End Of World Marriage

Wave 1 Cleared

The clearing was not that large, that much had been established. From where the pylon stood it was roughly ten to fifteen meters in circumference. Not claustrophobically small, but not large enough either. From the pylon to the edge, the distance was just about seven feet. Not enough space between them and whatever was coming.

Thankfully, it seemed the system spawned the monsters on the opposite end. Kenan noticed black sludge peeling itself from the trees in front of them. He quickly grabbed Kate—much to her annoyance—and moved back a few feet, not daring to get close to the trees behind them, but putting extra distance between them and the sludge that was slowly shaping itself into something else.

"Keep your spear up. I won't let anything happen to you," Kenan called out.

"I can take care of myself!" Kate snapped at him.

There was no time to argue anymore. Five creatures peeled themselves off from the sludge. It then seemed to sink into their bodies until five diminutive goblins were standing in front of Kate and Kenan. For a moment it seemed as if the goblins were confused about where they were, but that confusion transformed to wild rage the moment they noticed Kenan and Kate.

"Raga-Raga-Raga!"

One of the goblins cried out, pointing a clawed finger in the direction of the newly married couple. It received an arrow through the eye for its troubles. The suddenness of the attack caught the remaining four goblins and Kate off guard, while Kenan stood there with a blank look on his face, his hand already nocking another arrow. The goblin that had been shot fell back with a small thud as the pylon displayed a screen in the air.

[You Slain 1/5 goblins]

The rest roared out in anger and charged at them. Kenan let the next arrow fly, and this one took another goblin in the chest. It fell down with a loud screech as the remaining three pushed forward. There was barely ten feet of distance between them and the approaching goblins—there would be no time to nock another arrow. However, before Kenan could make a move, Kate took a few steps forward, her wedding gown still trailing behind her. Kenan opened his mouth to call her back, but one of the goblins had reached them as it jumped into the air, slashing its claws, only for Kate's spear to stab out into its mouth and out the back of its skull, leaving the goblin gurgling and choking to death.

Kate didn't even blink as she swung the small shield in her left hand to the side, smacking a second goblin out of the air. The final goblin used that opportunity to try and flank her. But Kenan was there, the gladius ringing as it escaped its sheath and slashed out in the same motion. He tore through the goblin's stomach, its entrails spilling out with a foul stench as it crashed to the ground. The goblin that had been hit by the shield regained its senses and rushed at Kate again. She pivoted, but her heels caught on her dress, and the first goblin she killed was still hanging from her spear, throwing her off balance. She stumbled, her eyes widening as the final goblin leaped at her with claws outstretched. Kenan responded by beheading it, its blood splashing over Kate's gown and Kenan's face—wet, sticky, and hot.

"I told you I can take care of myself!" Kate snapped at him again, her eyes glistening.

Kenan sighed and said nothing as he walked up to her and held out a hand to help her up. She slapped it aside and forced herself up, frowning at her wedding gown. It was a reminder of the worst day of her life, and there was nothing she could do about it. With a little bit of fussing, she kicked off her heels, letting her feet sink into the soft earth. The pylon showed them a screen.

[Wave 1 cleared! 5/5 goblins killed. +25 exp each. Second wave starts in 10 minutes]

[Quest 1: Welcome Party I: the system has siphoned excess corruption and discharging it into the clearing for the heroes to extinguish. Wave 2: Slay 10 basic goblins]

Kenan frowned. They were going up against ten goblins next? These things hadn't seemed like much trouble individually, but even the five they had faced had almost been overwhelming. Double that amount, and Kate wasn't willing to work or listen to him in any shape or form. He turned to her again.

"Baby, I—"

"Kate or Katherine is fine, Kenan." He shut his mouth with a click at her rebuke. He clenched his fist, a wave of annoyance traveling through his chest. He knew he couldn't fault her for being angry, but this was getting dangerous.

"Kate, our lives are on the line. We need to work together. There are ten goblins coming next, and we have skills we don't even know how to use. I suggest we raise one or two of our stats. We both got 25 exp each. I think you should—"

"Save your breath." Her voice was cold and final. "I know we have to work together to survive... whatever the hell this is. But you don't get to tell me what to do. I'll spend my exp however the fuck I like."

Kenan had to hold back a frustrated groan. Twenty-five years of his life and he'd never met anyone more insufferable and stubborn than Kate, especially when she was angry. It had been so damn endearing before, but now that their lives were on the line, it was grating on his nerves. They could fight each other later, but survival came first—and she wasn't willing to listen.

Kate frowned as she waited for Kenan to say something. She wasn't looking for a fight. Or maybe she was. She couldn't help the way she felt right now. Her emotions were a mess—she was angry, her wedding dress was covered in mud and blood, she was cold, and there were more goblins coming to kill them. She held his gaze for a few seconds, fury written across her face.

Kenan just sighed and turned away, grabbing the corpses of the goblins and dragging them to the side, setting them up to serve as whatever barrier they could against the next wave. The corpses hadn't decomposed at all. Kate ignored him and moved her attention to her stats.

There was no time to overanalyze. At the end of the day, she felt their survival hinged on the skills they were given. She wondered if the pylon could give her an explanation. She moved close, and as if responding to her will, its display rippled to show her stat page before zooming in on her skill and opening it up.

[Basic Fire Bullet (Active): fires a concentrated finger-sized bullet of fire.]

That was all the explanation she got. Try as she might, nothing else came up. The stats, on the other hand, didn't even offer any explanation, meaning she was driving blind. Nonetheless, she had to intuit her way through this. The Basic Fire Bullet skill seemed like magic, so if there was a stat she needed to raise, Magic would be at the top of it.

[10 exp spent. Magic has been raised to Basic Level 1 (0/100)]

Kate raised an eyebrow at that. It seemed that apart from skills, which required 50 exp to raise to the first level, stats and levels followed the same formula. Ten to level one and a hundred to level two. A ten-point increase, meaning it would take progressively more and more exp to level up their stats. She had 15 exp left—she could raise one more stat to level one.

She chose Mental, going off instinct about what stats she needed to make her skill strong or to utilize it properly. This was real life. Even outside of that, she'd never believed in min-maxing. Every stat was there for a reason, and she'd rather die than place her survival entirely in the hands of a cheat like Kenan.

The moment she finalized her allocation, Kate felt a jolt of electricity surge through her body. She gasped as her mind seemed to expand, wide enough that she could now feel the strange stream of energy flowing through her body. Mana? Qi? Magic? It felt amazing, like electricity humming through her veins. She looked at her status.

Name: Katherine Kate Davis

Level: 1 (0/100)

Unallocated EXP: 5

Stats:

• Physique: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Spirit: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Mental: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

• Soul: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Perception: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Magic: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Skills:

Active Skill:

• Basic Fire Bullet — Lv 1 (0/50)

Passive Skill:

• Basic Magic Mastery — Lv 1 (0/50)

She turned to Kenan. "It's all yours."

He didn't say anything. What else was there to say? He'd seen her stat allocations. Not what he would have suggested, but not bad either. They had skills they hadn't even utilized yet. Hell, even the idea of there being actual magic was taking a bit longer to take root in their minds. But after what they'd just faced and experienced, Kenan knew he had to take advantage of every tool they had available.

His choice of stats was Physique and Magic. The moment he made his choices, he felt an influx of energy rush through his body, his muscles spasming as that feeling of cool energy coursing through his veins seemed to settle into his core.

It didn't feel bad, honestly. Just rather weird. He caught her looking at his stat page from his peripheral and allowed himself a small smile. Maybe she wasn't as lost to him as he thought. Kenan looked at his updated status one more time.

Name: Kenan Keys Davis

Level: 1 (0/100)

Unallocated EXP: 5

Stats:

• Physique: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

• Spirit: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Mental: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Soul: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Perception: Basic Lv 0 (0/10)

• Magic: Basic Lv 1 (0/100)

Skills:

Active Skill:

• Basic Wind Bullet — Lv 1 (0/50)

Passive Skill:

• Basic Weapons Handling — Lv 1 (4/50)

Kenan blinked at the final entry. His Basic Weapons Handling had actually gone up by four points. Skills could level up from usage. This meant they could spare exp for other things or use less exp to level up the skills. It seemed like he was going to have to get up close and personal with these things.

There were less than three minutes left on the clock before the next wave arrived. Kenan quickly gathered the arrows he'd used, then moved to stand in front of Kate, choosing to be quiet. She needed time to come to terms with what had happened. Maybe then they'd be able to talk.

But for now... they still had to fight for their lives before they could attempt to fight for their love.