Chapter 18: Desperate Grinding
POV: Adam
Seven days.
The number burned itself into Adam's consciousness like a brand, marking every breath and heartbeat with the terrible arithmetic of time running out. He stood in his room as dawn broke over Cintra, surrounded by weapons and supplies arranged with the methodical precision of someone preparing for war.
Level 8. Need to be Level 12 minimum to have any chance of surviving what's coming.
The math was brutal and unforgiving—roughly 65,000 experience points needed in seven days, which meant earning nearly 9,300 XP daily. A pace that would require hunting multiple monsters per day, completing every available mission, and pushing his body and abilities to their absolute limits.
Brutal pace. But if I'm going to save her, I need every advantage I can get.
The forest north of Cintra had become familiar hunting ground over the past weeks, its ancient trees and hidden clearings providing habitat for cr
eatures that offered experience and materials in exchange for blood and determination. Adam moved through the underbrush with predatory focus, Air Sense expanded to its maximum range as he tracked the pack of eight wolves that his sources insisted were terrorizing local farmers.
Efficient killing. No wasted movement, no unnecessary risks.
The wolves emerged from their den with the coordinated precision of pack hunters who'd survived by being smarter and faster than their prey. But Adam was no longer the fumbling amateur who'd barely survived his first rat hunt—Level 8 statistics and Airbending Level 2 had transformed him into something approaching actual competence.
Wind Barrier up first. Block their initial lunges.
The invisible force manifested around him as shimmering distortion, turning the alpha's leap into a collision with unyielding air that sent the massive wolf tumbling backward. Three Air Blade attacks followed in rapid succession, cutting wind claiming two more wolves before they could close the distance.
Separate the pack. Divide and conquer.
Air Gust scattered the remaining five wolves across the clearing, disrupting their coordination and forcing them to attack individually instead of as a coordinated unit. Adam's sword work had improved dramatically through weeks of training with Ciri—his blade found vital points with surgical precision, werewolf oil ensuring that each strike delivered maximum damage.
Seven kills in twelve minutes. Getting better.
[Experience Gained: 84 XP]
[Materials Harvested: 56 crowns worth]
[Day 1 Progress: 84 XP / 9,300 XP target]
Not nearly enough. Need multiple hunts per day.
The harbor district's drowner problem had apparently grown worse during his absence—six confirmed sightings in the past week, with two more fishermen injured by creatures that grew bolder as their numbers increased. Adam accepted the contract with the grim satisfaction of someone who understood that drowners were predictable enemies with known weaknesses.
Experienced now. Know their patterns, their limitations.
The hunt was almost routine—lure the drowners to shallow water where their mobility was limited, use ranged attacks to thin their numbers, finish the survivors with oiled steel that cut through their natural armor like paper. Six kills in twenty minutes, clean and efficient.
[Experience Gained: 60 XP]
[Materials Harvested: 42 crowns worth]
[Day 1 Progress: 144 XP / 9,300 XP target]
Still way behind. Need bigger targets or more efficient grinding.
The System's mission notification appeared as he was cleaning drowner blood from his sword, offering a solution that felt almost too convenient.
[RAPID MISSION: "Deliver Urgent Message"]
Objective: Courier run to Temerian outpost, 20 miles round trip
Reward: 80 XP, 15 crowns
Time Limit: Must complete before sunset
Perfect. Travel training plus experience.
Adam accepted the mission and set off at a pace that would have been impossible before his statistics reached their current levels. Air magic enhanced his movement in subtle ways—reducing wind resistance, providing extra lift during jumps, allowing him to glide over obstacles that would have forced detours.
Air Scooter technique. Still experimental, but showing promise.
The technique involved riding focused air currents like an invisible skateboard, doubling his travel speed across flat terrain while providing practice with sustained magical use. Twenty miles felt like an afternoon run instead of an endurance challenge.
[Experience Gained: 80 XP]
[Mission Complete]
[Day 1 Total: 224 XP / 9,300 XP target]
Twenty-four percent of daily goal. Need to find more efficient methods.
Days 2 and 3 blurred together in a haze of violence and calculated risk-taking that pushed Adam's abilities to their limits. The larger nekker nest discovered eighteen miles from Cintra offered the kind of target-rich environment that could provide significant experience, but the sheer number of enemies made solo assault tantamount to suicide.
Hire help. Split the XP but survive to gain it.
The two mercenaries he recruited were competent professionals who understood that payment came in shares of both coin and glory. Adam provided air support while they handled close combat, using his magic to knock nekkers off balance and create openings for sword work.
Twenty-two nekkers over two days. Party penalty reduces individual XP, but survival matters more than maximum gain.
[Experience Gained: 185 XP over two days]
[Materials: 180 crowns after split]
[Regional Fame: +10 - Mercenaries spread word of competence]
Building reputation. Might be useful later.
Day 4 brought Adam's first encounter with undead beyond simple drowners—a wraith haunting an abandoned battlefield where Temerian and Redanian forces had clashed years earlier. The spectral warrior manifested with the particular malevolence of someone who'd died badly and couldn't accept the transition.
Level 18 enemy. Incorporeal, teleports, life drain attacks.
The fight lasted eight minutes that felt like hours, reality bending around them as supernatural fury clashed with elemental magic. Physical attacks passed through the wraith harmlessly, but Adam discovered that airbending affected it normally—elemental magic apparently operating on different principles than conventional weapons.
Wind Barrier when it materializes. Air Blade when it's solid. Don't let it touch you.
The wraith's life drain attack felt like ice water injected directly into his veins, supernatural cold that made his bones ache and his vision blur. But Air Blade cut through spectral flesh as effectively as steel through living tissue, each strike dissipating portions of the creature's essence.
It's weakening. Keep pressure on.
Victory came when the wraith finally exhausted whatever force kept it anchored to the physical world. But instead of simply watching it fade, Adam performed the ritual Mousesack had taught him—words and gestures that acknowledged the spirit's pain and offered peaceful passage to whatever came next.
Peaceful resolution. Sometimes mercy is stronger than violence.
[Experience Gained: 75 XP - Peaceful Resolution Bonus]
[Materials: Wraith essence, ectoplasm, spectral dust - 120 crowns total]
First undead kill. Moving up in the world.
Days 5 and 6 became a blur of contracts and training that pushed every aspect of his capabilities toward their breaking points. Three drowner groups, one ghoul that nearly killed him twice, two more wolf packs that tested his improved combat coordination with Ciri.
Training with her is different now. More intense. She knows I'm preparing for something specific.
"Why are you pushing so hard?" Ciri asked during their evening session, her sword pausing mid-strike as she studied his expression with growing concern.
Because when the battle comes, I need to be strong enough to get you out. Because I'd rather die than watch you suffer.
"Because when the battle comes, I need to be strong enough to get you out," Adam replied, offering honesty that felt like bleeding.
Ciri's expression shifted to something approaching understanding mixed with fear she didn't want to acknowledge. "Adam..."
"Don't. Just... trust me."
[Relationship +5]
Current Points: 95/100
Status: Near absolute trust
Almost there. Almost to whatever comes after friendship.
[Training XP: 340 XP over two days]
[Combat Contracts: 280 XP]
[Airbending Development: Significant improvement in control and power]
Day 7 dawned gray and threatening, clouds gathering like omens while Adam prepared for his final hunt before the world ended. The foglet lurking in the marshes southeast of Cintra represented the kind of challenge that could provide the experience boost he desperately needed—if he survived the encounter.
Level 22 enemy. Creates mist, illusions, teleportation. Everything designed to make this fight a nightmare.
The swamp stretched around him like a fever dream made manifest, twisted trees rising from stagnant water while mist rolled between them with movements that spoke of intelligence rather than natural weather patterns. Adam expanded Air Sense to its maximum range, feeling for disturbances that might indicate where reality ended and illusion began.
It's here. Watching. Waiting for the right moment to strike.
The foglet's opening gambit was exactly what Adam had expected—thick mist that reduced visibility to arm's length while three perfect duplicates of the creature emerged from different directions. His first instinct was to attack all of them, wasting precious MP on targets that dissolved into vapor at the first touch.
Illusions. Of course. Focus on the real threat.
The actual foglet materialized behind him with predatory silence, claws raking across his back in parallel lines that opened cloth and flesh with equal ease. Pain exploded through his nervous system, white-hot agony that nearly sent him to his knees.
[Damage Taken: 60 HP]
[Current HP: 120/180]
Hurt but not broken. Time to get serious.
Air Sphere manifested around him as protective force that deflected the creature's follow-up attack, buying him precious seconds to assess the situation and plan his counterattack. The foglet was fast, intelligent, and perfectly adapted to fighting in its chosen environment.
Collapse the mist. Take away its advantage.
Adam triggered the most powerful air manipulation technique he'd ever attempted—a 360-degree Air Gust that pulled atmosphere from across the entire marsh into a concentrated vortex centered on his position. The supernatural mist collapsed like a punctured balloon, revealing the foglet crouched twenty meters away with murder in its yellow eyes.
Got you.
Three Air Blade attacks followed in rapid succession, cutting wind finding flesh and bone with surgical precision. The foglet staggered but didn't fall, its supernatural constitution allowing it to absorb damage that would have killed lesser creatures.
Finish it. Before it can recover.
Adam's sword work had reached the point where conscious thought was unnecessary—muscle memory and trained instinct driving his blade toward vital points with mechanical precision. Steel found the creature's throat in a spray of dark ichor that painted the marsh grass red.
[Experience Gained: 140 XP - High-level solo kill]
[Materials: Foglet mutagen, foglet teeth - 120 crowns]
The week's campaign had transformed Adam from someone who could barely handle rats into a warrior capable of facing supernatural threats that would terrify professional soldiers. But the numbers were still insufficient—1,250 XP gained in seven days, when he'd needed nearly five times that amount.
[LEVEL UP! 8 → 9]
[Free Stat Points: +5]
[Allocation: +1 STR, +2 STA, +2 AGI]
[New Stats: STR 19, STA 28, AGI 24, HP 190, MP 280]
[Current Status: Level 9, 85% progress to Level 10]
Level 9. Better than Level 8, but still nowhere near the recommended Level 12.
Adam returned to the castle as evening painted the sky in shades of blood and shadow, his body exhausted and his spirit grim with the knowledge that his preparation would have to be enough. There was no more time for grinding, no more opportunities to push his statistics toward safe ranges.
Tomorrow night. The attack comes tomorrow night.
Ciri was waiting in his room when he arrived, having somehow bypassed castle security with the casual ease of someone who'd grown up in these corridors. She sat on his bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, green eyes wide with fear that she was trying very hard not to show.
"Tomorrow it starts, doesn't it?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
How does she know? How can she possibly know?
"Yes," Adam replied, too exhausted for deception or careful half-truths.
Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over despite her efforts to maintain royal composure. "I'm scared."
So am I. Terrified that I won't be strong enough to save you.
Adam crossed the room and pulled her into a hug that felt like the most natural thing in the world, her warmth solid and real against his chest while she clung to him with desperate intensity.
"Me too. But we'll face it together."
They held each other while tears fell silently between them, both understanding that tomorrow would bring the end of everything they'd known and the beginning of something darker and more dangerous than either was ready to face.
[Relationship +5]
Current Points: 100/100
Status: MAXIMUM TRUST REACHED
[RELATIONSHIP MILESTONE: Trusted Companion (Maximum)]
[BOND ABILITY FULLY EVOLVED: "Kindred Spirits"]
Can sense each other's emotions within 100 meters
Perfect combat coordination
Maximum trust. She trusts me completely.
"Whatever happens tomorrow," Adam said, his voice rough with emotion he didn't try to hide, "I'll get you out. I promise."
"I know," Ciri whispered against his chest. "I trust you."
Tomorrow, the world would burn. Tomorrow, Cintra would fall. But tonight, for a few hours, they could pretend they were just two kids who didn't have to face the end of everything.
He held her until she fell asleep in his arms, trusting him to keep watch while darkness gathered beyond the windows.
Morning would come too soon. It always did.
But tonight was theirs, stolen from the jaws of approaching catastrophe and precious precisely because it was numbered in hours instead of years.
Tomorrow, everything changes. Tonight, we're still safe.
The stars wheeled overhead, cold and distant and utterly indifferent to the small drama playing out below, where two young people clung to each other and tried to pretend that dawn would never come.