3 . 6 . 14

Killing Stuff and Getting Big Bucks ~ Chapter 4

(Kathrine's P.O.V.)

I felt a shake at my side as I fell over the the couch. I grumbled, slightly opening my eyes. My eyes felt like a million pounds, refusing to open fully. Blue eyes met mine, and I immediately knew it was Astrid, the human alarm clock. Why do I have an alarm again? I could save some money; Astrid can be my new alarm. I thought we pulled an all neither...how the heck is she wide awake?

"What..." I groaned, half conscious. I didn't see, but I felt like Astrid rolled her eyes.
"You said you'd go training early today." She said, in a 'duh...' voice.
"I did?" I rubbed my eyes, not remembering me saying that. This lady probably just remembered it to annoy me. What a meanie.
"Uh huh." She forcefully grabbed my hand, pulling me up. I growled as I remembered me saying that. "So hurry up!"
"Whatever." With my head low, I slowly headed over to bathroom then I paused, slightly opening my eyes a bit more. "What time is it?"
"12:00 noon." She replied with a 'Stupid-Kathrine' voice.
"That's not early at all!" I squealed, rushing to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, put on my robes and cleaned my teeth. Astrid was gone, probably turning into a couch potato and watching anime to an unhealthy extent, so I ate a couple spoons of cereal by myself on the literal 6-seater dining table. Did she really think she'd had enough friends to fill up this table? Anyways, I then grabbed my staff which was leaning onto the book shelf. I gingerly grabbed it having it still feeling like a special artifact.

"Astrid!" I called out, ignoring the fact that just at that moment I sounded like a mom.
"Yeah?" She ran out her bedroom, laptop in her hands.
"See ya!" I waved her goodbye, happily leaping out the door. I planned to go my first quest today so I could maybe repay Astrid. At this point, I owed her 1515 (The books I bought were EXPENSIVE and clothes...are...ugh.) Hopefully, I earn a bit of that in a decent quest. I still don't know how the hobo-Astrid is actually affording all these expenses but I didn't complain. I went back to the dirt road I passed through yesterday then into the open plain. Just as usual, the green grass welcomed me delightfully, the leaves dancing along my ankles. The sun invited me to stay in its rays, its warmth hugging me. I decided to practice up to 1:30 pm. Clutching the staff in my hands, and got into a ready stance.

"Quicker than a cheetah, than the sound of light. Quicker than the human's eye can see. Lightning Flash!" I slammed the staff on the ground then started running around. But this time- it felt different. I felt...faster. Way faster. As fast as the speed of light. My spell seemed to be a success. After 10 seconds, the effect wore off, and I was just as normal as I always was. Next spell: Whirlwind Cut. I planned last night to do a quest to defeat a river troll. It seems pretty simple and the award is 500 so I think it's worth it. Whirlwind cut creates a whirlwind of sharp leaves that's so sharp it can cut opponents. It's strong against a river troll, (according to the books I read) but it really didn't make sense. It's like in Pokèmon, on how Bulbasaur is strong against Squirtle, even though all Bulbasaur is doing is to Squirtle is throwing leaves and swinging vines. Back to the topic, the leaves are equivalent to one shot, so the moment they cut something, they're gone. I raised my staff and said:

"Fragile and graceful, underestimated and strong. Show the true strength of nature, and defeat the wrong!" With rhymes making me all giddy, I swung my staff as if I'm cutting the wind and out came a flurry of leaves. The leaves seemed normal but when I directed them to a tree branch by the road, it cut straight through it. I was on a streak! "Yeah!"
Now with a thrill of satisfaction, I continued to train, completely exhausting myself in the process. I took absolutely no breaks. I practiced attacks such as "Nature's Barrier" and "Vine Snare", preparing myself for what's to come. Maybe I over did it but I didn't want to die. From spells to rituals, I made sure I mastered and knew as much as I can. After a while, I looked up at the sun to check the time. I seemed to be 1:30 at this point because the sun was already past the halfway mark. I grinned, excited for my little quest. My first quest. I joyfully trotted through the path and back to the main road, which was crowed and filled with people. For once, the smell of food didn't tempt me. I walked towards the cathedral, the complete opposite direction of the path to Astrid's house. I finally reached the cathedral that had the quest board in front of it. Multiple old, torn and greased papers had quests, someone even with drawings on them.