10 - First raid

"HOT!" Lele exclaimed.

"It feels like I'm being burnt alive." Finn complained.

Before their eyes, a desert stretched towards the horizon.

Mase was brushing sand off his pants.'Man, this is going to be a bitch to clean'.

"Guys, remember, this isn't a field trip. Try to be attentive to your surroundings, also let me try one thing real quick. Party Invite" Albert said.

A blue prompt appeared in front of the three boys.

"You have been invited to Albert's party, do you accept?" Mase read aloud.

"It's my doing, try to accept, I want to know if there are any benefits."

The friends quickly accepted the invite.

<tap, tap, tap>

'Hm?' Finn had always had keen hearing and after awakening, it had become even sharper. That's why only his ears perceived the sound.

"Albert, I think I heard something!"

"Where was it coming from?"

"I'm not sure, but if I have to guess, it was in that direction." He pointed his finger to a large dune.

"Everyone get ready!"

Mase summoned his white pawn, while the others simply held their knives. The group was intensively staring at the lump of sand.

<Swish>

At the top of the dune, a strange rodent-like creature made its appearance.

The monster wasn't much bigger than a medium size dog. It had a very long rat tail, almost twice its body length. It possessed long hind legs and large ears. Its fur, blending seamlessly with the color of the sand, offered slight camouflage.

Albert recognised the animal and relaxed a bit.

"It's very similar to the Jerboa. Of course it's much larger but I don't think it can pose a serious threat."

As he finished his sentence, the rodent turned its head towards the group. Then, it opened its mouth revealing three rows of shark teeth glistening with saliva. the tip of his tail emerged from the ground resembling a morning star.

"Nevermind! Get ready for the fight!"

The rat rushed towards them and with his powerful legs leaped in the air. Finn reacted purely with his instinct, a gust of wind surrounded the surprised Mase. As the monster descended upon him, it was repelled by an unseen force.

"What the heck was that?!?"

"Honestly I don't know myself, but you owe me one!"

Mase issued an order to his pawn 'Slice it!'

The statue performed a vertical slash, however the rodent deflected the sword with its mace tail. To perform such action it rotated its body on itself, leaving his side vulnerable. Lele didn't miss the opportunity. He used mana coating and dashed out, positioning himself on the side of the monster. Immediately after, he released a devastating right.

<Squash>

The rodent was squashed like a bug. Its blood splattered, dying the sand red.

"I guess knives really don't suit me." Lele dropped his piece of silverware to the ground.

Finn and Mase stood in place with their mouths agape.

'Holy shit! When he described his fight with the wolves I guessed that he was strong, but I never imagined that he would be THIS strong.' Finn thought.

Albert interrupted this moment with an angry tone.

"Lele! You are the tank! You have a Taunt! Why didn't you use it? What if mase got hurt? And you Mase, how could you let that creature jump on you so easily!? You all need to take this more seriously!"

"We are sorry."

"Good, now before they attack us again, have you guys figured something out about your abilities?"

Finn spoke first "Actually, yes. Before I saved Mase, there wasn't any info about my Aspect of Wind class as well my Wind Manipulation, but now there is. Let me read it out [Aspect of Wind: mythical class that allows $£%!&$£%&!$. Wind Manipulation LV1: You can manipulate mana to conjure the wind. It allows the user to create his personal wind spells.]"

"That looks insane. The information about your class is still incomplete, but knowing its rarity is better than nothing. Did you create a new skill during the fight?" Albert asked.

"Yes, I don't really know how I did it, my body acted on its own. However, after I defended Mase a new skill appeared in my list[Wind Bubble LV1: A gust of wind surrounds a target repelling external forces. The strength and amount of bubbles that can be used at the same time depends on the skill level.]"

"Personally, I discovered the power of the party function. As soon as Lele hit that thing I got a notification: A member of your party has killed a LV 3 Rotten Sand Jerboa, you dealt 0% of the damage, 100 XP has been awarded. XP to level up 100/525."

"Wow, so you get that much even if you don't do a single point of damage?" Finn asked.

"Well I think it's a fixed value so, it will probably become irrelevant in the future. For now however, Lele can easily boost me."

"I really would like to try my chessboard skill, but something tells me that I would faint."

"Then don't even think about it. If you faint inside the rift you could get in big trouble." 'All of this makes me think. This system is weird, in my case it kinda makes sense, but for strange abilities like Mase's and Finn's it doesn't really fit. There must be something deeper behind it.'

A loud screech broke Albert's train of thoughts.

Another monster appeared on top of a dune.

"Dam it, I think it's screaming to gather more beasts." Finn said alarmed.

"Lele! Kill it fast!" Albert ordered.

"I would rush in but…"

seven more monsters appeared behind the initial one.

"Lele, use your taunt, Mase send your pawn to help him and Finn, try to figure out a way to attack using your wind."

"Easier said than done!" Finn complained.

The monsters started hopping towards the group, leaving a trail of sand behind them.

"Come at me!"[Taunt LV1]

All the beasts focused their attention on Lele. As soon as the two fastest beasts got close enough, they pounced on their target. One aimed to bite Lele's right arm while the other aimed at his neck. He quickly delivered a punch on the head of the one leaping towards his neck killing it on the spot, then he raised his arms forming a guard. Lele braced himself for the impact, but it never came. A white soldier intercepted the beast, slicing it mid air. Before they could catch their breath, Lele and the pawn found themselves surrounded by the remaining six creatures.

Finn had his eyes shut. He was trying to recall the sensation he felt when he created the new skill. Something clicked inside his head. Opening his eyes wide he exclaimed "That's it!"

Lele, with the pawn at his back said "Mase, I'm going to take care of the three on the right, you handle the ones on the left."

The monsters, which had been slowly encircling the two, launched a simultaneous attack from all directions. One of them used his tail like a whip aiming at Lele's head however…<Snatch> Lele catched the tail barehanded. With immense force, he then hurled the beast towards another.<Chomp> The third monster bit his left ankle. Strangely Lele didn't feel any pain and simply grinded it with his left hand.

Mase's pawn was having a much harder time. It managed to stab one of them, killing it, but the other two inflicted a noticeable amount of damage. The chest plate was visibly dented due to a tail strike and bite marks could be seen on its right thigh.

"Shit, I could really use some help! I don't think my pawn can take much more damage."

Before the two remaining monsters could attack once more…

"Wind Bullet LV1."

<Bang! Bang!>

A sound similar to gunfire could be heard. The two beasts shrieked in pain. Without hesitation, the pawn swiftly sliced horizontally, ending their lives.

Finn was standing with his arm stretched out, while his hand was mimicking the shape of a gun.

"I guess it's not powerful enough to kill, but at the very least it's painful."

<Ripple>

The air cracked and a rift appeared.

"Mission clear!" Lele exclaimed.