoft from happening.

Overall, it seemed like a pretty good system to have in place, and I was excited to start adventuring once I was finished with the college.

But for now, we were just heading to the markets. Once we got there, I was a bit overwhelmed by the activity of it all. The streets were full of people wearing armor and wielding weapons, bustling through and talking loudly. To add to the noise, vendors and shop owners were shouting out at the passing Classers, trying to sell them random potions and gear.

It was the first time I’d ever seen so many Classers in one place. I wondered how many were a higher Level than me. Well, considering my newbie status, probably most. Seeing the Swordsmen walking around, long sheaths on their belts or backs, it made me feel a bit nostalgic. I could have been one of them. Maybe I’d talk to someone and ask to spar. It’d be nice to fight a Swordsman and see how I fared, compared to last time I’d gone against my trainer back in my village. It seemed so long ago.

“That place looks cool,” Erani pointed to a store built into the side of a building. It claimed to be selling Enchanted weapons. “You wanna check it out?”

“Sure.”

The store was much quieter, with only one other group of adventurers inside browsing the wares. There were display cases lining the wooden walls and set up in lines along the floors, with small plaques before each item that was inscribed with a description of the item’s Enchantments. Bows that set all arrows shot from them on fire, shields that would explode out in force if they were hit hard enough, that sort of thing.

I stopped in front of one of the swords they had in stock. This one was simultaneously Enchanted with a weight-increasing Enchantment, and an Enchantment that made the sword lighter for the person holding it. I’d heard of swords like this before. The way the two Enchantments interacted, it was essentially only heavier for the people you’d be fighting against, making it much harder to block or parry. The piece of equipment itself was a polished steel broadsword. I could see my face reflect off the blade.

As I looked at my reflection, I saw someone walk up behind me. It was one of the people from the other group in the store.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” The man mused.

“Sure is,” I said as I turned to face him. “Name’s Arlan.”

“I’m Tordoth,” the man said. He had a long beard that obscured his mouth as he spoke. “You thinking of buying it?”

“No, no, I’m a Magic-Type.” I sighed. “I guess I can just appreciate a fine piece of craftsmanship when I see one. What about you?”

“Yeah, I think I am. Well, I’m saving up, at least,” he said, pointing to the exorbitant price tag attached to the sword.

“We’ll hopefully be able to afford it soon,” another adventurer from the man’s group – a woman with a dented breastplate – chimed in from across the room. “We’re planning on going and doing a couple jobs outside town, clearing out a Stripek nest and a Gray Drakeling hive. If we can do them, it’ll get us more than enough to get some new equipment.”

“‘If?’” I asked. “You don’t know if you’ll be able to?”

“More like we don’t know whether they’ll let us,” the gruff woman said. “The guild is big on safety, and to them, four wood-degree adventurers isn’t enough for them to let us do the job.”

“What about six?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“If you had the help of me and another wood-degree, would that be enough to do your jobs?”

“Well, yeah,” the woman said. “Are you offering?”

“It depends on the job, really. Pay, difficulty, that sort of thing. But I’d consider myself interested, at least. I’m pretty new around here, so it’d be nice to make some connections.”

“Well, if you want more information on the jobs, here,” she said as she fished around in one of her pockets. She took out a couple crinkled papers – what I recognized to be two job listings. “I’ve already copied down all of the information, so you can have them. If you’re interested, meet us in the adventurer’s guild tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good,” I looked down at the papers. On them was information like a description of what was known about the monsters, payment information, and some pretty detailed directions on where the nests were.

Once the adventurer team wandered off, Erani walked up to me. “I didn’t know we were signing up for random jobs.”

“You don’t have to do it, if you don’t want to,” I shrugged. “I didn’t sign up for anything, anyway. Just let them know I was interested. Even if nothing comes from it, it’s good to meet people.”

A few minutes later, we were done looking around, and started to head out the door. Just then, though, the ground began to tremble. Glass windows rattled, carts rolled across the pavement outside, and people looked around at each other, confused and alarmed.

I looked at Erani. “Earthquake?”

“I wouldn’t think so,” she said, glancing around. “Honestly, I’d say It’s more likely that there’s some high-Level Wizard around here who just got in a fight. The Earthquake Spell has a similar effect, so it could just be that.”

I agreed that it probably wasn’t a natural earthquake. They weren’t very common here; I’d never even experienced one in my lifetime, only read descriptions in books. But why would someone cast an Earthquake Spell out here? Casting a Spell with such a massive area of effect near civilization was a very easy way to get the law on your ass. And even if the perpetrator was a high-Level Classer, there were some very high-Level law enforcement officers out there, too.

I braced myself on a nearby table as the trembling continued. “Is it just me, or is it getting more intense?”

“No, it’s definitely gotten worse,” Erani said, looking more and more concerned. “Earthquake Spells don’t last this long, either.” She glanced around. “We need to get to shelter. Something’s happening, and I don’t like it.”

“Agreed. Is it safe to stay here?”

Just as I said that, the owner of the shop pushed past us and ran out the front door, leaving us the only people inside. A battleaxe fell from a glass case that was mounted on the wall, shattering it and embedding itself in the floor with a heavy thunk.

“Apparently not,” Erani said.

We stumbled to the door and stepped out onto the street. Classed and Unclassed alike were beginning to panic as they realized that, whatever this was, it wasn’t normal. People fled into buildings at the same time as people fled out of buildings; nobody seemed to actually know what to do.

The rumbling grew more and more intense. A cart next to us shook itself apart, and a pane of glass shattered in the distance. My breathing quickened.

“We need to run!” Erani shouted to me. The rumbling and sounds of falling objects was so loud I could barely hear her. We started running away – not in any particular direction, just ‘away’ – as the quaking got so bad it was difficult to stand. I glanced around, unsure of where a source of danger could approach from.

Then, just as we were about to round a corner, something happened. An eruption of deafening noise. A force that flung me into the air. An intense, ripping pain. The sensation of my body being smashed into pieces.

You have been flung against something. 873 damage.

Your Health is 0.

You have been crushed. 7.42k damage.

Your Health is 0.

You have been dismembered.

You have died.

And then it all went black.