End Of World Marriage

Accident

"Basic Fire Bullet!"

Kate screamed, stumbling back a single step as the spell circle appeared right in front of her. She felt the stirrings of her mana as it flowed through her, coalescing at a point around her heart. She gave it everything she had—her fear, her rage, her anguish. The fire bullet increased in size and exploded with the force of a shotgun going off. Kate felt the heat as flames from her own skill swallowed her hair and scorched her face. Then came the concussive blow from the explosion caused by the overloaded skill.

The first thing Kate felt was her ears popping, then came the ringing, and then nothing else until her back hit the ground. She could hear Kenan screaming her name, but his voice sounded so far away. Then came the pain—so all-encompassing that everything else seemed to fade into the background. Darkness came not long after.

Kenan saw the explosion. It was as if a grenade had gone off right in front of her face. The goblin was blasted apart with barely anything left intact. Kate, on the other hand, collapsed with half her face covered in burns and the other half an angry red.

There were three goblins left, and at the moment they were engaged with Kenan. But after seeing Kate collapse from the overloading of her Basic Fire Bullet skill, the fight seemed to stall as one goblin broke off, making a beeline for Kate's unconscious body.

Kenan didn't even waste time. He smashed his foot forward, crushing the nose of one of the two remaining goblins. He ignored the second leaping onto his outstretched leg and sinking its teeth into his calf. He grunted in pain but still shifted his gladius to his left hand as he made a finger gun with his right and pointed it at the third goblin heading for Kate.

(Basic Wind Bullet)

Blood spurted from the back of its skull as it crashed to the ground, its momentum dragging it forward a bit. Kenan faced the remaining two, returning the gladius to his right hand as he pointed it downward at the goblin still trying to tear through his leg. Luckily for him, the jeans seemed tough enough that they'd reduced the severity of the bite, but his leg was still a mangled mess. He dropped the blade with a grunt, stabbing the goblin through the top of its skull. It let out a strange wheezing sound, shook, then let go—dropping dead.

"And then there was only one," Kenan muttered as he looked at the final goblin holding its broken nose. The creature shrieked at him as it rushed forward in fury. Kenan's right leg snapped out, stomping into the goblin's chest and throwing it backward onto its back. The goblin was dazed and could do nothing but watch as Kenan stabbed the blade down into the bottom of its collarbone.

And as the goblin screeched and watched, Kenan slowly pulled the gladius downward, splitting the goblin open even as it screamed its horror and pain at the sight of its insides being brutally torn apart. He sliced all the way down to the groin, splitting the goblin open like he was about to skin it. He pulled the sword out, then stabbed it into the goblin's mouth, ending its life with a finality.

He turned around to rush to Kate's side. But she was up—face burnt and staring at Kenan like she was looking at a monster. That sight sent chills from the top of Kenan's head to the bottom of his feet.

She blinked, then looked up at him. "K-Keys?" And then her eyes rolled back into her skull as she fell backward.

Kenan barely made it to her side, catching her before she hit the ground. "Baby? Kate, come on, open your eyes! Baby!" He grunted in frustration as he picked her up. Fear turned his stomach inside out and scrambled his mind so much he couldn't even string together a coherent thought. He carried her into the tent he'd set up. It had come with two bedrolls, and the only other things inside were the satchel with their medical supplies and the rest of their food.

Kenan didn't waste time as he poured the single remaining health potion down her throat. Just like the first time they'd used it, it worked quickly. The burns on her face receded, and fresh pink skin took their place. Her labored breathing steadied as her body relaxed. But still, she didn't open her eyes.

Kenan waited ten more minutes, but try as he might, Kate didn't wake.

Anxiety twisted like a malevolent spirit in the pit of his stomach. The waves were still going. With a grunt, he exited the tent, zipping it up behind him as he stepped back into the clearing. The pylon had a screen blinking rapidly over it. He quickly stepped to it, a roll of bandages in his hand.

Kenan's mind was a mess, but the best he could do right now was keep moving. There was no need to dwell on the danger they were in. With Kate unconscious—even with her injuries healed—Kenan would have to face the waves by himself. It was a more dangerous scenario, but he wasn't scared.

[Wave 1 of Quest 3 cleared! Basic goblins killed 10/10, basic wild dogs killed 3/3. +65 exp each]

[Quest 3: Welcome Party II: The system has siphoned excess corruption and will be discharging it into the clearing for the heroes to purify. Wave 1/3 completed. Number of enemies generated will be randomized.]

[Time Until Wave 2: 0:15:30]

The clock was ticking down. If there were fifteen minutes left, it meant they'd been given twenty-five minutes total. It wasn't nearly enough time to rest, but it was all he had. Kenan was focused, though. With this extra influx of exp, he could take another stat to the second level. But before that, the system screen shifted and Kenan saw a notification.

[Your Passive Skill Basic Weapons Handling has reached Level 1! +5% extra damage when using weapons.]

[Your Active Skill Basic Wind Bullet has reached Level 1! Range and speed of the bullet have slightly increased. Cost has slightly reduced.]

Kenan was surprised. Kate had seemed like the one who would level up her active skill by herself. But then again, he'd been training and experimenting in the little time they'd had before this third quest started sending its waves after them.

Nevertheless, Kenan didn't feel anything from the leveling of his skills—not like when he'd leveled his stats. He grunted as he sat down in front of the pylon, a bottle of water nearby. He used it to clean the wound on his leg, hissing in pain but not delaying as he quickly wrapped the bandage around it. He hoped the bandage was just as magical as the health potions, but for now, this would have to do. He had no intention of bleeding out from a goblin's bite.

Kenan worked quickly and efficiently, meanwhile wondering which of his stats he would raise to the next level. He had to consider what was most important now that he didn't have Kate to support him. And then there was the fact that he was injured, and apart from mana and antidote potions, he had nothing else to fall back on in case of further injuries.

His Physique stat seemed to govern both his health and his strength—basically everything to do with his body. He had no idea what Soul did, or Mental, or just how effective the Magic stat was. But Perception he could understand. It drove his senses to a higher stage of functioning.

He'd tried his best to pay attention to how the stats affected him after he'd leveled them all to one. The Perception stat didn't make him see farther—at least not yet—but it made him use his current senses a whole lot better. Basically, he was better able to parse the information his senses picked up. Sight, sound, smell, taste—he felt them all more acutely now.

The stirrings of a plan started forming in Kenan's mind as he rushed back to the tent to grab the satchel containing the two mana potions. He hung it over his head on the opposite side from his gladius as he picked up Kate's spear and shield. He rushed back to the pylon and checked his exp. Currently, he had 130 exp to fall back on—not really much in the grand scheme of things, but enough to raise his Perception stat to level two.

Kenan locked in the change. He stumbled as he felt the influx of energy. This time it seemed to spread through his nerve endings like the spark of an electrical charge. This forest had been silent, devoid of life, but now Kenan could hear so much better. He could hear the sounds of Kate breathing. He could feel the roots of these face-trees struggling to grow and push forward even after they'd been pushed back and expanded by the pylon.

The smell of nature, blood, and ripped-out entrails filled the air as Kenan took notice of the bodies in the clearing. Figuring out how to dispose of those bodies was a priority, but by now there were enough of them that they were actually going to be a hindrance to him and whatever spawned next. His sense of touch and sight were sharper and better—everything seemed connected. Kenan could sense or perceive things clearly within a three-meter radius, which was significant considering the clearing wasn't that large in the first place.

[100 exp spent. Perception has leveled from 1 to 2!]

Kate had warned about using his active skill wantonly. But right now, Kenan had no choice but to use every tool in his arsenal so they could survive. Hopefully these mana potions could make up for it. Worse, he hoped he'd even get the chance to use them. The little amount of time given to rest had helped, and the leveling of his skills made him feel like he could use them better. Or perhaps this was just wishful thinking on his part. Either way, it didn't matter. The next wave was coming soon.

Name: Kenan Keys Davis

Level: 1 (0/100)

Unallocated EXP: 30

Stats:

Physique: Basic Lv 2 (0/1000)

Spirit: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Mental: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Soul: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Perception: Basic Lv 2 (0/1000)

Magic: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Skills:

Active Skill:

• Basic Wind Bullet — Lv 1 (0/250)

Passive Skill:

• Basic Weapons Handling — Lv 1 (9/250)

[Time until Wave 2 starts: 00:00:00]

[0/5 Basic Goblins Defeated, 0/2 Basic Hobgoblins Defeated]