Chapter 121 - Mage Hunters (Patreon)

It's been already a few hours, and while running and avoiding the revenants' attacks, I was able to level up once by burning a group of Rottenfang vermin and level up one. I invested the gained stat points into constitution.

Hey, it's something, isn't it?

But in the state I'm in, it feels like pouring a glass of water and hoping to save your house from burning down.

I'll die if this continues much longer. That's something I can say with absolute certainty.

If I don't find Lily or if there won't be a healing aura, I'll die even if I get rid of the Templar Revenant that blocks me from strengthening my body.

My body is just that ruined.

Broken bones, bloodied left arm, and a few stab and slash wounds from the Rogue Revenant. Pathways, muscles, and insides were ruined by my creation of constructs and by my careless use of Kinetic Mana heart.

The state I'm in won't disappear after I rest for a while. Strengthening my body to ignore it won't heal it either. So what is the solution?

Obviously, it's more abuse.

More mana flows inside my body, and I loosen my regulators, getting more energy out of my heart, and I seemingly carelessly handle bursts of mana that flow through my body.

If I have to die, I won't go down like a slowly dying candle. I'll burn like a wildfire.

The speed I'm moving is now even quicker than ever before. I propel myself, I boost my legs to dash fast, while in the air I propel myself once more, my seemingly bottomless mana easily handling all of it.

Once in a while, a disruptive skill hits me, and a few times I crash down to the ground, barely strengthening my body against the impacts or absorbing energy from my fall, only to push myself again up and running.

The two monsters continue to track me with ease and even after I put some distance between us. Every time I stagger and slow down, they are there punishing me with a few more wounds or making my mana clash inside my body.

But I'm improving.

While I push my body to the point of breaking, my skills breakthrough as well. I [Focus] as much as ever before. Turning the world around me into black and white colors where only mana shines brilliantly.

[Focus - lvl 30 > Focus - lvl 31]

I grab my mana every time the Templar Revenant disrupts it and I force it under my control, reducing the impact it has on my body. I also continue to try to fight against the monster's skill.

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 31 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 32]

I keep boosting mana inside my body, making it flow faster and stronger to do as much as possible in the time when the Templar Revenant's skill isn't affecting me.

[Mana Surge - lvl 16 > Mana Surge - lvl 18]

And I continue to try to kill the Rogue Revenant every time it reaches me, but never have enough time to do it because of the other monster.

[Redistribution - lvl 19 > Redistribution - lvl 20]

[Armament - lvl 24 > Armament - lvl 25]

[Oscillation - lvl 21 > Oscillation - lvl 22]

And I continue to kill every monster we meet along the way. Gargoyles, Rottenfang rats, chameleon bats, Alghouls, Wererats. I kill any monster I'm able to.

[Lvl 86 > Lvl 88]

That makes my constitution a whopping 80 points high, yet my mana is still at 264, and with my battered body and control over mana constantly disrupted, I nearly can feel life escaping my body, only my will and [Focus] keeping me on my legs, the monster either unable or not smart enough to disrupt this skill.

Yet even during all of this, I feel my mind weirdly relax. There are only two outcomes possible. I'll either die or I'll survive, nothing else matters right now, and I'll put as much effort as I can into it.

To the last breath. To the last beat of my heart.

My mana explodes and using as much as I can, I absorb the inertia of my movement and two heartbeats of my heart that's now getting 40% of my mana. Using all of this energy, I propel myself backwards right towards the Templar Revenant and at a dizzying speed passing by the second monster that is still fast enough to react, and another slash appears on my back.

But I ignore it and a dagger forms in my hand, the color is solid blue and more notifications sound in my mind as I make it as dense as possible and coat it in disruptive mana. I once again absorb my inertia and kinetic energy, this time using it to boost my body, making it faster and increasing my endurance.

The Templar Revenant used its disruptive skill 1 second ago and it seems like his "cooldown" is 4 seconds, judging from attacks before.

So I slash against the monster, that's barely able to react, slower than the Rogue Revenant. Squeezing the weapon in my hand as hard as possible and slashing against the monster with all the resentment I'm able to collect, I continue to track its movement.

I'll hit him. He's too slow, he won't be able to dodge. He didn't show as fast movement up until now. The Rogue can't reach me, it will take him around a second or two to get there, and it will be too late.

My dagger will hit and even if it somehow shortens its cooldown and tries to disrupt it, my [Disruption] around the blade will counter it. If not, then the blade is dense enough to handle something for a while and still separate its head from its body.

I can do it.

Then, the Templar Revenant disappears, replaced by the Rogue Revenant. The two monsters switch places.

The Rogue blocks the attack of my blade with both of its daggers, mana coating them and saving the daggers from breaking. A kick hits my chest, breaking one of my ribs and throwing me backwards, right towards the Templar.

Another disruptive wave hits me and the dagger in my hand dissipates, but I still have my body strengthened so I dodge under the Templar's slash and then propel myself to the side to avoid the Rogue.

And I run again.

*****

How much blood does a human have? And how much of it can I ignore with my now inhumanly strong body when comparing myself to a normal human? Also, I'm tired, so tired.

While running and jumping from roof to roof, avoiding two jerks hunting me and killing some monsters once in a while, I keep wanting to just sit there and give up.

Everything would be better than this, wouldn't it? I just need to stop for a bit and it will all stop, I did enough.

Yup, such similar nonsense goes through my head. But who am I? Why would I give up now?

I didn't even reach my goal, I didn't even see what there is to see. There is so much more to do. So yeah, I better get my act together and stop sobbing.

Just push through like you always did, filter out useless thoughts, and focus.

And keep going.

*****

I leveled up one more time and invested my stats into dexterity for the first time. As expected, it didn't help much, but I tried it.

I also tried to kill the Templar Revenant one more time, this time again the Rogue swapped places with him using some sort of skill to do so. I partially expected it and still wasn't able to finish the guy.

My reward is one more wound.

Then I finished another Side quest: Kill 600 enemies

I ate the little food I got and drank the water and as a reward, I picked a javelin, thinking that a physical weapon might work.

I did throw it with the full power of my body and boosted it with [Redistribution]. The weapon broke against the Templar Revenant's armor.

The system did not disappoint. The weapon was as bad as expected.

And these two, don't they have anything better to do? Just leave and go hunt Sophie or something. Now I'm also curious how the heck are others alive when there are jerks like these two around.

So yeah, just go and hunt others. But don't worry, after I become a bit stronger I'll come back and destroy you. Oh, I will totally not let this go.

Unsurprisingly, the duo continues to go after me and even after stretching my [Perception] as far as possible, I don't feel others.

The only thing that changes are the houses that become nicer and nicer, some of them now even with walls dyed in colors, and there are no roads made from dirt anymore. All are made with cobblestones and I'm not sure, but I think I see a higher tower far in the distance.

It's hard to say if there is some ambient healing aura but that's it, as I pass and notice a few marks that point towards the hideout the natives told us how to identify, I decide to finally risk it.

Mana floods my body and for the last time, I turn and dash towards the annoying duo so used to hunting mages.