Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 275: Water Over Wine

Chapter 275: Water Over Wine

"Er, I don’t drink."

"Oh."

The collective disappointment caused silence. Kazi stood there awkwardly. He summoned a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "But I would love to hear some drums!"

The excitement shot up again. Kazi laughed, tugged and pulled by the Yumboes. They brought him to a large straw-bale dwelling. The door was half his size so he was forced to crawl through. Once he was seated inside, the Yumboes wasted no time in fetching sabar drums, crafted from animal skins stretched over hollowed-out logs. A precursor to the modern sabar. With a nod from Coumba, who sat beside Kazi, the drumming began.

The next hour was rowdy. It was a different type of loudness and rowdiness from the factory. His shoulders relaxed. His smile became natural. Kazi wasn’t much of a dancer and tilted his head left and right. It was a lovely hour, indeed.

If only the peace lasted.

Their silvery-white hair shimmered in the firelight as they spun and twirled, their feet pounding the ground in rhythm with the drums. People were clapping. People were happy.

Until Kazi received the main objective.

[ Main Objective found! ]

[ Gate 17 : Pap Village

Main Objective: Protect the village from outside threats! Do not let more than a hundred Yumboes die!

Prize Pool: 80,000 XP, 80,000 PP

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: ???

SPECIAL PRIZE POOL: ??? ]

Kazi didn’t so much as twitch. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused. ’Something is coming,’ he thought. ’Tiny dots of mana. Flying. Coming in hot.’

His left eye pulsed.

Ten seconds later and the dwelling was shot up by grey pellets. Shards of wood and straw flying in all directions. The impact was like a thunderclap and the Yumboes screamed. Two of them sprung into action. Two of the grey blurs dove at Kazi who backhanded them away. Crack! Their shell broke apart.

The new enemy attacking them were stone partridges, each Level 25. He counted up to twelve.

Kazi returned to the present. The Yumboes were neither screaming nor fighting back. They were happy. Kazi intended to keep it that way. "I have to go to the bathroom," he told Coumba. He crawled through the door and dusted himself. The village was in a state of celebration. The Yumboes obviously lived easy-going lives to not concern themselves over another attack.

In the distance, he heard a whizzing sound. The stone birds were coming in like bullets. "Equip," Kazi said. The locals glanced at Kazi, confused by his actions. He aimed his sword forward, one eye closed, and muttered, "Ultra Aqua Bolt."

From the tip of his sword, a whip of water darted forward. It travelled fast and hard and exploded as it made contact with a stone partridge fifty metres away. It did not crash into the woodlands like a broken plane; the stone bird was incinerated. The sound was noted by the locals who all got behind him. They didn’t understand what was happening except that Kazi was protecting them from something.

The stone partridges slowed down from the loss of their ally. Kazi seized that opportunity and stuck his sword into the ground. "Waterfall Barrier!"

The very first skill in the Sorcerer Class for the water element branch. The ground moistened and spread, stopping directly at the perimeter of the village and summoning a giant wall of water. Over twenty metres high and fifty metres wide, it formed a protective wall across the village and the hill. The stone partridges hurtled towards the village and met the barrier of cascading water.

They failed to penetrate and shattered into pieces upon contact.

’The Sorcerer Class truly is incredible. The sheer scale of this is like nothing else I’ve had in my arsenal.’

The villagers didn’t understand, not until the waterfall fell and the stone bits lay in their visage. Some cheered and applauded upon seeing the broken stone birds, grateful for their newfound protection, while others murmured in amazement at the display of divinity unfolding before their eyes.

Kazi turned to Coumba who approached him with wide eyes.

"K-Kazi...! Wow...!"

Once again, he glanced over at the direction of the enemies and casually casted, "Waterfall Barrier!"

Coumba and the other villagers stumbled back. He smiled at the Elf and softly instructed, "Stay behind the barrier and don’t touch it either. I will deal with any remaining threats. Spread the word."

"Y-yes!"

Kazi stood a distance from the barrier itself, his sword still embedded in the ground. He focused and maintained the Waterfall Barrier.

’The mission isn’t over. More monsters are to come.’