Claire woke to the faint gray light of dawn creeping through the curtains.
She blinked slowly, chasing away the last threads of sleep, and instinctively reached out with one hand toward the other side of the bed.
But Klein was missing.
For one brief second, the old panic flickered in her chest... the same one that used to jolt her awake in the middle of the night with her ears straining for any sound that might mean he was hurting himself again.
But then she heard the faint music drifting from the kitchen and the sweet aroma of the coffee.
Claire exhaled, and the tension in her heart melted away.
A small, sleepy smile tugged at her lips.
She pushed the quilt back and sat up, rubbing her eyes.
Her hair was a disaster, tangled from sleep, and the oversized sweater had twisted around her torso sometime in the night.
Claire swung her legs over the side of the bed, toes curling against the icy floorboards, and wrapped the quilt around her shoulders like a cloak.
She padded barefoot down the short hallway, following the trail of coffee-scented air and music.
The kitchen doorway framed him perfectly.
Klein stood at the counter with his back to her, one hip leaning against the edge.
A mug steamed in his hand, and his phone was propped against the battered sugar tin, playing some soft music.
He was swaying slightly as he took a slow sip of coffee.
Claire paused in the doorway and just watched him for a long moment.
This was new.
Klein making coffee before she woke up.
Eventually he sensed her and turned his head.
His whole face softened when he saw her "Good morning, Big Sis. Sleep okay?"
Claire nodded, stepping fully into the kitchen. "Yeah. You?"
"Same." He lifted the mug and took another sip.
"You should freshen up first," he said, nodding toward the bathroom. "I'll keep your coffee hot."
"Mhm."
Claire paused at the kitchen door, glancing back.
He was already pouring her coffee, humming along quietly with the music.
Her gaze softened in affection, and she left the kitchen.
---
Seven days has already passed-
*sleesh*
A wet, electric crack split the air as Klein's short sword carved through the goblin's neck in a single, brutal arc.
The goblin's head tumbled away with its eyes still wide in shock as the body crumpled to the stone floor.
Klein stood alone in the depths of Whisperveil Hollow and turned to look at the pack of goblins circling him.
There were twelve of them.
Twelve snarling, yellow-eyed bastards armed with rusted cleavers, jagged spears, and crude bone clubs.
They chittered in their guttural tongue and spread out in a loose semicircle, trying to flank him.
Klein rolled his shoulder once, feeling the familiar burn in his muscles 'Yep, I missed this ache.'
He remembers this muscle burn from morning runs, endless circuits, and nights spent shadowboxing until his knuckles bled.
His body wasn't the scrawny, broken thing it had been a week ago.
He exhaled, breath fogging in the damp air "Come on, then."
The first goblin lunged, swinging a cleaver overhead with both hands.
Klein dodged, pivoting into a shoulder roll.
The cleaver whistled past his ear, close enough to stir his hair.
In the same motion, he drove forward as lightning coiled around his free hand.
Crack.
His fist punched through the goblin's chest and its ribs shattered like dry twigs.
*THRISHH* Blue-white arcs of lightning exploded outward, chaining to the two nearest enemies.
"GRRAARGHHH-" They convulsed and screamed as the lightning cooked them from the inside.
Three down.
The pack hesitated for half a second... then roared and charged as one.
Klein grinned and rushed forward.
Wind howled around his legs as Aero (wind) mana propelled him forward in a blur.
*sleesh* He ducked under a spear thrust and his blade flashed up in a diagonal slash that opened a goblin from hip to shoulder.
*spleesh* Blood sprayed out in a hot and coppery mess.
"BUAARGG-"
Before the body hit the ground, Klein spun and his sword trailed lightning arc that carved a glowing crescent through the air.
sleesh—sleesh—sleesh
Three more slashes fell in rapid succession as the limbs were severed and torsos bisected.
The cavern lit up with strobing blue flashes from Klein's attacks.
*pwooh* A club came from his blind spot.
Hm? Sensing it, Klein dropped low and swept the attacker's legs with a kick.
"Guh-" The goblin crashed down, and Klein was already above it as he plunged the sword straight through its throat.
He yanked the blade free in a spray of blood and turned to meet the next.
Two goblins tried to rush him together and he met them head-on.
Lightning surged down his arms into the sword, extending the blade into a jagged whip of pure energy.
*swoosh* He lashed out horizontally, and the whip sliced through both at once, their torsos parting like wet paper.
Their momentum carried the upper halves forward a step before they collapsed in bloody heaps.
Seven more left.
"Huff... Huff..." His breath came faster now with the sweat stinging his eyes, but his stance never wavered.
The old Klein would've faltered here but this Klein just laughed under his breath 'Damn, this is more fun than boxing... my heart just won't stop beating.'
*sleesh* Another goblin hurled a spear.
Klein twisted, the wind mana accelerating his spin, and caught the shaft mid-air.
In one fluid motion he reversed it and threw it back, pouring his lightning mana into the spear.
*crack* The spear punched through the thrower's chest and kept going, pinning a second goblin to the wall behind it.
Five.
They were scared now.
But goblins were stupid. They charged again.
He slammed his foot on the ground and blue lightning surged outward in a ring of crackling energy, chaining between the remaining five like a living web.
"Grraagg-"
"Arrghhh-"
They screamed in horror, and their bodies jerked as lightning coursed through them.
For three full seconds they were like puppets on burning strings.
Klein dashed forward and slashed his sword, slicing off a goblin's head.
He reversed his grip on the sword and punctured the blade straight through another goblin's heart.
*squech*
With the same momentum, he spun, slicing off two more goblins and their heads flew up in the air.
The last goblin tried to run.
Klein flicked his wrist, sending a bolt of pure lightning that struck it between the shoulder blades.
*thud* With that, its charred body fell straight to the ground smoke curling from the fist-sized hole punched clean through its chest.
Silence.
Only the drip of blood and the low crackle of dying sparks remained.
"Haa... Haa..." Klein stood in the center of the carnage, and his chest heaved up and down as he took heavy breaths.
He flicked the blade once, shedding the worst of the gore, and sheathed it with a soft click.
'I need to strengthen my body more. With 98 mana nodes and D rank mana core, my mana pool is not that big.'
'If I had a strong body, I can defeat small mobs with just physical strength and can save mana.'
He turned his gaze and saw the goblins' bodies turning into dust, leaving the beaststones.
'Let's collect them first.'