CHAPTER 62: AGAIN??

The bison charged straight at Bob.

He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the shield. Planting his feet, he dropped into a defensive stance and ready to absorb the blow.

Yui squeezed her eyes shut. Mina hovered nervously in the air, her wings fluttering with anxious energy, preparing to heal him in case he got flung. William stood calmly nearby, silently observing.

PANG!

The beast slammed into Bob’s shield with a force that rang like a bell. To everyone’s shock, the bison recoiled a step.

Bob glanced down, the shield was dented at center.

His eyes widened.

The bison snorted, shaking off its daze. It pawed the ground again, anger surging, and charged a second time.

Bob braced himself.

PANG!

This time, the bison’s horn got stuck in the shield. It pushed forward with brute strength, but Bob did not budge.

They were locked in place.

The bison blinked, confused. Nothing in this field had ever resisted its force before.

"Wait... am I really holding it back?" Bob muttered, stunned. He glanced down at his boots.

"Oh... must be these [Earthwalker Boots]. And my high DEF," he thought. Since arriving in this world, Bob had been pouring all his stat points into Strength, specifically ATK and DEF.

He grinned.

With a grunt, Bob began to push back. Inch by inch, the bison staggered, retreating until, with a final shove it dropped to its knees.

Seizing the chance, Bob leapt forward and summoned his trusty Gaia Sword, bringing it down in a powerful arc.

The bison let out one last roar and fell silent.

Bob raised a thumbs-up toward the group, a proud smile on his face.

"One grilled steak incoming," he joked.

Yui and Mina cheered in celebration. William, who had already been shocked so many times today, simply nodded, unsurprised now by Bob’s incredible defense.

"Nice block, Bob!" he shouted from his place. Inwardly, he could not help but feel a little inadequate as a teacher. "These two are too strong already’ he thought. ’

’But no matter how powerful someone is, the basics are still important. Alan and Bob are not exceptions. I’ll do my best to guide them properly, no shortcuts’

He whistled sharply.

This time, five bisons turned toward Bob and charged.

Bob had just started celebrating when he saw them coming. He barely had time to lift his shield.

"This is too hard!" he yelled as the wave of bisons smashed into him, one after another.

Suddenly, a bison charged in from behind. Before Bob could react, it rammed him square in the buttocks and launched him nearly ten meters through the air.

He immediately stood up, groaning and clutching his rear. He glanced at the bison that had hit him, it looked like it was smirking.

"You smug cow!" Bob snapped.

He lost his temper, tossed his shield aside, and summoned his Gaia Sword, charging after the beast with wild fury.

"Bob! Don’t go too far!" William shouted, watching Bob get farther and farther from the group.

Meanwhile, I was getting drilled by Maya and Evelyn on how to properly aim at a moving target.

Evelyn would distract a bison, luring it into a charge, while Maya gave me the signal to cast. I did my best, but the bisons moved fast, so fast that most of my spells missed entirely. Up until now, I only practiced on goblins and slimes. Compared to them, hitting a bison was like aiming at a speeding train after practicing on a bicycle.

Eventually, Maya’s patience ran thin.

"Can you focus and actually hit something?! Even kids shoot better than you!" she snapped.

Easy for her to say. I never practiced shooting in my life, let alone spellcasting. Her words lit a fire of frustration in me.

"This is too hard!" I shouted, launching another stream of Firebolts from the magic array on my hand.

One of the bisons finally noticed me and began to charge.

I smiled. Finally, an easy target. No more moving left and right. Just a straight path.

I readied both hands and focused. The red spell array spun with heat, ready to blast the beast—

Then suddenly...

Puff!

My [Apprentice Robe] and [Manaheart Pendant] vanished into blue particles and dissolved into the air.

At the same moment, the array vanished.

Oh no. Not again.

The sudden loss of power.

The bison kept charging, but I was frozen in thought.

Just before its horn nearly impaled my body...

"Charged Shot!"

A white-blazing arrow slammed into the bison’s side, sending it flying. It tumbled once and lay still.

Maya rushed over. "Alan! Are you alright?"

"My power... it’s gone again..." I muttered as I looked at my hand. I quickly looked around for Bob.

He was still fighting, on his own.

I sprinted toward him. Evelyn approached Maya slowly, slinging her elegant white bow over her back, her eyes looked at Maya, nodded at Maya signaling what happened. Maya shrugged her shoulder.

As I ran, Yui caught up with me. Her face was pale, on the verge of tears.

"Alan... Mina, she suddenly vanished!"

I grabbed her trembling hands to calm her. Then I turned and shouted...

"Bob! Our powers are gone again!"

But Bob did not hear. He was too deep in his frenzy, slashing wildly at another bison.

Damn it, this fat man...

I left Yui behind and sprinted faster. He was getting too far from us.

Bob had just slashed down a bison when two more charged at once, horns aimed straight at him.

"So you wanna fight dirty, huh?" Bob growled. He planted his stance, sword at the ready.

"Defensive Stance!" he roared.

Nothing happened.

There was no usual green aura. No skill activation.

He began to sweat.

"Why isn’t it activating?!" he cursed, panic setting in.

The bisons were almost on him.

He turned and bolted, but they were faster.

The twin horns struck his rear in unison.

Double Trihorn Strike.

Bob soared nearly ten meters through the air and crash-landed right in front of me and Yui. His pants were full of holes.

"Urgghh...my butt! I really need an equipment to cover it."

"Bob! Our skills are gone again!" I crouched beside him.

"What?! Again?!" he gasped.

The remaining bison began charging toward us.

I raised my hand, trying to prove my point. "Look at this. Firebolt!"

But suddenly—

FWOOSH!

A fireball burst from my palm and struck the bison square in the head, engulfing it in flames.

The second bison turned and fled.

"...The skill came back?" I muttered, stunned.

Bob and I exchanged glances.

"That’s it," I said and standing quickly. "We need to find out what’s wrong with our powers. Something’s seriously going on."

Maya and Evelyn joined William and Yui, concern etched across their faces.

"What happened? Why do they look so panicked?" William asked.

"I’m not sure," Maya replied. "But suddenly, Alan’s equipment vanished, and he couldn’t cast any spells. He said something about losing his power."

"What? That’s impossible." Evelyn’s expression darkened. With the initiation ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, a loss of power was the worst-case scenario. All their efforts to fast-track the ceremony would go to waste if this continued. She rushed toward the duo.

"Alan, Bob, how bad is it? Did you really lose your powers?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "It happened once back in Lily Town too, but it came back after a while. The same thing happened again just now... Luckily, it returned again."

Evelyn let out a relieved breath, but she could still see the worry in our faces.

I folded my arms, resting my chin on my hand. My thoughts began racing.

Why did I lose my powers?

What caused it?

What’s the common factor between that night and today?

"Maybe your MP was low?" Maya suggested.

"No, it’s not that," I replied. "I’ve had low MP before like during the goblin fight, but my powers still worked then."

"Maybe I was too hungry. I’m starving," Bob groaned from the ground, still on all fours. "I want grilled meat..."

"No," I dismissed that theory. Then my eyes drifted toward the area where I had been practicing my shooting earlier... and then toward the spot where Bob had fought the bisons.

A hunch struck me.

"Bob," I called.

"Hmmm?" he replied.

"When we split up during the monster attack in Lily Town... where did you go?"

"I went west. Toward Liam’s house."

"I went east... Hmm."

"What’s wrong, dude?"

I thought hard, eyes narrowing. Evelyn and the others watched us silently, waiting.

Finally, I dropped my arms. There was only one way to confirm my suspicion.

"Bob, stand up! I want you to walk over to where you fought those bisons earlier."

"But... my butt still hurts. Look." He pointed at his behind. It was peppered with holes and a bit of blood. Honestly, I had to give it to him, his butt had endured quite a beating from those bison horns, but still maintain its shape.

I kicked his bloody butt. "Don’t be such a little girl. Cast Heal or summon Mina. Quick!"

"OWW! You monster! You’re so cruel!" he yelped dramatically. He then summoned Mina, the fairy. Yui’s eyes lit up with joy at her return.

"Call me whatever you want," I muttered. "But if we can’t figure out what’s causing this, we’re doomed later."

Mina cast [Soothing Pollen], and with her now at level 2, her healing was more potent. Bob’s injuries were healed in seconds. He stood up and walked beside me.

"You ready, Bob? We’ll walk at the same time. Let’s test this properly."

"Yes, sir!" he said, saluting with a grin.