21

I was looking up at over a hundred bat like creatures with wolf heads. Each one was about the size of a full grown adult human being. They were all packed tightly together. Flying monsters? It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility, but if they were truthfully like bats then it really was a good thing I hadn't tried to leave last night. 

Pure stupid luck, and the desire not to have to deal with traveling in the dark had saved me from certain death. I decided that that mini van was our only option because I was not going further into this shop to find keys. I backed out slowly then pure malicious intent rose in my gut. Those boys lost everything because of these monsters or monsters just like them. I noticed a gas can towards the back of the shop. 

I could use that somehow couldn't I? I browsed through the skills I could purchase. I couldn't keep relying on physical abilities. I needed a skill like my high jump skill that allowed me to use my mana. Something dangerous. 

It also had to be fairly simple to maintain. I couldn't spend an hour figuring out how to use it once I got it. Plus I had the skill auto level up I could use to up it's power right away. 

Basic fire magic level 1

5 skill points 

The ability to turn your mana into fire, and control it. The amount you can manipulate your flames depends on both your innate mana, and your skill level. 

Basic fire magic huh? There were half a dozen basic magic skills here, but in that moment fire seemed like the most destructive of my options. Others were blurred out, and couldn't be selected without having one or more of the other advanced versions of the basic magic abilities. Maybe I was leaning towards it because of the gas, and propane that was probably in the shop right now. Fire would cause the most chaos, and should kill the most of these fucking monsters. 

I purchased the skill. Then I used the auto level up on it. Moving back over to the mini van, and hopping in the driver seat for a second to give the kids a reassuring look. 

"I've got one more thing I want to do before we go," I put the keys in the ignition so I'd be able to start the car as quickly as possible once I got in. 

I took off my quiver, grabbed a poison arrow, then tossed it in the back seat. Poison arrows were a more advanced form of basic arrow so I should be able to pack more mana into it. I stepped just out of the range of the open car door, and knocked the arrow. Drawing my bowstring back as I charged my arrow up with fire mana. The arrow started glowing with heat. 

Burning the parts of my fingers that were touching the arrow as I aimed into the shop. I aimed high on the back wall through the roll up doors. I was going to kill as many of them as possible in one shot right here, and now then I was going to run. This would likely be the only revenge these boys would ever get for losing a large number of their family members. The older boy would understand why I set the shop on fire once he saw the monsters fleeing from the burning building. 

The younger would learn of it from his older brother. I let the arrow loose. Not stopping to see if it would hit as I threw the bow into the arms of the older boy who was sitting shotgun. Hoping to the gods of vehicles that this piece of shit mini van was one of the ones that started easily as I slammed the door shut behind me. The explosion that erupted from the shop in the form of a massive ball of fire made the whole mini van creak from the heat stress. 

Heat hit us through the glass of the windshield in a wave as I turned the key. The car turned over for way fucking longer then my sanity could handle as the roof of the shop exploded outward. Dozens of human sized bats flew through the roof while on fire. I was getting experience for killing a lot of them, but I couldn't pay attention to that now. The mini van started. 

I rammed the shifter into reverse, and backed out onto the gravel driveway facing up towards the house. I threw it into drive, and mashed the accelerator. 

"You little shits had better buckle in," I shouted as the mini van lurched forward up the driveway. 

I vaguely heard the click of a seatbelt as the mini van picked up speed. I slammed on the breaks when I spotted the cement of the road to slow the damn thing down so I wouldn't risk going over the road into the ditch. I turned towards Arlington, and I floored it. My reflexes were better then they had been before I increased my speed stat. Plus since a large number of people in this area had died there weren't going to be many vehicles up here so I could use pretty much the entire road, and no one would say a god damned thing. 

The boys were screaming in the back as I drove. The older one was yelling for me to go faster. The younger one was just terrified. 

"How close are they?" I shouted at the two boys as I focused my full attention on the road. 

Pushing this shitty little engine to go faster then it was designed to. 

"Close," the older boy yelled.

"Lock the doors, and make sure the windows are rolled up," I couldn't look away from the road at the moment because I was going double the speed limit, "And I need you to be quiet unless I'm asking you a question."

I took a hand off the wheel to lock the doors myself. This thing probably had child locks, but on the off chance it didn't I couldn't have one of those fucking bats getting hooked on a door handle, and opening a door. I both heard, and felt in when one of the bats slammed into the roof of the mini van. Making both boys scream out in terror. I could hear it's flesh cackling as it burned which was terrifying in itself.