Magic Multiverse 29 (Patreon)

An hour, and a quick shower later, he had joined Buffy in her first official patrol, carrying a crossbow and a quiver full of wooden bolts, and a bo staff strapped across his back.

It was a learning opportunity and a test combined, which he was fine with. Even though Buffy had ‘warned’ him that she wouldn’t support him unless he was facing a real risk of death.

He was more than fine with it. Previously, he had seen how radically her involvement dropped his points gain. He suspected that just by having her around, he would probably lose more than half his gains … but then, considering the other alternative was the risk of death from the slightest mistake, he wasn’t exactly torn up about the possible point loss.

“We’re getting close to the first cemetery. We often get one or two fledging around here, staying in the old crypts. Be careful,” she warned.

“Noted,” he said, his voice even. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to flirt with her, but he needed to prove her that he was serious in his desire to help her. He might change his mind once he had learned more, but until then…

He saw his first vampire three minutes in, hiding behind a headstone. However, before shooting, he looked at her, and got a nod from her. He took a deep breath, splitting from her to give the vampire a better angle.

He was fifteen meters away from the vampire when he decided to dash. He immediately raised the crossbow. He could have fired before he cleared ten meter mark, but he deliberately waited until the distance had dropped to five meters before he fired.

That was the golden distance. Hitting a moving target was harder than a stationary one, but not when the target was running straight. Even if he missed, he could still roll away safely.

He didn’t. The vampire turned to dust.

[Perilous Fight Victory, +12 Crossbow]

Perilous, but not deadly. The text alone confirmed that Buffy’s presence reduced the risk, and as a consequence, reward as well.

Still, since it was still Basic, it would develop quickly, so he didn’t mind the loss. Sunnydale wouldn’t run out of vampires anytime soon.

“Nice shoot,” she called. “You let him get closer than necessary, though. Five yards leaves you open for a counter-attack.”

He nodded, listening to the three-minute scathing critique that followed. He could see that she was worried, so he didn’t mind the excessive nagging. Especially since her advice was not wrong. Excessively safe, but not wrong.

Twenty minutes and two cemeteries later, he had killed four more vampires.

[Perilous Fight Victory, +9 Crossbow]

[Perilous Fight Victory, +14 Crossbow]

[Perilous Fight Victory, +8 Crossbow]

[Perilous Fight Victory, +11 Crossbow]

[Crossbow Basic -> Intermediate]

He had found the variance between the kills interesting, even in very similar conditions, the vampires gave very different results.

“I knew that Sunnydale had a lot of vampires, but this is worse than I expected.”

She scowled. “Unfortunately, that’s inevitable. I try my best, but I can’t be everywhere. It doesn’t help that they always travel here. Some want to be closer to the Hellmouth, while others want to get famous by slaying the Slayer.”

He sighed. He didn’t miss the casual, irrelevant tone she had used when talking about vampires turning her into a bounty, but that was not something he could change.

Not yet, at least.

“Well, I’m happy to do my part as community service.”

“Unfortunately, they don’t accept it officially, or I would have put it to my college application.”

He chuckled. Soon, he took down another vampire, and noticed the classification dropped once more. It was somewhat of a pity, but he had already expected it.

[Dangerous Fight Victory, +6 Crossbow]

Soon, he noticed two vampires. “Ready to try your reloading?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he said as he pulled his staff from his back, curious about the reward if he dealt one with a staff, and relying on the crossbow for the other. She understood his plan and let him.

He got closer to the vampires, who seemed more than happy to throw themselves into danger. When they were still distant, he sank his staff, nailing the first one from fifteen meters, his improved skill giving him the confidence.

The second vampire had been shocked by it, but he was nowhere near experienced to handle the risk. He took his staff, covering the distance while the vampire paused. Since the vampire wasn’t distracted by its burning face, it took almost a minute for him to defeat it.

[Perilous Fight Victory, +13 Bojutsu]

Interesting, he thought, but he was happy with the result. “How was it?” he asked.

“Good,” she said. “You have improved since we practiced. A lot, actually.”

He nodded. “I told you, I’m a quick learner,” he said.

It turned into a nice little adventure, though she decided to stay close when a group of six appeared. Her help was limited, merely covering his back while he killed four.

Even then, he merely got five points from that encounter, proving the more she got involved, the less reward he got.

No wonder he merely got a few points when during their previous ambush. He probably overestimated the reduction from the Expert skill … not that it mattered that much. Boxing was one skill he had no problem improving.

‘Luckily’, there were more than enough vampires in Sunnydale, allowing him to gather extra points with ease.

[+41 Crossbow]

[+14 Bojutsu]

“Fun night, right—“ he started after they visited two more cemeteries, which were empty, but he was interrupted by Buffy raising her hand.

“We’re pulling back,” she ordered, her whole attitude shifting. Suddenly, she was no longer the cute, shy blonde, or the serious taskmistress assessing his every move. She was … different.

Dangerous.

He didn’t argue, but he put his staff back in its place, and loaded his crossbow, getting closer to her. Whatever made her react that way, he didn’t know, but he decided to trust her.

She was the monster-slaying expert.

“Too late, Slayer. You shouldn’t have been that careless,” a voice declared, and vampires started to spill from everywhere. Fifteen of them, he counted. Well, thirteen of them, he corrected. Two of them were not vampires.

“Should I start?” he whispered.

“Yes, and the moment you find an opportunity, run away,” she ordered, her voice tense, but not fearful. Either she was confident that she could handle it alone, or she was putting a brave face to convince him to run away.

Not that it mattered. The vampires were spread around to cut their path, while the other two targeted Buffy. They were already scary, then swords burst out of their arms, which made them even scarier.

He shot one of the more careless vampires, reducing their numbers to twelve, and immediately started loading, glad that he had managed to bring it to Intermediate, which allowed him to handle the action automatically rather than taking his whole focus.

It allowed him to shoot two while he was running, which cut him a path through their encirclement. It was only possible because they underestimated him a great deal, but he was happy with it.

It was either running away, or trying to fight in a melee with his back to Buffy, but taking a glimpse of the way she fight, he was glad that he hadn’t tried to stick around.

He would have only slowed her down. He had already assumed she was considerably faster and stronger than he had seen, but even his generous assumptions had been an understatement.

Watching her shatter solid stone with a punch was a good wake up call.

However, two demons with bone swords from the arms, or at least what he assumed to be demons, were fast and strong enough to match her … well, almost. She still dusted the two vampires that tried to flank her.

Running away was not an option, because on a straight line, vampires could always catch up with him. It was lucky that he didn’t need to.

“Catch the extra. We can threaten her!” one of the vampires, probably the leader, shouted. Six of the remaining ten continued to chase him while four stayed near Buffy, supporting two demons.

The absolute worst strategy they could have picked.

“Let’s see how good you bunch are,” he said, desperately looking around to find the best spot to take a stand. Soon, he found a nice spot between a tall tree and a crypt, enough to funnel them toward him while giving them the idea of running around it.

Two of them split to reach him from behind, and he took one down before throwing the crossbow to the roof of the crypt, then switched to the staff.

“No more running, little man,” the vampire bragged. They seemed to be relatively uncaring of the other losses, which he wasn’t surprised about.

“Wanna bet,” he said, and instead of using the staff to attack, he used for leverage against the tree, his feet on the crypt wall. Two bounces, and he was at the roof, holding the staff. It was an excellent position.

“You think that it’ll save—“ their leader started, jumping directly on top, even grabbing his staff. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t pay any attention to the fact that he had been holding a stake in his left hand. A pseudo-punch turned him to dust.

The roof was a perfect pseudo-boxing ring, especially since their jump left them in air and vulnerable. Admittedly, all they needed was to jump at once, and he would have ended in a very dangerous situation, but he was betting on their terrible strategic sense.

It was a bet he had won. The remaining three decided to run away … which was once again the absolute worst choice at the moment, allowing him to hunt all three from a distance.

Though, even without it, he was confident of victory.

[Deadly Fight Victory, +64 Crossbow]

[Crossbow Intermediate -> Advanced]

“Well, that was a quick improvement,” he said as he climbed down and dashed back after loading his crossbow once more; glad that the System decided to reward his fight as separate.

Maybe it was because at this point, he could run away safely if he wished.

Not that he had any such intention. He had already handled his part. When he arrived, Buffy was still fighting the two sword-armed demons. They were bleeding, but so was Buffy. They also looked far more dangerous than the vampires they had been dealing with.

Not that vampires were weak in any common sense. They had certain weaknesses, but the only reason he was able to take advantage of those weaknesses was his combination of skills, most already at Advanced or Expert.

Considering his years of football training had only brought him to Advanced… Having two in Advanced and one in Expert was no joke. Even for someone talented, it would have required years of dedicated training.

He didn’t get close too much, afraid that one of the sword-arms would target him. Instead, he stood forty meters away, a distance that would have been challenging without his latest little bump of sixty-four points.

It landed right on target, and one of the remaining four had been dusted. “How!” their leader shouted, and he rushed forward, together with two others. He was much faster than the rest, enough to slap away the bolt. He loaded again, took down one of the other two minion, then threw the crossbow to the ground.

Once again, he pulled his staff, but when the vampire was close, he threw it like a spear in a desperate attempt. Well, a seemingly desperate one. “Finally, you pest—“ he started.

He attacked with bare hand, because trying to pull a stake would be too obvious. He needed the lead vampire annoyed. A strategy he was glad for, as glad he was for practicing with Buffy.

The little technique he had cobbled together fighting with her had been matured further, allowing him to avoid the vampire’s reckless charge much better, even parrying his swings with his own punches.

It was painful. He received some little wounds, including a bad scratch.

However, he fought defensively until the last surviving minion had arrived, and threw himself into the fight. A step back, and he had covered the vision of his leader, which allowed him to draw his stake.

“Stop blocking my sight, idiot!“ the lead vampire roared. The minion followed automatically. Before the view was cleared, he was already lunging with his right, which the vampire grabbed smugly. “Really—“

That was all he was able to say when he found the stake in his chest, the courtesy of his left punch.

“Old tricks work best,” he muttered. The minion decided to run away. He could have taken down with a punch, but instead, he grabbed the crossbow, hoping to take him ranged to get Crossbow points, which was harder to get his hands on.

Another twang, and the vampire turned to dust.

[Deadly Fight Victory, +33 Boxing]

“Well, that was inconvenient,” he muttered. It wasn’t conclusive evidence, but it suggested the reward wasn’t the last hit, but the skill that contributed the fight the most. How the System measured was another mystery.

One that he could discover later.

Throwing himself in the middle of the fight with Buffy against the two sword-arm demons was tempting, but he could see that she was slowly getting the upper hand without the intervention of the vampires, and the last thing he wanted was to change that by pushing in.

It was not a fight he was equipped to interfere. He still waited with a loaded crossbow, ready to interfere from a distance if it ever became necessary, but Buffy seemed to be handling in perfectly.

The skirmish lasted another twenty second before Buffy managed to deliver a kick that shattered the knee of one of them, finally breaking their coordination. Another flurry, and she managed to grab the head, shattering with one twist.

The other decided to run away. He turned and took two steps, but unfortunately for it, its lack of awareness had been rewarded by a bolt to the eye, perfectly sufficient for one last hit.

[Casual Fight Victory, +2 Crossbow]

“Right in the eye, lucky,” he said, the scale of his reward reflecting his limited contribution.

Buffy immediately rushed toward him, ignoring her bleeding wounds. "Are you okay?" she gasped, patting him.

“Merely a bruise,” he said.

“You’re bleeding,” she gasped.

“Nowhere near as bad as you,” he responded, then remembered he hadn’t packed any gauze, or holy water. He ripped his shirt, wrapping around her arm.

“Don’t worry, I recover quickly,” she said. “This is a flesh wound. Ten minutes. I’m good as new.”

“Good, because I feel like bruises are going to torture me for a day or two.”

“Just a day or two?”

“They weren’t able to get a good hit,” he said; which was not entirely true. Tantric would deal with them very well. “So, I’m going to take a wild guess and say that this wasn’t an usual night.”

“No,” she said. “Pagoda demons are not really common. They are more of a mercenary. The vampires must have decided to hire them.”

“With what?” he asked. Buffy grimaced. “On second thought, assume I didn’t ask,” he said. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

“We return, of course,” she said, her voice sharp, but unlike her fighting mode, it was more of a worry thing. “You have seen how bad it can go.”

He could have argued against it, but that was the worst time to argue. “You have the command,” he said, then pointed at the two demons. “Do they disappear as well?”

“No, Penjora demons don’t disappear,” she said.

He frowned. “I thought they were Pagoda demons,”

“No, I’m pretty sure I said Pantera,” she said.

He watched her for a second. “Are you messing with me, or there’s a weird magical reason you’re using three different names? Does repeating their names resurrect them or something?”

She blushed. “I might not be the best when it comes to demon names,” she said.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t laugh,” she said, trying to sound angry, and failing.

He couldn’t help it. He stole a quick kiss. “And here I was, thinking you can’t get cuter,” he teased. “Then, let’s deal with the bodies, and we can celebrate our first successful patrol.”

“Good idea,” she said. “Let’s go grab shovels.” He looked at her questioningly. “We leave shovels in each cemetery. It makes things easier,” she said.

“Naturally,” he nodded, as if she had said the most normal thing in the world. Though, considering how their two outings had gone, he suspected it was. “So, how rare the demons are?”

“Not as rare as I’d prefer. Usually, I deal with one once a week,” she said.

“Not bad, just enough to break the monotony,” he teased.

“That’s a way to look at it,” she responded, chuckling. “You handled it even better than I expected.”

“Having clothes makes a big difference,” he responded. “Still, I was lucky that the vampires chose to split up. It would have been nastier if they all followed me.”

“I would have protected you,” she said.

“I know, I trust you. But you can’t think I’ll be happy if you get skewered by demons just to keep me safe.”

“Then you should forget about coming to patrols,” she said again. He just hummed and nodded, avoiding giving an answer. It was not the time.

“Is it weird that I found you very sexy destroying two demons?” he teased instead.

“Oh, certainly,” she said.

“Any complaints?”

“Definitely not.”