Chapter 128 - Tricolored Mana (Patreon)

I grab hold of the wind around us, and for a split second, silence ensues, only for me to release all the energy and blast away the mist, and then a short blaze of flame, lights up the surroundings. Before the wind and mist come back, we spot the monster.

It's twice my height, tall and slim, with a body covered in dark black fur. Even under the fur, I can see dexterous and dangerous muscles. It stands on its two legs with arms long enough to nearly touch the floor.

Its head is elongated into a massive maw filled with long, sharp teeth, and above it are two eyes that glow in the surrounding darkness with a green light.

The monster is partially rotted, with missing pieces of body and fur, revealing sickly grayish skin and terrible wounds all over its body.

[Undead Werewolf - lvl ?]

The monster charges right after the mist fills out the surroundings and its target is Tess. Chunks of the roof are torn apart, and nearly the entire roof flies at the monster, only for it to bulldoze through and reach Tess, who stands in a battle stance, lightning creating something like armor around her body.

I can feel her using mana, and the monster tries to hit her, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier around the blonde and be sent flying backward, the red and white lightning cracking and burning its body.

I dash as well towards the werewolf, which quickly lands on its long thin legs and sprints towards me. I strengthen my body and armor even more, and our bodies meet in an exchange of blows. In the end, I'm sent flying away from the roof, the armor around my chest dented but quickly repairing.

I push against the wall of the house I'm about to hit and propel myself back onto the roof, the house behind me exploding under the pressure.

On the roof, Tess is already exchanging blows with the monster, her nimble body dodging every hit she can, and when she is unable, an invisible wall stops the monster. The entire time, lightning crackles around and through her body, seemingly making her faster.

Then the javelin, floating over her, comes flying down with terrifying speed, barely missing the monster, which dodges with impossible speed. The javelin pierces through the roof and most likely the entire house.

I create dozens of mana arrows and make them as dense as possible, and at my signal, Tess jumps away, and they all fly at the monster, boosted to a terrifying degree. But the werewolf roars, and the mana flares up around it.

The monster's body becomes a wreck under the power of the mana projectiles, with most of its head missing. But its body grows even bigger, and its fur becomes even darker, while it keeps its creepy long-limbed proportions and decaying body.

It howls, a terrifying sound audible even through the raging wind, and I feel my body freeze in place. Immediately, I create two massive shields made out of mana and send them in front of Tess, where they slow down the monster. Next, I send a disruptive wave of mana around my body, freeing myself and propelling ahead to clash with the monster that has already dealt with two shields.

The monster is now bigger, and I'm barely able to push it far enough, but both of us fall from the roof, only to continue the fight on the ground. A sword made of mana appears in my hands, and I grab the monster with [Redistribution] to slow it down, but it's unable to fully stop it.

My sword slashes multiple times a second, yet it is unable to kill the monster that ignores the wounds and dodges anything too dangerous. Only for it to howl again and get healed, and I have to use disruptive mana to free myself.

I grab the kinetic energy I absorbed and turn it into thermal energy, but the flames... the flames don't come out. The moment they should appear, they get canceled by the strong wind and something else, something in the wind. The flames immediately die off.

Without any warning, a massive javelin comes flying down from the sky with a speed that is impossible to track, and it pierces through the monster, a hook at the end of the javelin tying it to the ground. This allows me to cut off one of its legs and then dash away on Tess's signal.

The house to my right explodes into rubble that immediately starts orbiting around Tess, together with cracking lightning. Half of the house spins around her like a massive orb, crashing against the nearby houses, and the sound of rumbling is audible even through the roaring wind.

The rubble spins faster and faster, and I reach out towards the werewolf and put everything into slowing it down and absorbing the kinetic energy of its movement. It howls again, but it's too late, and all the rubble flies at it, pummeling, tearing, and breaking its body into a bloody mess.

When the attack is finished, I send a wave of kinetic energy towards the wolf, pushing away the rubble, and dash at it with a sword in my hand. It dodges my slash, but the stone filled with lightning mana explodes, removing half of its head, and I see it opening its mouth.

My heart beats, and my speed increases, elongating the sword that cuts off the monster's head. Then it slashes through its chest, and to make sure, I use [Disruption], boosted with [Mana Surge], to cover the area and continue to push against the werewolf's mana until finally, the notification sounds.

[You have defeated an Undead Werewolf - lvl 119]

[Lvl 96 > Lvl 97]

[Disruption - lvl 18 > Disruption - lvl 19]

[Mana Infusion - lvl 9 > Mana Infusion - lvl 10]

Damn it, not even a named one.

When I move closer to Tess, she pushes against the wind around us and creates something like a small spherical bubble around us that partially blocks the roaring wind.

"Poor people that used to live in that house you just wrecked," I can't help but say.

"What are you even talking about? It was like that when we got here," she shoots back.

"That's true, some unfortunate natural cause, I guess."

"Yes, it's really weird," she shakes her head, and a smile flashes across her face before it disappears, "You know, you've changed a little bit," she starts again, this time a bit more carefully.

Well, wouldn't it be weird if I didn't? But yes, she is right, and even I noticed it. As for whether it's for the better or worse, only time will tell, but so far... it's not that bad, I guess.

"How is your mana?" I ask instead.

"It's okay for now. We can continue," she answers while stretching a little bit. "You know, I missed hunting with you. Sophie and Aaron aren't exactly a fitting combination with me."

"Tess, are you trying to summon a death flag?"

"We can continue to hunt for a bit more, and then I can get back to my family and finally fulfill my dream of opening a small restaurant," she continues to joke and then pretends to pull out a photo from her pocket. "This is my daughter and wife. Aren't they cute?"

As she jokes, her face is still somehow deadpan and we move inside one of the houses after I shoot out another makeshift signal flare, trying to lure more monsters to us.

The room is dusty, but the furniture, even though old and breaking in some places, seems clearly more luxurious than the ones before, a clear sign that we are getting closer to the middle of the city.

I then start creating a javelin made of mana and making it more dense and durable with the help of [Mana Infusion] and [Mana Manipulation], all while Tess continues to watch me carefully.

"That's a lot of mana," she says.

"It is?" I ask back, seriously curious. Both of us went through different situations, and even our builds are different, so how does she see what I do?

"Yes, even I can tell that without examining it closer. Usually, weapons made of mana are more see-through and feel weaker, if I can say so." She then reaches her hand and touches the javelin, and I release my hold on it, and it falls into her hand.

"It's lighter than it should be, but that's probably because of the mana," she says. After she says so, I can feel her reaching to it with her [Psychokinesis]. "Hmm, it's also really hard to control, even though you are not touching it. Maybe it's still partially considered to be your mana?"

"I think so. You would need a much higher level to be able to control the ambient mana and mana of other people, even if it's something like this. It is still considered to be mana and not an item."

I reach out and make it move to me, easily overpowering the hold she has over it.

One more minute passes, and I continue to infuse more and more mana into it, making the color a darker and darker shade of blue.

Hmm, how far can I push it? It still doesn't feel like I've reached a limit, so I activate more of my skills, and then getting an idea, I use [Redistribution] too in combination with [Mana Infusion].

Why didn't I think of it sooner? I should be able to [Redistribute] my own mana, right?

Notifications start ringing in my head, and a massive amount of mana quickly leaves my body, moving at dizzying speed through [Mana Infusion] into the javelin in my hand.

The weapon made of mana at first becomes darker, and then it starts changing. Wisps of vibrant light blue and purple pass through it, mixing and creating a beautiful tricolored shine, and the javelin starts to hum in my hand, seemingly becoming even more dense.

I quickly stop redistributing mana, and even then, I feel the weapon I made fighting against me, threatening to explode and release the massive amount of mana I infused it with.

Oh, this can't be good.

***

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