Chapter 104 - Dusty Triumph (Patreon)

My thermal attack hits the revenant, burning its arm and completely stripping it of flesh, revealing the bones. The monster, covered in ancient-looking armor, jumps away, emitting creepy noises. The wound I've inflicted appears to be bubbling; the flesh pulsates and some liquid keeps leaking out. Yet the wound doesn't regenerate, most likely the monster is unable to.

It dodges my orbs that deal massive damage to the building behind the monster.

But I'm already close, my body boosted by my new skill upgrade, all focused on speed. My sword, coated in vibrating mana, slashes across the monster's body.

I absorb the kinetic energy of its counterattack and propel myself away, a gargoyle crashing where I used to be. Two monsters collide, letting out creepy noises, and even slashing against each other.

In that moment of confusion, another thermal attack, similar to a flamethrower, hits the monsters, and I maneuver it, making deep burns into their bodies with strongly concentrated thermal energy.

The world becomes so quiet, so unmoving as I enter an even deeper state of [Focus].

Feeling mana behind, I move to the side, just in time to avoid the revenant's attack.

Still, a shockwave or something similar hits me with terrifying power and I am sent crashing into the side of one of the houses, barely able in time to absorb some energy and convert it to make my body stronger, under my [Armament].

Another invisible attack crashes against me, sending me deeper inside the house and I taste blood in my mouth; I have a broken rib.

Even in the state I'm in, I continue to track Isabella and the monsters, and fortunately, both are focused on me.

The roof crashes and pieces of wood and stone slow down to a crawl as I absorb their energy, along with some from the gargoyle that crashes through it.

Two orbs turn into a shield and block some power of the attack while I shoot a flame against the revenant that dashes at me.

Again, I am sent flying by an invisible attack that is clearly magical, yet I'm unable to grasp it. Two orbs sling towards the revenant, dealing some damage and reading where it looks, I propel myself to the side and the floor where I stood explodes into a crater.

Another thermal attack burns into the revenant's head, melting off half of it, yet the monster seems like it didn't notice and dashes at me at the same time the gargoyle does.

[Redistribution], boosted by the surge, comes into existence and both monsters slow down while I convert absorbed energy into speed, rushing at them with a sword covered in oscillating mana.

The revenant loses its head and I cut apart its chest.

[You have defeated the Rampart Revenant - lvl 91]

Then the gargoyle grabs my arm with surprising power and speed, the tattoos glowing on its body. My arm immediately breaks, like a twig, and pain washes over me. I'm unable to move while the gargoyle prepares to hit me.

Letting my mana loose and absorbing energy from the remaining orb, I convert it into kinetic energy and explode a third of the monster's head while I start feeling lightheaded, my ears ringing.

My hand coated in [Oscillation] burrows itself deep into the monster's head and I scramble its brain.

With a last-ditch effort, the monster lets go of my arm to attack again, still somehow able to move, yet I do not stop. I push more and more mana into the monster's head and quickly, the head disappears, devoured by wildly oscillating mana.

Finally, the body falls to the ground.

[You have defeated the Gutter Gargoyle- lvl 86]

[Lvl 76 > Lvl 77]

[Oscillation - lvl 18 > Oscillation - lvl 19]

I look at my left arm that is hanging along my body and sigh. At this point, I think it's personal. I've even stopped counting how many times I've had this arm broken or blown off.

It will heal, obviously, but… damn it.

Also, thanks to Mr. Focus for letting me, well, focus on important things, pushing the pain I felt slightly to the back of my mind.

I would prefer if [Focus] would totally turn it off, but I guess it's something it doesn't want to do. Also, it's not like it's lessening the pain, no no. It's only making it easier… well, to focus.

Moreover, I did hear a bit more notifications, so what was it… oh, a new [Side quest]!

Side quest: Reach level 100

Reward: Body part upgrade

Oh, isn't that interesting? I'm curiou... eh? What is this sound?

I hear a cracking sound, and the house falls on my head.

*****

Damn, I would laugh so hard if it didn't happen to me.

Barely having time, I managed to convert some energy into endurance and fortify the armor around my body. Now, laying crumbled beneath the rubble of what once was a house, I exert all my strength to push against the debris. But it's too heavy; it shifts just slightly. Layers upon layers of wood and stone weigh heavily upon me.

Okay, I agree, this is funny as heck, but my tendency to get distracted by some stuff and only track mana in my surroundings is getting pretty dangerous.

Let this be a good lesson for me.

Taking a hint from one of the options I got as a skill upgrade, I release a massive amount of mana into my surroundings, keeping it connected to me. Then I make it vibrate, adding [Oscillation] to the effect.

The mana over me starts cutting into the debris, turning it into smaller pieces.

The effect is minimal and barely helps but I push even through that, taking it as an opportunity to practice.

I release more and more mana, even boosting it with surge and the layers of vibrating mana over me turn more debris into smaller pieces and that makes some bigger pieces of the house move, giving me a chance to absorb their energy and then shoot it against the debris, also making more pieces move.

I repeat the process until finally, a bigger explosion of kinetic energy pushes enough pieces away and with my strength, I get rid of the remaining ones, finally standing up.

Easy!

Then, while dusting myself off, I ignore the quiet laugh of a small girl.

*****

More dead decaying rats later, I finally complete the side quest:

Side quest: Kill 100 enemies

A small, almost tiny bottle of water appears next to me along with a bit of food that reminds me of dried jerky. It's not even enough to be called a snack. Well, isn't that generous from the system?

Congratulations, you have completed the side quest. You can now pick one of the following gear:

bag (Common)
warm clothes (Common)
light armor (Common)
wooden shield (Common)
firestarter (Common)
spear (Common)
emberstone (Common)
air purifier (Common)
…

And it just goes on, around 100 items available to pick, all of them in Common rarity. There is no food, there is no water.

Also, I really don't like that there are so many items that could be used to keep people warm. I take it as a warning that some parts of the day or some parts of the city might be cold.

In the end, I pick one and immediately check it through the system.

Air Purifier (Common) A small, green mana stone. Infuse with mana to cleanse the surrounding air. Effectiveness depends on mana input. Ideal for purifying toxic environments.

Interesting, isn't it? I gotta learn a bit more about mana stones, they start to seem more and more useful and even back on the second floor, I saw so many uses they could be put into.

As for my decision? I still think that the offered items are items that could be useful for this floor. As for keeping myself warm, my body, even as I do not put as many points into my constitution, is strengthened and able to endure some cold.

If we were on Earth, I'm sure I could ignore the coldest weather other than the most extreme one.

Purifying the air might be useful, even the monsters we fought up until now show that. All of them are decaying, close to being called undead, and nearly rotted.

The problem will be food and water. Yes, I'm sure with my strengthened body, I can endure for plenty of days of not eating, not drinking, and not sleeping, even with my increased required consumption of calories as my body strengthens.

So, a few days are okay, but the first floor took 1 month, and the second took two months, so maybe the third one will take three? Maybe longer?

So yeah, it seems like food and water will be a real problem and options like eating the monsters might be a terrible idea as eating them might cause more harm than it's worth, seeing how decayed they are.

"Isabella, try to save your water," I say as I turn to the girl and she nods and immediately puts both of her hands behind her back. I don't even have to check to know that she already drank all of her water.

Biscuit, god damn it.

Oh, a force of habit.

As for the new side quest?

Side quest: Kill 200 enemies

Rewards:
Common gear of your choice
Food and water rations

Well, if the requirements to finish the quest will grow the way they do now, things will become... interesting.

***

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