Overkill
Not long before Lyrica's original music activated, Aran managed to reach the end of the cave. He found himself standing in a wide space covered in thick wax. That, indeed, is the Wither Bee's hive!
However, he was not alone.
"Ah...!"
As the light from the fireball in his hand extended wide in the area, Goblins with a ferocious lust for his blood appeared out of the darkness.
Normally, Goblin's wouldn't just attack even if they find their numbers overwhelming for their prey. But the tasteful smell of blood coming from Aran's shoulder is intoxicating them like what aphrodisiac would.
Their lust over the prinsepe's blood is overwhelming their rational thinking. They want to rush at him all at once, feed on his flesh, drink his blood until there's nothing left, but...
Tug!!
Kishiii!!
"That's...!"
A Goblin Shaman made its presence known to Aran. Standing side by side, are two hulking Hobgoblins.
"There are no Wither Bees in here, but the Goblins have occupied the hive."
Right as he said that, the Goblins that were following him have finally arrived at the scene.
Kuhaaa!!
They are the ones who smelled his blood first, they are drunk more than the ones waiting inside the hive.
Kishii!!
Despite the Goblin Shaman seemingly screeching towards them as if telling the Goblins to listen to their leader, their lust for Aran's blood had already clogged their sharp ears.
"A goblin clan, huh."
The mindless creatures who only have eyes for the exquisite meal right in front of them ran straight for it. In response to their advance, Aran unsheathed his golden sword.
"There's no way I'll be able to fight all of you at once with my current state."
Aran beheaded the Goblin who got closer to him before trying to make some distance from the others. Soon after that, he pointed his sword at another Goblin. At the tip of his blade, a water bubble took shape and began spinning vigorously.
It eventually grew larger at the same time its rotation became even faster.
"Hurl on them!"
Aran launched the spinning water bubble towards the other four Goblins.
"Quill Shot!"
Uttering his magic ability, the water bubble burst into pebble-like droplets and got flung all across the area. The four Goblins who are near the water bubble felt water droplets creating holes all over their bodies.
The rest of the droplets flew towards the other Goblins, the Goblin Shaman, and its two bodyguard Hobgoblins. The ones in the front had no choice but to follow the Goblin Shaman's demand as they use themselves to protect their leader and the others.
As he protected himself from his own Quill Shot using his golden sword, eight more Goblins who stood in the frontlines have been killed on the spot. There remains ten more Goblins, two Hobgoblins, and their leader—the Goblin Shaman.
"Now then, what's your next move, Goblin Shaman?"
Feeling enraged and threatened by Aran's fearless gaze, the Goblin Shaman struck the ground with a tail end of its staff. Right then, the skull attached at the other end of the staff began radiating light before firing a surge of lightning at Aran.
Kishaa!!
"Lightning magic, huh..."
A scornful smirk of Aran had the Goblin Shaman befuddled as the prinsepe summoned a wall of water from his hand and intercepted the lightning surge.
"Looks like you're a bad match to me, Goblin Shaman."
Keeh...!
The Goblin Shaman took a step back rather instinctively after what happened. The leader of the goblin's lightning surge had no effect against Aran's water wall. If anything, the lightning current simply entered and became one with the water wall.
"I do not need your lightning, so I'll gladly return it to you..."
The water wall turned into a spinning bubble much larger than the Quill Shot Aran made earlier. After that, he singlehandedly slammed the bubble with his sword directly to the Goblin Shaman.
The two Hobgoblins tried to stand in the way, but the bubble hurling at the Goblin Shaman was a lot faster than the droplets earlier. As a result, the bubble slipped between the hulking monsters.
Kii!!
The Goblin Shaman was forced to get out of its trajectory, but the bubble still managed to hit and destroy one of its limbs along with the staff. Not only that, the lightning current from the bubble was able to channel to the Goblin Shaman, electrifying the monster from inside out.
The Goblin Shaman screeched in pain before its back fell to the ground.
Kiih...
To Aran's surprise, the Goblin Shaman was still alive even after receiving that much damage.
"Guess you wouldn't go down that easily." Said the prinsepe of Reilaea.
The Goblin Shaman let out a loud cry of anger and pain, signaling the two Hobgoblins and the others to strike.
Thunderous footfalls shook the surface with their every stomp, their hunger for blood has finally been unleashed. The last of the Goblin Clan who invaded the empty beehive began their charge at Aran!
The prinsepe exhaled. "Like I said before, there's no way for me to fight you all if you come to me at once. Though I'm glad that you decided to test my strength first instead of going for the kill earlier, foolish creatures."
Aran sheathed his golden sword as he no longer had the will to fight, nor even waste his time dodging their attacks.
"I've done my part here, so I'll let you handle the rest, woman."
The Goblins got closer to Aran, dangerously close. But the moment they did, the fireball flew out of Aran's open palm and proceeded to stay afloat in front of him. In that instant, the ball grew in size until an outburst of blazing fire blasted through every corner of the hive, incinerating every single Goblin within the Hive.
If the hive was a lot bigger, the fire would've continued to spread outward even further. Instead, it could only go through one small exit, forcing its way out to where Lyrica was fighting a pack of Goblins herself.
"Seriously...?"
The huge fire slowly dispersed into nothingness. Though despite its strength to turn the Goblins' flesh and even their bones to ashes in a matter of just a few seconds, Aran who's directly facing the outburst and the whole beehive appeared unscathed.
Truly, Lyrica's magic ability manifested so she can live without trouble. More particularly, without the troublesome goblins.
"But I gotta admit, the fact that these poor, miserable Goblins had to meet their end with such a powerful magic ability is just overkill."
...
Fast forward a little bit in the present, Lyrica received one more notice from her headphone.
[The Required Level For Elements of Music (Background Music) Has Been Met!]
[Music Level Up!]
Elements of Music Lv. 2 -> Lv. Max
[Music Info: Elements of Music]
Elements of Music gives the Listener the affinity for certain elements, which allows the Listener to utilize them at will.
Elements:
> Light
> Fire
> Wind
"So it's max already..."
Just when she thought she'd already seen a lot of holographic screens, another one showed up.
[The Requirements For Releasing The Music Listed Below Has Been Met!]
- Heavy Metal: Hallowed Be Thy Name
- Flintrock
- Wind Drum
[You Have Unlocked Three New Music!]
The unplayable text next to the three Music that showed up after she leveled up to Lv. 28 has disappeared. She set aside reading the information of each music as Lyrica panned down to the Original Music category.
An unnamed music is being displayed. Right as she locked her gaze at the unnamed music, another window appeared.
[This Music Requires A Title To Display Music Info]
Music Title: _______________
"I see. It's only natural to give your own Music its own title."
She pondered for almost a minute until some random tree got her attention. She pondered some more while considering that random tree. Right then she pictured the tree in her head, but instead of green, the leaves are shaded in the color of flames.
"...!"
That's when a perfect title hit her head.
"Flame willow... Willow Flame! That's it!"
[Confirming Original Music Title: Willow Flame?]
The headphone asked Lyrica, to which she answered with a resounding yes.
"For my first release, I shall name it: Willow Flame."
The unnamed music in the Original Music category rewrote itself with the name Willow Flame. And with the required title finally been given, Willow Flame's music info has finally been unlocked.
[Music Info: Willow Flame]
Willow Flame sets enemies or everything the Listener considers trouble for her ablaze with a powerful burst of fire. Willow Flame can be triggered manually or automatically if the Listener or an individual carrying Willow Flame gets in a very dire situation.
MP Cost: 5MP in every 20dB
Effects:
> Burn enemies to deal damage appropriate to the amount of dB used.
> Instantly kills monsters with a level lower than the Listener.
Drawbacks:
> While Willow Flame is active, the Listener cannot use fire magic or other fire-related Music.
"Eh... It's just like I wanted it to be. Though I wish I could get rid of the drawback, they're always troublesome."
Lyrica jumped and landed gently on the surface and puts her back against a wall beside the cave entrance. She proceeded to remove every holographic screen except for her character window before her eyes went back to the Playlist to learn more about the three new Music.
She first opened the music info for the music called Wind Drum.
[Music Info: Wind Drum]
Wind Drum manipulates air to that of a drum to be used in two ways.
Stand: Gather and solidify air below feet, allowing the Listener to stand freely in the air for as long as they want.
MP Drain: -0.01MP per second
Propeller: The gathered air can be used to push against the Listener's feet with incredible force, allowing the Listener to be propelled towards the desired location. (Can also be used with both hands.)
MP Cost: -0.02MP per use.
"Oh..."
After reading the contents of Wind Drum, she went straight for Flintrock's music info.
[Music Info: Flintrock]
Channels mana from the forearm to the fist to produce fire, allowing the Listener to utilize Flintrock in two ways.
Overheat: Fire gathers further inside the hook-shaped middle and index finger. The fire that crammed within the fingers can be launched like a burning laser and pierce through the target and their defenses.
Ablaze: Punching the Enemy with Ablaze allows the fire to enter the Enemy's body and burn them from inside out.
MP Cost: 1MP in every 20dB
"This is fine, but it's not it."
Finally, she opened the final music info for Heavy Metal: Hallowed Be Thy Name.
[Music Info: Heavy Metal: Hallowed Be Thy Name]
Channels Heavy Metal's barrier into one fist, transforming the barrier into a concentration of light magic. When punching the enemy with it, light enters their body. Its effect depends on the target.
Heavy Weight: Hammers the target with weight equal to the amount of dB used, effectively slowing or immobilizing them.
Purify: If used against dark magic or an Anino, Hallowed Be Thy Name's added weight on the target will be doubled while also destroying it from the inside.
MP Drain: 0.01MP per second.
Lyrica's face brightened in elation. "This is it!"