First Party

[Player BeansNtoasT has invited you to a Party. Do you accept?]

Colt raised an eyebrow at what the woman had chosen for her gamer tag, but who was he to judge? 'Yes.'

There was a strange feeling as Colt was suddenly able to roughly sense how much HP BeansNtoasT and DonnaThaGreat had left. Even though he was not given the exact numbers, he could feel that both women had already lost half of their HP bars. 'The other guys should be in better condition.' Colt frowned as he exchanged a flurry of rapid blows with three wolves.

[-2 HP]

[-2 HP]

{You have dealt…]

Two of the wolves died during the exchange. Their bodies faded away to leave some loot behind, but this was not the time to check it. The women in the Party seemed to have stabilised the situation, but they were still losing HP. If this situation carried on much longer, it was almost inevitable that he would be left alone to deal with the other Party and the remaining wolves.

Colt decided to bite the bullet and use up his remaining DP. Colt activated his Campfire spell for the first time!

A warm golden fire suddenly appeared floating in the air between Colt and his Party members. The sudden appearance of the warm, flaming orb caught the other players off guard as they paused their fights to glance at it warily. However, Beans and Donna soon burst out smiling when they realised that the fire carried a healing effect!

Colt turned his attention back to the remaining two wolves on their side of the battle. These wolves seemed to be wary of the fire burning behind Colt, which surprised him. However, this did not stop him from taking advantage of the situation.

Colt took two steps forward and put his weight into his shield as he bashed one wolf on the snout to temporarily stun it. While it was shaken, he quickly set about exchanging attacks with the other one. The wolf howled as Colt smashed the side of its head several times using his axe and shield rotation.

Just as the wolf let out a pitiful death howl, Colt's Campfire spell wore off. Still, it had proven to be effective in healing the whole Party. The members of the other group had ugly expressions on their faces now. Colt was moments away from killing his last wolf. Which would leave him free to join the others.

At the same time, their Party still had four wolves left. The woman who was restraining the wolves was struggling to do any damage. They had planned to quickly kill Donna and Beans before working together to steal their kills.

Needless to say, they were beginning to consider making a run for it. But the wolves that had them surrounded would never let them get away. They could only grit their teeth and fight harder in the hopes they could kill the women before Colt managed to join them.

However, it was not meant to be as they heard the dreaded sound of a wolf dying. The men cursed as they glanced in Colt's direction, and sure enough, he was already racing towards them. Donna and Beans were glad for the backup as they heaved sighs of relief.

Colt joining the battle soon turned it in their favour. As the woman in the back saw that her Party was going to lose, she decided to try and make a run for it. Her partners' expressions sank for a moment at her abandoning them, but they soon gloated as the remaining wolves chased her down.

Colt exchanged blows with the man using knives while the women worked together to fight the other one. The man grimaced as he struck Colt's shield and failed to do any damage. Colt hacked at the man's arm with his axe before slipping the man with his shield.

Colt's opponent groaned as he tried to retaliate with a lunge, but Colt trapped his arm between his shield and the side of his body. The man looked like he wanted to say something, but Colt head-butted him before burying his axe in the player's head.

The player had a defiant look in his eyes as his body turned into motes of light. At the same time, the women finished off their opponent. As the bodies faded away, Colt stared at the Divine Orb in front of him. He did not wait for the others to say anything and immediately chose to absorb the player's Divinity for himself.

[You have permanently received +2 Authority, +1 Strength, +2 Endurance]

[Authority Increase Detected… Awarding +2 DP]

[Please choose two spells…]

[(Divine) Minor Grace: Grants a divine protective barrier for 20% of target's health. Cost: 1 DP]

[(Divine) Minor Divine Arrow: Fast-moving golden arrow. Damage and cost equal to user's Authority up to 10 Maximum.]

[(Hearth) Bonfire: Creates a Divine Bonfire that radiates a healing aura over 15m. Heals followers/party members for 3 HP per second for 5 seconds. Cost: 4 DP]

Colt frowned as he read the notification. It was evident that the Bonfire spell was a much better version of Campfire. Not only that, but it was the only spell that was related to his divine speciality. Colt groaned slightly as he knew that the healing magic would be appreciated a lot more in a Party. Especially if they managed to find something like a dungeon in the game.

Colt grit his teeth and chose the Bonfire Spell first. Followed by Minor Grace. He would have liked to have gained an offensive type spell, but the Minor Divine Arrow spell would drain all of his DP no matter when he used it.

"Hey! Thanks for your help!" Beans shouted as she started to walk towards Colt. It seemed like she wanted to have a proper conversation with him while Donna absorbed the Divine Orb that had dropped from their opponent.

Colt was about to reply, but something caught his eye a few hills away. Colt grinned savagely as he sprang into action, racing off without saying anything in response to Beans…