Chapter 50 - Into the Fray (Patreon)

Okay, so I might have a little trauma on my hands. What I did to the Phantom Goblin doesn't sound like something a normal person would do. But that's not such a big problem.

The problem is the looks people around me are giving me.

If I want to be able to move around other people without having them look at me like a monster, I will have to control myself a bit.

At least when they are around. I can handle losing a bit of my humanity if it means I will survive, but the others…

Sure, I can continue and let them fear me, but I would rather not. Obviously, reminding them once in a while what I can do would be good, especially when dealing with people like Sophie.

But I would rather them be neutral or like me than scared.

That's how I feel, and it doesn't have to do with logic.

Doesn't everyone want to be loved? I am human too, you know.

At least for now.

Anyway, I get back and, unfortunately, most of them saw it.

The only one acting, as usual, is an unnamed corgi.

I even have to stop him from going to eat the remains.

(Food!) sounds into my mind in an almost complaining tone.

You just ate.

"Let's go," I say shortly, and we rejoin the others.

As many times before, Tess and I hunt for stronger monsters while Kim and Kevin stay near Lilly and some of Hadwin's people.

Hadwin also pushes a bit ahead.

Leon and Maya hunt for stronger monsters, and Sophie stays with her sister. The little girl uses her flamethrower when monsters get close, and Sophie often just sends weaker monsters away with her [Manipulation].

The first strong monster we find is a goblin.

[Goblin warrior - lvl 13]

I step ahead and fire up my mana.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Mana rushes into my legs, and I bounce a bit on the balls of my feet.

Then I dash at the same time the monster dashes at me.

He calculates my movement and swings his axe at me, so I absorb my own kinetic energy and stop nearly at the spot.

Goblin's big surprised eyes are funny to look at.

I use the same absorbed energy to push myself ahead to reach him faster, and my dagger buries itself into the goblin's eyes.

[You have defeated the Goblin warrior - Lvl 13]

I put away the dagger and pry the axe out of his hands, just in time to use it to block an attack with a spear.

It's hard to open up his clenched fist with one hand only, you know?

I straighten up and tilt to avoid another stab and kick the goblin with my mana-strengthened body.

He tries to get on his feet when an elongated iron ore comes flying and squashes his head.

[You have defeated the Goblin warrior - Lvl 12]

I dash at another monster, this time it's a goblin shaman.

He reaches out to me and starts mumbling something. I feel mana his body is letting out swirl and move towards the palms of his hands. The mana feels hot and soon flames form around his fists.

But I am already close to him.

A Goblin warrior jumps into my way, so I boost my body and with a swift slash, cut off his hands. As he screams, I grab him and, burrowing my feet into the ground and twisting my body, I throw him at the goblin shaman.

Only then do I realize that I didn't even think about how heavy the green monsters are.

Yet, I am strong enough to send him flying through the air with ease.

The fire spell the goblin shaman was conjuring soars into the air, and he is too late to stop it. It hits the goblin flying towards him, and he instantly starts burning, but the inertia of his body is stronger than that of the spell, so he continues and hits the shaman. I do not move closer, not sure how dangerous the flames are, but a massive piece of iron ore comes flying and smashes multiple times down on the burning bodies.

[You have defeated the Goblin warrior - Lvl 14]

[You have defeated the Goblin shaman - Lvl 11]

I feel the massive mana and hear the stomping, and when I turn around, I see the biggest troll I've ever seen.

[Giant Troll - lvl 14]

My heartbeat speeds up, and I feel an itch at the place where my left hand used to be, but I quickly enter deeper [Focus] and intensify my usage of [Mana Perception]. Iron ores swish through the air and hit the troll's head, but don't do any damage, and the troll roars.

His mana explodes and covers the entire area we are fighting on.

Then everyone falters, and some of the weaker monsters and humans crumble to the ground. The skill is similar to Kim's [Gravity Well].

My heart continues to pump blood and mana through my veins, and I fire it up even more.

More mana.

More strength.

I dash towards the monster while my mana rages through my body, wildly and close to getting out of my control, but I am not worried. I focus more, control it more, calm it down, and send it where it needs to be.

The troll stomps and I feel his mana. He is moving in the same way as the first time he used the skill, so I lower my body, send more mana to my core, and continue.

The gravity spell pushes onto me. This time, the area of effect around the troll is small, and weaker goblins scream as they are pushed even deeper into the ground, and their bones break.

My muscles burn, my body is hot, and the axe in my hand is so heavy. Then I almost fall when he uses the skill for the third time, losing balance because the right side of my body is affected a bit more as I am missing an arm on the left side.

But I hold it.

I clench my teeth and push through all of it, and wildly oscillating mana appears around the axe.

The troll is massive, but I dodge his swing. While doing so, I jump onto his arm and sprint towards his head, using his arm to get there. He pulls back, but it's too late; I am already there, and my axe buries itself deep into the monster's left eye. I pull it out, showered in the monster's warm blood.

I jump from the monster to avoid its coming hand, and I fall down to the ground much faster than expected, affected by the Giant Troll's gravity spell.

A groan escapes my mouth, feeling the pressure it puts on my body, but I straighten up again and once again activate [Oscillation]. I bury my axe into the goblin's leg multiple times. Its roar almost deafens me, but I continue while it is moving around, trying to stomp on me.

Absorbing as much kinetic energy from his stomps, I use it to push against the monster's hurt leg, as he is standing on only one and trying to stomp on me. That makes him stagger a bit, and I hear a new noise.

The whistling of a heavy thing flying terrifyingly fast through the air. Prolonged iron ores hit the monster's head, and he roars even louder, finally losing balance and slowly falling down, pulled by his own skill too.

He slams down with a loud noise, and earth and dust fly into the air.

I take a step towards the monster and stomp gently on the ground, releasing some absorbed kinetic energy, and it instantly sends away all the dust that flew into the air.

I take another step and use the remaining energy to propel myself, quickly passing its flailing arms and reaching its head. The axe vibrates wildly as if it's about to break, but I force through and slash downwards.

Again and again, I bury the axe into the monster's head up until it breaks.

There is a wound on its skull big enough for me to see inside of its head through the shattered bones.

So I jump onto the monster's head and wait until the last moments. The giant hand reaches for me, still holding tremendous energy that I absorb as much as I can.

When the hand touches me, I mold all this energy, force it into a cone, thinner and thinner, aim it, focus it, and then shoot it inside the monster's head through the wound, where it makes a mess out of the troll's brain.

The hand still hits me, but I do not try to fight against it and just jump into the air and let it throw me through the air while strengthening my body against it.

Flying through a few branches, I roll in the air and land on my feet, still sliding a bit, but I absorb the energy of my own fall and stop.

The energy escapes into the surrounding, creating a small shockwave with me in the epicenter, and I hear a notification.

[You have defeated the Giant Troll - lvl 14]

[Lvl 18 > Lvl 19]

*****

Author note: Did you guys receive the notification? Also, the new chapter on RR should be up in 5-6 hours, so you are getting yours a bit earlier. 

I still need to figure out a few things :)