12 Waves (IV)

Snow concentrated upon the all-too-familiar shadow, the shadow's face started to focus, allowing her to see who it was. It wasn't just one, but the other shadows as well began to form into a more definite outline, becoming the Players that had once left.

Magic spiraled out of her body; she felt a pulse of light and heartbeats. It slithered in the air like a snake; eventually, entering into the dead body. It wasn't just one light, her magic continued to swim through the air, going straight to the others.

Her eyes glowed gold. The shadows rushed over towards their bodies in excitement as if they knew what was going on.

"Resurrection," Snow mumbled out the words. It wasn't until she said it out loud that she realized what she had said.

All of a sudden, her magical power poured out of her like a thundering river, rushing in to connect her to the others. All the bodies glowed together, and the little girl's body started to shine as a hiss-like sound could be heard.

Instantly, the body began healing it's injured body, bringing it back to its normal appearance without blemish. Even the scars that were once present on some were gone.

In excitement, the shadows started to disappear, merging into their respective shell.

A sharp pain struck Snow's mind, and she felt dizzy. Her body felt weak to the point where she stumbled.

"Saintess?!" Ryan rushed over as he was the closest one. The others hesitated as they were looking at the dead and back at her, wondering what was going on.

Eventually, Snow felt the magic around the bodies, linking the bodies to her. Some started to twitch and shake, startling the Players. For a moment, they thought that an undead would rise in swarms.

One of the dead Players shouted and gasped for air, looking around confused. A miracle happened as the dead were brought back to life. Everyone cheered as their friends or families were brought back, rejoicing with hope.

The thought of a second chance, spurred many forward as they held the knowledge close to their heart to keep Snow safe as she was the lifeline to live again.

On the other hand, Snow sat down with a vicious headache. All she wanted was peace and quiet.

Snow tensed as if someone had stabbed her with a needle. She had spent the better part of the night, killing scores of skeletons with the others. Pushing as best as she could without taxing herself, which didn't cause any headaches until now. She sat on the ground, massaging her temples in circles.

Murmurs and excited voices could be heard as they caught everyone up to speed, a few spoke a bit too loud, which caused Snow to bear her teeth like a feral animal. They flinched, taking a few steps back at her. But when they saw how much pain she was in, they quickly doused their voices, almost becoming bearable for Snow to think.

"Here you go." Ryan's voice was like a thunderstorm to her. A sharp pain erupted in her head. Her hand tightened, and her neck muscle tensed. It took a moment for the throbbing pain to go away. Eventually, she looked over.

Snow scowled at Ryan, looking at his hand.

It was a blue liquid, stuffed inside a small vial the size of her thumb. Snow eyes perked, realizing what he was giving her. She reached out, waving her hand like a blind person, she missed.

Ryan reached over and grabbed her hand. He was a bit surprised at how cold her hand was.

"Mana potion," Ryan said, hoping to get on her good side. He then walked over to take a seat next to her.

"Thanks." Snow ripped the top out of the vial so quickly that the liquid inside it almost spilt out. Without a second thought, she threw back her head and gulped.

An icy, burning feeling ran down her throat, causing her whole body to heat up. Her tense muscles from before started to relax a little, giving her less stress. She knew that her magic was low, but not to the point where she was feeling exhausted.

The loud whirring like sound in her ears lessened, giving her a moment to breathe with relief. She could feel the lost magic was coming back into her body, even if it was pathetically slow. It was enough to jump-start her magic reservoir as she knew that she would have blacked out instead if she lost too much.

Snow closed her eyes, enjoying the moment as best as she could, letting the magic swirl around inside her body. The mana potion wasn't enough; it felt like a drop inside a vast ocean, trying to gobble up whatever was present. Still, it was better than before, allowing her to move.

Suddenly, the shrieking ear voice pounded into her already aching head like a sledgehammer, making her curse. It was as if the world was bent on giving her migraines every second she found a momentary peace.

Her hand tightened a few times, and her eyes furrowed. If she could scoop her brain out of her head and massage it, she would. But the morbid thought was quickly tossed aside.

A scream once again rang out: high, jagged, and piercing almost as inhumane.

Snow opened up her eyes, frowning at whatever caused such a cry. She could feel her goosebumps, crawling up and down her skin like worms.

Next to her, beside the barrel that served as a seat, Ryan and a few of his friends squatted. They were picking on the tattered grass. Their calloused fingers shredded the leaves, throwing it aside. Sweat glistened on their faces as they looked around.

The other Players quickly got up even with their tired bodies. Others needed a bit more help as they were pulled onto their feet. Nobody wanted to be waiting on the ground and caught unexpected by the tenth wave.

Another eerie scream erupted in the dark like an echo.

A few Players motioned their hand in a cross as their excitement died down. They looked out towards the distance uncomfortably, wondering what was causing such an atrocious sound. Many hoped that they weren't a part of the so-called ear-splitting screeches, any time soon.

"What the hell is that?" one of Ryan's close friends whispered out loud.

"It's coming from the direction of where the ferry left," one of the others whispered, looking out into the distance in fear.

"I don't know, but get everyone on guard. The last three waves are probably going to start, and we can't lose." Ryan then looked over towards Snow, who was scanning the dark horizon, trying to find any movement. "Saintess, would you be able to resurrect us again?"

"No," Snow sharply said as her throat was still dry. She summoned up a bottle of water she kept in the item storage.

Luckily, she had enough to last her for a few weeks. She didn't think she had another douse of magic to heal another hundred Players, probably a hand full, but not anymore. Magic didn't recover as quickly as she wanted even with the mana potion that she was given.

"I don't have enough magic to do such large scale magic. It costs too much power." Snow laid it out to him and everyone who was listening in on their conversation. She knew she couldn't save everyone. All she could do was what she could with the ability that she had.

"Plus, second resurrections cost a lot more magic than the first."

She had a weird feeling that this was true. It wasn't just the second, even the third and onwards was bound to have a vast amount of magic that she might not be able to handle. There were a few handfuls that she felt had already died once in the other dungeon, which she instinctively knew that they had passed once.

Ryan nodded, understanding what she meant. It was enough to know that she brought every single one of them back alive. The rest now fell to faith as she didn't know when her magical power would be back to be full again.

It was considered a miracle to be able to resurrect a hundred people. So far, no such thing was ever recorded in history if she remembered correctly.

A young girl with dark blue hair that was in a bob cut squeeze through the crowd. Her pigtail swished back and forth as she stopped in front of Snow. Snow could see that she was a priestess with her white holy garment that one would seem a bit too conservative to Snow's taste. The long dress made it almost impossible to move fluidly in what she would have to do.

The young girl spoke with vigor and awe, "Hi. I'm Angie." Her freckled nose twitched in excitement at her as if she saw an idol.

Snow found it a bit refreshing to see such an enthusiastic player, who wasn't phased by the loud screech, stare at her so diligently. Compared to the others, who were in a bit of a panic of the thought of the next attack.

"I'm Snow…" Snow wasn't sure what to say. The girl was rocking back and forth on her tippy-toes, taking a good look at her.

"I know."

"Um, how can I help you?"

Angie gave her a wide smile that even made her eyes squint in little rainbows. "I would like to learn how to resurrect people, please."

Snow was slammed by her unusual words. For a brief moment, her mind was blank, trying to find the right answer to Angie.

"I won't be a bother. I'll just watch." Angie adamantly said. She bounced a bit harder, nervous about Snow's answer.

"You...can do that," Snow said, unsure how just watching would help. There were already so many people who watched her resurrect the dead that she would have been amazed at herself if she could figure out how she did it.

"Yes!" Angie jumped up in a fist pump, dancing around in her own little circle that attracted others' attention.

Many looked at her as if she was a bit crazy in the head. Some even wondered what she had eaten to be so weird.

"Thank you." Angie finally calmed herself down, rubbing her hands together--embarrassed.