In the open archery range where the target board was usually placed stood Mateo with a tense expression. Then again any normal person in his shoes would also be tense when in front of them, paid down on the grass were multiple weapons and ordinary objects on one side and medical supplies on the other.
Looking through all the tools for the occasion with all his attention, Mateo got spooked when a hand landed on his shoulder, only for it to be Leone holding a red reclining leather sofa with snacks on it, all in his other hand in a blatant display of superhuman strength.
"Don't stress yourself Mateo, we'll give you a bulletproof vest so you won't die. And you can think of it as a way to boost your endurance stats for free. You're welcome in advance." After his attempt to cheer Mateo up, he placed the sofa down before grabbing a bag of chips to hand over to the test subject who was a known stress eater.
Sitting down, the boys decided to catch up since it had been a while they got time to themselves. Mateo asked for advice on how to approach Amy and for tips to make him a bit more romantic since he had never really dabbled in the cursed arts of romance. His question came as a pleasant surprise to Leone who had been waiting for Mateo to venture into romance and eventually taste the forbidden fruit. Seizing the opportunity, Leone pumped Mateo with so much graphic information that made Mateo doubt whether Leone was a year older than him or some Ancient being.
Their conversation was brought to an end when the three girls were seen coming close to the sofa. Mateo got up, taking the bullet-proof vest from the ground and standing in his previous location, assuming the role of a test dummy.
With a nod, Leone sprang forth opting to use more force to see whether the barrier would react. It did not, and Mateo was left hunched over gasping with his eyes dazedly staring at the +0.1 floating at his endurance stats section. Shaking himself, he was met with an arrow to his chest which didn't hurt as much as the earlier palm strike but still stung a bit. A water slash whipped at his vest, tearing it a bit followed by a wind slice.
The quest of helping activate the barrier soon turned into a competition between Amber and Ayleen, each trying to outdo the other in terms of damage dealt. It reached the point that Mateo had to run since they had both thrown caution to the wind and started firing bullets without looking.
The noise attracted Carmen and Wilson who thought they were under attack only to see the bizarre seen of two girls casting spells and shooting bullets. They were soon brought to speed about the reason for the gathering.
After hearing everything, Wilson, being the most rational person in both families offered a suggestion which none of them had thought of before. "Have you thought about the fact that the chain might be able to sense the attacker's TIER and decide to react accordingly."
"Erm, no. That would have sounded stupid earlier but now I'm willing to give anything a shot to stop those two from fighting and get back to bed. It's midnight for crying out loud" answered Mateo, an ice pack on a bruise he got when they started throwing stones.
Being the only TIER 1 in the group it was natural that all eyes fell on her to test the barrier. Amy didn't want to do it, she found the thought of hurting Mateo impossible but with a look at his warm brown eyes and tired face, she decided to give it a shot.
With a frown, she gathered all her energy and delivered a punch so weak that it wouldn't hurt any of them even if she tried to. Under expectant gazes a yellow tinged translucent barrier appeared, stopping her punch in its tracks.
Uncaring about the time of night it was, Mateo let out a shout of joy mixed with tiredness as it seemed as though he would soon return to his ever lovely bed.
Amy on the other hand was soon covered in weapons by the others who wanted to test the damage the barrier could receive before shattering.
10 bullets, 3 sword slashes and one mana coated spear strike later, they found their answer as the weak looking barrier proved sturdier than it looked.
But that wasn't even the end of it. When the barrier broke, the chain's info page was updated. This time it included the mana cost for generating a barrier strong enough to defend from TIER 2 attacks.
200 mana points, not a drastic increment but the cost was still noticeable. After some discussions it was decided that Leone keep it for the night since he had the highest mana pool and a faster mana regeneration than everyone present.
Mateo didn't even bother arguing though the chain was technically his but that could be boiled down to 3 major reasons.
First, the idea was suggested by Wilson who was basically the unofficial leader of the toung adults.
Two, the idea was actually a good one since Mateo himself had a poor mana regeneration of 1MPper10minutes, while Leone boasted a 1 MPper2minutes recovery rate.
And finally, he needed his sleep. Arguing would just wear him out more, plus everyone had a "everything belongs to everyone" mentality leaving the need to steal absent.
Packing the weapons and other equipment back into the warehouses, the group was soon ready to disperse and after bidding themselves goodnight, they finally did.
In a bubble bath filled jacuzzi Mateo found himself thinking about all the hits he had endured to test the chain's effect only for a light harmless punch from Amy to be the answer.
It felt like even the universe was trying to give him hints that she might end the pain he felt and would feel in future if only he allowed her too. Then again it might be the pain relief drugs and the sleep talking.
Crawling out and slipping into only a pair of boxers, Mateo fell asleep and started snoring, a result of how tired he was.