Broken

Chapter 27 (Yejun)

"<Aqua Shot>!" Alex snapped, firing yet another concentrated ball of water at the legs of a Rocko Bird. This was the fourth one he and Yejun had come across since separating from the party and it was getting exhausting.

"I thought these were supposed to be rare!?" Yejun snapped, climbing higher up the sticky trunk of a tree as per Alex's orders. Luckily Yejun was quite dexterous, even if the effort tired him out.

"I thought so too." Alex growled with some effort, firing another shot at the monsters bleeding legs. Thankfully these fluffy giants were dumb as boulders and couldn't fight to- literally- save their lives. They were strong and fast, but that was about it. "Damn it! <Root>!"

A tangle of vines sprouted from the loamy earth, looking like a miniature version of Jurie's magic, tangling up the Rocko Bird's huge legs and causing it to crash to the ground. Cursing, Alex sped forward, withdrawing something from his belt as he did so. Yejun watched the mage plunge a small knife into the back of the bird's neck, severing it's spinal cord and finally dispatching the monster.

Yejun frowned. If Alex had to resort to his knife skills, then the mage must have been running dangerously low on mana. For about the hundredth time, he lamented his own lacking talents in combat.

"You can come down..." Alex sighed, still panting. He stood up straight and tried to wipe the blood off his pale face.

Yejun pushed himself off the tree, landing on his feet and nearly loosing his balance. It had been hours of trekking and he was bone tired. Alex had to of been in an even more deplorable state given he was the one doing all the fighting.

Feeling like a rather useless person, he held out a hand toward the young mage. "Let me see the dagger..."

Narrowing his vibrant green eyes at first, Alex sighed and complied, plopping the lightweight knife into Yejun's expectant grip. "What for?" He asked, wiping blood off onto his pants.

Yejun scanned the knife using his <Appraisal> skill, learning that it really was nothing more than a simple knife made of sturdy materials. It had a thin blade and a rounded handle with small silver guard on it. It looked like a simple utility, camping knife made with better than average materials that one would find in instances rather than the mines of Earth. "<Enchant- Sharpness>, <Enchant- Durability>, <Enchant- Pierce>." Yejun chanted over the small weapon. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do without any materials or tools to work with. He handed it back to Alex.

"Did you just enchant this?" He asked, sounding surprised.

Yejun nodded. "About all I am good for in this tower... I have an <Appraisal> skill and an <Enchantment> skill. But, without specific materials and proper tools I cant really do more than those bare minimum spells on it. They won't last long either; just a couple hours, then I'll have to do it again. If I could powder the Elka horns we have, I could have enchanted it with a weak poisoning effect, but we have now way of processing the materials here."

"But... You did it in, like, an instant..." The mage said, examining the blade, which had no visible difference. His eyes jumped to Yejun quizzically.

Yejun shrugged a shoulder. "Weapons aren't my specialty. I am more of an engineer than a weapon or armor smith, though I can do it in a pinch. I tend to work on Aoife's equipment when we have the materials to work with at home."

Alex continued to stare at the Technician student, quite impressed. "Does he not even realize how crazy it is that he just slapped three whole enchantments onto what amounts to a kitchen knife, in the span of twelve seconds?" Alex thought, watching the other man's blank, tired, face. "What kind of novice can do that?! And he says these kinds of spells aren't even his specialty?"