in a banana hammock continued to draw the more aggressive beasts away. The plan was to allow Rhea to do most of the damage dealing after Scott drew their attention. She would receive more experience that way, and she would potentially be able to level faster. Scott had not known that how you fought actively influenced the amount of experience you could earn, but it made sense. Of course, the bonuses were small for such things. Rhea would still need to defeat far more opponents than Scott to increase her level. The sorcerer, for his part, was not concerned with his level during this fight. He had chosen to work on his survival ring until he gained those skills. As such he still needed around fifty thousand experience points. Rather, he needed to give up his next four level’s worth of experience to acquire those skills. “Burn!” cried the man when the wave of newcomers moved into his spell range. Fish-men screamed in panic as their friends and comrades burst into flames or exploded in a shower of burning gore. The burn spell, though a simple class level one spell, had been increased to its maximum capacity through time and training. Scott’s intellect was such that it could do several hundred points of damage to several monsters at once. More of the beasts came. Despite the deaths of their comrades, they ran full-tilt toward the explosive sorcerer. They held their spears like drunken sailors going to a seaside barbecue. Scott’s boomerangs returned to him just in time for him to send them arcing outward once again. This time they caught a Shar-Shar in the wrist and neck. It dropped its spear and began to choke. The sorcerer raced over to it and leapt into the air. The creature threw up a hand in a desperate attempt to block, but the banana hammock clad man unleashed a double-drop kick that tore into its chest with incredible force. Bones shattered, organs were pulverized. The level difference was nothing when you compared the man to the weak Shar-Shar. As far as the sorcerer was concerned, these guys were free experience points. The Shar-Shar wore little armor and wielded weapons that were even cruder than the weapons that a goblin might use. They had to rely solely on their raw physical prowess. In the sea, if their opponents could not operate freely, the fish monsters would have been unholy terrors. He was sure of that. On land, against a magic wielder, they might as well bend over and grit their teeth in preparation for what was to come. Scott neatly spun atop the monster then leapt up. He arched his body to the side and performed a beautiful elbow drop that slammed down with enough force to destroy the remnants of the creature’s chest. It exploded into motes of light with little fanfare. The Shar-Shar kept coming. Scott lost count of how many of them had joined the battle. He caught Rhea’s attention and the elven warrior maiden nodded. They turned and ran off toward the sea. The Shar-Shar thought that they intended to escape into the ocean and set off in hot pursuit. However, the creatures foolishly massed together in doing so. Dozens of the beasts had formed into a group and that was exactly what Scott had wanted when he had laid out his plan to the girls earlier. Scott and Rhea dived toward the sand then covered their ears. The Shar-Shar kept coming and that proved to be their undoing. Neira rose up from the surf and stretched her arms out to the oncoming horde. She sang a loud, discordant note. Now that the moon was no longer full, she had regained her proper magic. The power of a mermaid’s magic was in their voice. The discordant note rose in volume and then shifted into an agonizing shriek. The sand was torn asunder as a trench appeared in front of the mermaid girl. The Shar-Shar had massed together and could not escape the powerful magical assault. Over three dozen of the beasts were instantly hit with a powerful chaotic stun that caused them to be unable to think coherently. Scott took