ROTLE- Chapter 40- Friend of Foe (Patreon)

Not for the first time, Aiden found himself missing healing enchantments.

But healing enchantments were not common. They were a rare kind of enchantment. To cast them—engrave them—took skill and level. A significant amount of both. And he only had one of the two right now.

Even thinking of the runes and sigils he would need to create one failed him each time. It was like trying to remember something he’d just forgotten. It was there but it wouldn’t come. It was an enchanter thing and he’d never allowed it worry him.

The higher the level of the enchantment, the harder it was for the mind to make sense of it—to recreate it.

Off in the distance somewhere, there was a flash of red followed by an explosive sound. Aiden let out a low uncomfortable groan. Pain still racked him, pushed at him.

He hated it. But it was ebbing, easing away even if a little too slowly.

Missing what he had once been capable of was something he needed to learn to deal with. Power was no longer something he had. But it was something he could regain. It would just take him time. But it would be shorter time than it had taken him last time.

Aiden felt one of the pains in his side dull, slowly diminishing into nonexistence. A healing enchantment would’ve been a better option.

Another loud sound rang through the entire space. Elaswit continued her battle off in a distance, keeping the gargoyle from returning its attention to Aiden. She was doing her best to buy him time. To keep him alive.

Aiden was grateful for that.

What if he tried to draw the enchantment on himself? If he used [Unarmed Engrave] it could take effect. But what enchantment would he choose.

You’re delirious, he told himself.

Enchantments didn’t work that way. At least, not at his level. People did not put enchantments on their bodies and expect them to work. It was why Aiden’s class was so unique. Enchantments needed a medium to work. And while their activation required mana, they burned something else from the medium they worked through. They degraded it somehow.

No one knew what exactly they burned but there was no [Enchanter] worth their weight in gold that didn’t know that whatever it was killed the very existence of the medium.

If you wanted to use a lightning enchantment, you cast it on an item and allowed it flow through the item to exact its effect on the target. If you wanted to put an enchantment of endurance to use, you cast it on an item and ensured that you were within its area of effect, which was usually the item.

There was a saying on Nastild that a wise [Enchanter] was the one covered in a lot of clothes. And there was a reason for that.

It was something about the enchantments and how they worked. They pulled the ambient mana to them and worked them in a way that caused the effects necessary. Again, it was why people used enchanted items. Items had a limited number of enchanted uses. Like the infamous and expensive [Blink Dagger]. It took a lot of work to create it, but not an unreasonable amount. And the dagger only had three uses before it shattered into countless pieces.

When people looked at the final effect enchantments had on normal items, nobody wanted to know what effect it would have on their body. Most people had never seen what it looked like when a person died from using their bodies as the medium for enchantments.

But Aiden was one of the few who had.

It had been terrible.

Another loud explosion sounded off to the corner. It pulled Aiden back to the present. As if anticipating him, his interface came to life in front of him.

[Health 34%]

Too slow, he groaned.

But it wasn’t, not really. Aiden knew that it he was healing at a good pace. The right pace. Still, a healing enchantment would’ve been faster.

The taste of the health potion filled his mouth. It was sharp and very slightly acrid, metallic, too, with a sharp taste of freshly cut grass. The last quality was how you knew the potency of a health potion. The stronger the taste of freshly cut grass, the more potent it was.

The taste wasn’t necessarily something that couldn’t be gotten rid off, though. The more expensive potions, the ones that were usually customized to the users, could be flavored to order. You just had to pay.

[Health 41%]

Aiden stared at the notification with a frown. At forty-one percent, he was meant to still be capable of moving. He’d fought losing battles against stronger enemies at forty-one percent. A person could find themselves fighting all the way to critical health levels, sometimes even until they died.

But that only happened when the percentage loss was steady and even enough. The way he’d lost his was different. While his body was healing, it would need to adjust. After all, the difference between losing seventy percent of your health over a steady period of time and losing it in one blow was vast. It was like losing seventy percent of your blood over time and losing it in one go. He would be surprised if anyone survived the latter.

A groan slipped from Aiden’s lips and he was glad for it. His body was getting better, adapting. He took a deep breath and was glad for the absence of pain. Whatever mess had happened within him, it was healing up nicely. Whatever had pierced his lung was no longer piercing his lung and his lung was healing, too.

The blurriness of Aiden’s vision reduced. He was beginning to see better. The light in the cave came clearer.

The sound of weapons clashing echoed and Aiden pulled his attention from it. He needed to focus on what he could do right now. What potion did he have that could help him? What could speed up the process?

He frowned at the answer. Nothing. Potions were like enchantments, they didn’t stack. If you took a healing potion, taking another one only helped increase the toxicity of the potions effects, but you didn’t heal faster.

And very much like enchantments, potions came with their side effects. If you used too many enchantments over a period of time, there were kickbacks in the end. Fatigue. Pain. With potions, the effects were worse. It was why people mostly used the health, mana and stamina potions even if there were a good variety.

You didn’t want to over use a potion that granted night vision only to end up with a side-effect to made you unable to see in the day. Or a far sight potion that gave you blurry vision if over used. With enchantments the after effects weren’t so devastating and they were never permanent. But potion abuse had often led to permanent side effects. If you over dosed on a health potion, you could find your health percentage refusing to grow past a certain percentage for a period of time.

As worrying as it could be, everyone had since accepted it. If potions had terrible side effects, you simply had to follow the rules and not abuse them. It was as simple as that. For the price of discipline, anyone could use a fraction of the power of an enchantment. Potions, after all, were the flawed man-made imitation of enchantments continuously seeking perfection.

The pain in Aiden’s upper body was almost gone when his attention was caught by a golden glow. It pulled his eyes, and they panned to the side only to stop halfway, his attention usurped by a terrible sight.

He grimaced at it. His legs were bent at odd angles.

Just how bad was it? he thought. As if triggered by the sight of it, he started feeling the pain in them.

Had the initial pain been so much that his brain had simply blocked it out? One of them twitched slightly, doing its best to straighten itself out and Aiden winced at the pain that shot through him.

Healing so quickly wasn’t always as easy as it seemed. Sometimes it came with not only relief but a little bit of pain.

When it popped again, Aiden grimaced again and the vial fell from his lips. He was healing right but he was still weak, weak enough to have lost hold of the vial for a moment. There was still a little liquid left in the vial but he’d gotten most of it in his mouth. Enough that it would suffice to heal him a little more before it ran out of his system.

Another boom rang out, loud and powerful. It called back Aiden’s attention so that his eyes shifted from his legs and their sorry state. One now straight while the other was in the process of getting there.

His eyes settled on the sound of the fighting. The fight was temporarily suspended. Gangnar had its massive hand, balled in a fist, on Elaswit’s head. As for Elaswit, she seemed unfazed by whatever attack had struck her, a soft golden glow filling the air around her.

Her artifact, [Mad King’s Bar] had most likely activated sometime during the fight. Judging by the fact that she’d just taken a direct blow to the head and still stood unfazed, Aiden came to the conclusion that the gargoyle had a striking skill. It was probably the blow that moved so fast it was had to see with enough power to break the ground.

But why wasn’t she striking? She was in the perfect position for another attack. Aiden frowned, his brain wracking through all the possibilities when he saw it.

Elaswit’s legs were bent slightly forward at the knee. Her center of gravity was shifted and she was doing her best to keep her feet beneath her.

She’s struggling, he realized.

The artifact was designed to extinguish the effects of a skill but that was all. As long as it was active, Elaswit would take no damage. From the skill. But the laws of physics still applied.

If a skill was a kick that was designed to have knockback effects, [Mad King’s Bar] would extinguish the kickback effect. If the effect of the kick was meant to be pain, then the artifact would extinguish the pain. However, whatever force the blow carried still applied. Physics still applied. If the kick was strong enough to send you flying, it would still send you flying. And if you ended up flying into a wall, you would take damage from the wall.

Right now, that physics—that hole in the artifact—was working against Elaswit. She’d taken no damage from the blow but Gangnar had adequately pinned her down with the weight of its hand and its strength. It was all she could do to stay on her feet. If she tried to swing her cleaver at the gargoyle, it would shift her equilibrium and she would be slammed into the ground.

Now Aiden was beginning to panic.

It has intelligence but it’s not intelligent, he told himself. A half-truth designed to calm himself.

Then the gargoyle pulled its leg back and Aiden paled. His hands moved frantically, forcing what strength he had to push past his weakness.

Completely ignorant of Aiden’s panicking, the gargoyle swung its leg forward in a vicious kick. Aiden winced even before the blow connected, but didn’t look away.

Elaswit was hit hard and sent flying. Unlike Aiden, however, she didn’t go through stalagmites. She shot through a distance and crashed into a single stalagmite. Aiden wasn’t sure if it was because the kick wasn’t as powerful as the blow he’d taken or if the stalagmite was just that sturdy.

It begged another question. Where some stalagmites simply sturdier than others or was that the stalagmite he’d enforced with an enchantment earlier in the fight?

The answer didn’t matter as Aiden’s hand touched one of the pocket’s of the soldier’s belt. It was at his back and he knew what was inside it. His hand unclipped the pocket, retrieved the enchanted item as quickly as it could.

Aiden held in his hand a dark grey stone. It was rough around the edges but smooth where it mattered. Engraved on its surface was an enchantment of lesser binding. At this level it was weak but it would suffice. The enchantment worked by pulling in the ambient mana around and binding it to a single target. Gangnar would likely break free from it quickly but Aiden was only trying to buy time.

Elaswit had been thrown far enough from the gargoyle that even a fraction of a second could be useful. Gangnar would need at least three seconds to get to her. Unless…

Fuck no, Aiden swore as he tried to channel mana into the stone. A faint blue wisp spilled from a small crack at the top of the stone. The item was damaged. The enchantment wouldn’t take.

Aiden discarded the item to the side and assumed any enchanted item behind him would be a bust. That limited his arsenal greatly. It took a significant amount of force to physically damage an enchantment that hadn’t been activated.

Just how much damage had he taken?

Enough to cost you two broken legs and seventy percent of health in one blow.

Aiden shook the thought, going for another enchanted item. He knew what this one would be as he searched through his pockets, pulling himself to a sitting position. He needed to be fast, seconds mattered a lot in a fight but they also often moved faster than seconds had any right to.

His hand wrapped around the item he was looking for and relief filled him.

Please don’t be damaged, please don’t be damaged.

When he held it up, he couldn’t see any damage. Good. Now he just had to—

Gangnar vanished in a blur of motion and Aiden’s heart dropped. It had cut down the distance between it and Elaswit in a fraction of a second. Aiden couldn’t believe he had forgotten about that move.

Elaswit, move, he groaned. Thinking better of it, he tried something else.

“Move!” he roared with everything that he had, hoping to distract the gargoyle, return its attention to him.

It was a sacrificial move on his part, but it would buy Elaswit the time of a distraction.

It didn’t. His voice hadn’t been loud enough. He hadn’t put enough strength into it.

Gangnar ignored him easily.

Aiden paled, barely seeing Elaswit’s body rested against the stalagmite, most of it hidden from him by the gargoyle’s leg.

Please move, Aiden pleaded. If she died, his conscience wouldn’t take it well enough. He knew himself. His guilt would go through him for getting a kid killed.

She wasn’t supposed to be here. He should’ve talked her out of coming with him. She was stubborn but, by all that was enchanted, he should’ve tried. Something. Anything. He couldn’t be the reason she died. How would he forgive himself?

How would he explain it to her father?

Elaswit’s body twitched. Aiden’s heart lifted. To the side, her cleaver glinted on the ground, far from her. Too far. She had no weapon to fight with. She could summon something from her storage space but he’d seen how long it took her to do it. She’d be dead before it appeared.

Her only option was to run. But would she be fast enough?

Do something, goddammit! Aiden swore at himself. Help!

his hand tightened around the enchanted item he’d pulled from his pocket. It was a prism, clear and translucent with an engraving on one side.

The enchantment would play a similar role as the enchantment for binding should’ve played. But unlike the latter, this one would also deal damage. Elaswit would be harmed and he had no idea how much damage she could currently take.

Stop fucking thinking and act!

Aiden tightened his grip and channeled mana into the item.

Elaswit moved, her body twisted to the side. She could escape. If she moved fast enough she could make it. She wouldn’t take damage.

Gangnar raised its head to the stalactites above before she could escape. Its mouth opened wide and an ear splitting roar filled the entire place.

Aiden threw the enchantment.

His arm froze mid throw. A new fear touched him as he realized what had just happened. They were screwed.

His interface popped up, information coming to him in the fraction of a second while Gangnar’s roar was still turned skywards.

[Enemy Gangnar the Starter has used skill Predator’s Right]

The bastard had used a skill with an AoE effect to stun them. Aiden’s body told him just as much.

[Your Resilience is high]

[Resilience (Mastery 98.98%)]

…

[You have built a resistance]

[Skill Predator’s Right does not take effect]

…

[Congratulations!]

[You have gained perfect mastery!]

[Resilience (Mastery 100.00%)].

…

[Base skill with perfect mastery detected.]

[Skill evolution detected]

[Congratulations!]

[Skill Resilience is evolving]

[Skill Resilience is now skill Willpower]

…

It is one thing to rise in the face of difficult odds, Prisoner #234502385739. It is another to exert control in the face of difficult odds.

[Willpower (Mastery 02.10%)].

Exert greater control over yourself in the face of difficult odds.

Aiden’s body relaxed and his arm completed its swing as if it had never been stopped in the first place. He threw the prism and it cascaded through the air, turning end over end just as his second leg popped into order sending another shock of pain through him.

Ahead of him, Gangnar was done with its roar and raised its leg just over Elaswit. Aiden saw her wide eyes stare up at death. A single tear slipped from it. It was the tear of a person not ready to die.

Please, Aiden begged the prism, already forcing his body to move.

The prism spun.

Gangnar’s leg stopped its rise.

Then it came down.

The enchanted item bounced on the ground just beneath Gangnar.

It burst into a million tiny pieces.

Aiden couldn’t remember the last time he was so happy to see his interface.

[You have used Prism of Lesser Lightning]

Effect: deal stun damage to living things within range of effect.

[Duration: 00:00:10]

[Radius: 0.0019km]

Aiden watched the wave of electricity burst from the prism as it shattered, spreading through the ground. It shot up Elaswit’s body, sparks of blue white lightning crackling through her skin. She seized up at its touch, twitched in pain.

At the same time, it shot up Gangnar’s single leg still planted to the ground. Then it spread just as quickly as it had touched it and the gargoyle seized just as well.

Aiden pulled himself from the ground, not wasting the time to check his health stat. It was over forty and that was good enough for him. For now.

He pushed himself up in a flurry of movements. Pain didn’t fill him as he’d expected. It came, but it was numb. It was like using sore muscles after a day at the gym. Aiden ignored it, certain that the only reason the pain was this bearable was because of the weavings currently coursing through his body.

Sword gripped tightly in hand, he charged forward, then activated a skill.

[You have used skill Leap]

His leg muscles grew taut, like tightly woven ropes, and he pushed off the ground. Aiden leapt through the air, rising over ten feet, and crossing the distance.

Gangnar teetered to one side, unbalanced on one leg.

Aiden landed on its massive back, legs taking purchase on wide shoulders, and raised his sword high in a double handed grip, point facing down. The weight of him teetered Gangnar in another direction, shaking Aiden off balance.

Then its leg came down. Aiden looked to where Elaswit should’ve been and didn’t see her. His eyes moved around quickly. He saw no blood where its leg had fallen. Relief flooded him and he ran his sword into the creature.

He aimed for the nape of its neck, right at the center between its two shoulder blades. Unbalanced, his sword stabbed to the side, piercing path just above its shoulder blade.

Gangnar let out another roar, filled with pain and anguish. So close to the creature Aiden winced at the pain of the sound. Still, he hung on, holding on to the hilt of his sword. He pushed the blade deeper, careful not to let it get stuck. If it did, he would be left without a weapon.

Gangnar’s hands reached behind him suddenly. Aiden stepped to the side as it clawed at him. One hand reached for his leg and he hopped fast. He would lose this battle, but he wasn’t here for a battle. He was here to save Elaswit. And, for now, she was safe.

There was no need to—

Gangnar seized again, the action abrupt. The suddenness of it almost sent Aiden teetering off it. The injury he had dealt it would weaken it but it wouldn’t kill it. Gargoyles only died when their hearts were pierced or their heads were lopped off.

There was also the option of beating them to death, but he doubted he or Elaswit had the ability to beat a level 49 to death.

So he withdrew his sword and leapt off its back.

Aiden hit the ground with a thud a good distance a way, his legs almost buckling under him. The drop hadn’t been that high. At least not enough to make his legs buckle at his level. But he understood why. His body was still healing, catching up to full strength.

With an eye on Gangnar Aiden stepped back. The gargoyle reached behind it in pain, screeching and growling. Clawed fingers scratched at the injury as if at an itch impossible to reach.

As for Aiden, he needed to use the time to find Elaswit, so he moved as the last signs of the enchantment of lesser lightning died out.

He ran around a stalagmite, eyes darting around, doing his best to ignore the dying discomfort specifically in his legs.

Past two stalagmites, he caught sight of a boot. Its craftsmanship was grand as was the case with royalty. He also clearly recognized it. After all, there were only two of them here.

How sure are you no unlucky bloke stumbled in here and died?

Aiden ignored the thought and made a path straight for Elaswit. He glanced at Gangnar as he ran, kept an eye on the creature. It was done trying to reach for its injury. Where Aiden had stabbed was covered up now. Sealed in solidified cement-like blood. Now the gargoyle was searching.

Aiden ducked behind another stalagmite, avoiding its attention when it turned its eyes in his direction.

A good distance away from him, behind another stalagmite, Elaswit rested, chest heaving. Aiden had a feeling it had nothing to do with being tired.

He watched fragments of light appear in her hand, preceded by the appearance of two vials. Health and stamina, Aiden guessed.

As a [Butcher] he doubted she needed much in the way of mana.

Her hands shook as she picked up one of the vial, lips quivering. Aiden watched her, then watched Gangnar. The gargoyle turned in annoyance and swung an angry arm into a stalagmite. Right now the entire area was running very low on stalagmites.

They were running out of places to hide and put between them and the thing.

On her end, properly hidden, Elaswit managed to get a vial to her lips. Some of the liquid spilled on account of her trembling hands but she gave it no attention. When the vial touched her lips, she pressed it against them as if scared that if she didn’t it would just spill all over her chest.

Aiden pitied the girl. She had been going on adventures but not as an adventurer. Whether she had liked it or not, she had been going as a princess. She’d seen danger but she’d never truly experienced it.

With guards looking over her shoulders against her own will, there had always been that inkling of safety, that believe that she wouldn’t die.

He was impressed, despite that she had jumped in to save him without hesitation. It had been bravery. But bravery was sometimes overcoming a fear you knew.

Elaswit had overcome the fear of facing a significantly more powerful opponent without safety. Now she’d faced a new type of fear. The fear of death. It had looked her in the eye and taken her measure as a person, then it had given her back.

What happens now? Aiden thought. How would she come out of it? He might have unwittingly destroyed a future with the [Empty Berserker] in it. If she didn’t come out of this stronger, if this traumatized her, she would not get to become the powerhouse that she’d grown to be on this side of Nastild.

Aiden let out a tired sigh and retrieved a vial from one of his pockets as Gangnar smashed something else. He uncorked the vial and placed it to his lips only to pause.

How many of these have I had? he asked himself. He’d spaced its usage over time since they’d entered the cave. But at this point it was hard to tell if he was getting anywhere near toxic levels.

The health potion hadn’t worried him because it was health and he had needed it not to die. With a frown, he downed the contents of the mana potion, placed the empty vial quietly on the ground and pulled out a stamina potion. He downed that one, too.

Side effects be damned. He needed to survive this fight before he worried about his toxicity levels.

He also needed to worry about Elaswit.

You got her into this mess. You get her out.

To do that, Aiden needed a plan, a way out. He took a quick glance out of his cover. Gangnar the Starter remained angry, beating into anything around it. It was only a matter of time before it got to them.

Aiden checked on Elaswit. Her vial was empty and she was on the second one, hand still shaking.

Don’t drop the vial, he thought, watching the first one, the empty one, on her shaking hand.

She drank the content of the second one, eye staring at nothing. Was she in shock? He hoped she wasn’t in shock. Still, he could understand it. Most people thought a near death experience was a thing to be handled when it happened with a breakdown to be experienced long after, when things had calmed down.

But what Elaswit had experienced was different. She hadn’t just stared death in the face, she’d stared death in the face, fought to survive, ended up being helpless, and had been saved. As far as she was concerned, she had survived by no means of her own, and not for want of trying. She had tried, and she had failed.

She has to face the fact that she is weak.

That comfortably removed her from Aiden’s plans. He couldn’t endanger her anymore than he already had.

Once again, he had to remind himself that she wasn’t a child. She was a grown adult that could handle her—

You can’t possibly have learnt nothing from Onrad!

Drawn between his urge to treat her as an adult and his urge to go in alone for her safety, Aiden ripped his eyes from Elaswit and checked on Gangnar.

The gargoyle had stopped smashing things and was moving around slowly. It didn’t even look like it was searching.

How the hell do I kill it?

Aiden had nothing strong enough to pierce its heart. And even if he did, how would he get in front of it. His eyes roamed, taking stock of the entire area that he could see.

Think, Aiden. Think.

The gargoyle was slowly returning to its original spot where they had found it in the beginning when Aiden’s attention settled on a possible solution.

In a portion of the area there was a solitary stalagmite standing tall and proud when the ones around it had fallen. It was exactly where Elaswit had almost died.

It had to be the one he’d used [Unarmed Engrave] on. If that was the case, it had to be strong enough for what he wanted. A plan formed in his mind but it was incomplete. Risky too. He raised his head, looked above him. Stalactites stared down at him. Each one looked sharp and dangerous.

He frowned. If he could bring them down, it would be a win. At least a possible win.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, he thought.

No reasonable level 29 would consider fighting something twenty levels above it alone.

You’ve done worse.

He had. But that didn’t matter right now. The truth was that he hadn’t fought Gangnar alone. He’d had a great deal of help. Its injuries had scabbed over, but Gangnar was far from a hundred percent. Gargoyle injuries scabbed over but it didn’t mean their health regenerated because of it.

Gangnar was weaker and he knew it.

He shot Elaswit one last glance, just in time to catch the last fragments of the dying light of her storage space, hand still trembling under it. Her face was a mask of forced determination. She was pushing herself.

The moment the light vanished, a cleaver landed in her hand. She caught it by the hilt but the end of the blade, hit the ground with a thud.

A low growl filled the air and Aiden knew what he had to do.

Improvise.

He had a plan, but not a complete way to execute it. With Elaswit not in proper condition, he only had one option.

I’ll just wing it, he thought.

He drained a stamina potion in one go, and darted out of cover.

He charged in an arc, going at Gangnar from the side. Gangnar’s attention moved from the general direction of Elaswit and yellow eyes sharpened on Aiden.

Aiden came to a stop next to one of the five remaining stalagmites left. His hand hit it and he drew a quick enchantment on it.

[You have used class skill Unarmed Engrave(U)]

He activated the enchantment only a moment before Gangnar disappeared in a blur and dived out of the way.

[You have activated Enchantment of Lesser Durability]

[Effect: +35% increase in durability.]

[Duration: 00:04:52.]

The stalagmite exploded in a spray of rubble almost immediately. Gangnar had crashed into the thing, turning it to nothing but a stump of itself.

Aiden rolled to his feet to the sight, but there was hope. Gangnar lay on top of the stump. It looked dazed.

It hadn’t been what he’d been hoping for but it was still a plus.

I’ll take it, Aiden thought. Only four more. But first.

He touched his sword and drew an enchantment on it. [Unarmed Engrave] triggered. The sword glowed a soft blue, then turned a deep orange and Aiden felt his mana drop. It was a price to pay.

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Flame]

Then Aiden darted in. He rushed Gangnar with a plan in mind. The initial plan had been to bring the stalactites above down on Gangnar, wear it out. But he had no long range attack that could help him do that. That was where Elaswit should’ve come in.

Now, he had other plans.

Aiden slashed a gash into Gangnar’s leg as it stumbled to get up. Roaring in pain, it dropped to a knee.

The gash was deep and Aiden was happy to see it. The enchantment he’d cast would barely last five minutes. Until then, however, he would be the adventure with a burning sword.

It wasn’t necessarily burning, but red hot had to suffice.

Aiden charged Gangnar again. It swung a chaotic arm at him and he sidestepped it, cutting upward as it swung past him. His strike took a finger and Gangnar bellowed in pain and rage.

That surprised Aiden. The finger not the pain and the rage.

He skipped backwards, away from it, staring at the sword in confusion. Why hadn’t he thought of this since the beginning.

Because it was fast and powerful and could kill you in a single blow.

It was funny. He’d taken a single blow from it and hadn’t died. It was common sense not to fight a melee opponent with a significantly higher level than you in close quarters. But it was different now.

Gangnar was weakened. Apart from its skills, it was slower.

You just have to not get hit, Aiden told himself. I’m sure you can do it.

Gangnar leveled angry eyes at Aiden and he knew what that meant. It was about to charge. He was sure of it. In its anger, it would want to get to him in an instant.

Aiden moved to change his direction when he suddenly felt heavier.

Fuck, he swore as his notification told him why.

[Weave of Lesser Speed has deactivated]

If the weaving had run out, it could only mean that the strength weaving he’d done would be running out next.

Continuing this fight without any enhancement would be suicide. He dived but it wasn’t Gangnar he avoided. A blast of rubble blew past him as he hit the ground.

Gangnar hadn’t used whatever skill gave it unreasonable speed.

It has a cool down.

Aiden almost grinned. It meant he didn’t have to worry about sudden bursts of speed, just the one time and then a touch of reprieve before another. What about the swinging blow?

Think, Aiden.

The answer he was looking for came to him, too. The gargoyle had never used the skill consecutively either. Aiden almost laughed at himself.

His fear of dying as well as his urge to remind himself that he was no longer powerful and needed to be careful had led him into a stupid fight.

How the hell did I not think of this?

He charged Gangnar again, hands weaving a quick sign.

[You have used class skill Enchanted Weave]

…

[You have activated Weave of Lesser Lightning]

[Effect: Deals lightning damage.]

[Effect: 30% chance of dealing stun damage]

[Duration: 00:03:00]

Electricity went through his body and channeled itself into his sword. Aiden saw a crack run halfway up the blade from the hilt. The weapon’s durability was dropping significantly. It couldn’t handle all the enchanting.

Try and last just a little longer.

[Weave of Lesser Strength has deactivated]

Aiden ignored it and was already swinging by the time he got to Gangnar. He ducked under an angry blow and tore a gash behind its elbow. Gangnar pulled its arm back with a roar, but Aiden was still moving, feet carrying him about in sword stances. He spun, twirled his cracked sword and cut another injury into its side.

Gangnar turned to strike but Aiden was already gone from there.

Have to be careful, he told himself as he cut it behind the one knee still keeping it up. We don’t know how long the cool down for the skills are.

A massive open arm came down on him and for a moment he almost stabbed his sword through it. He didn’t. Turning, instead, he took its thumb in one swing.

Gangnar roared.

He was beating it down. Injuries were scabbing over in solidified gargoyle blood but fingers were not regenerating. What was the purpose of naming a gargoyle if they lost their durable skin in exchange?

Right now being named felt like a stupid thing. Was it the intelligence that came with it? Right now the intelligence was doing nothing for Gangnar.

Aiden turned, sword spinning and brought it down on Gangnar’s hand. It was placed flat on the ground, keeping it from toppling over. The blade of his sword cut a clean line through it. He severed the top half of the hand from the rest of it, effectively taking all its fingers.

[You have dealt a Critical Blow!]

When Gangnar roared, Aiden felt the pain in the roar. But there was no rage, no anger. Only fear.

Named gargoyles knew what fear was? Intelligence truly was a double edged sword.

Gangnar forced itself back, stumbling away from Aiden. It was an odd sight to watch a more powerful opponent try to flee from him.

Watch out for those skills, he reminded himself. Let’s not go getting cocky. Remember what happened when it hit you.

How could he forget. It was just moments ago.

He stood ahead of the gargoyle, perhaps thirty feet between them. The fear was in the creature’s eyes as it focused on him. The shoulder of its good hand twitched and Aiden dived again.

The hand was a blur of motion that gouged out the ground beside it. Massive chunks of earth went flying, missing Aiden.

Aiden heard a sound and thought he was imagining it. He thought he’d just heard Gangnar whimper.

Now I just have to watch out for the speed, he noted, then charged the creature.

It remained on the ground, resting on its ass, struggling to stay away from him, when he got to it. Aiden side stepped, moved himself to its half-hand the moment he got within reaching distance of its feet.

Unsurprisingly, it tried to kick at him, shove him away. The attack missed and Aiden was already bringing his sword down on the one good hand.

Gangnar cried out. Aiden ignored it and activated a skill.

[You have used skill Leap]

He sent him high and Aiden steadied himself as he came down. Aimed for its heart. There was nothing that told him the creature could use the skill that gave it speed while lying down or to move upwards but his fear. And he wasn’t going to allow fear hinder him right now.

When he landed on Gangnar it was with a sword to its heart. The hot blade bit into its chest. Sheathed itself halfway into it. No notification came up and Aiden knew he hadn’t stabbed deep enough.

Gangnar, however, seized up lightly.

[You have stunned Gangnar the Starter]

That was good.

Here’s to hoping, he thought as he weaved a new hand sign, both hands still on the hilt of the sword. All that increase in dexterity was paying off.

[You have activated Weave of Lesser Strength]

[Effect: +23% increase in strength]

[Duration: 00:05:00.]

The effect and duration were less, but still enough for what he needed to do. With all the might he could muster, he forced the sword deeper. It slid in and Gangnar roared like a vengeful god.

It shook the air around him, sent the entire place trembling. It took Aiden only a moment to realize that it wasn’t the air that had shook, it was something else.

He paused, staring down at Gangnar’s terrified eyes.

Please tell me it isn’t true.

He shoved the rest of the blade into its chest and a new notification popped up.

[You have dealt a Critical blow!]

[You have dealt a Fatal blow!]

[Congratulations! You have slain Gangnar the Starter- Level 50].

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]

[Level 29 --> 35]

[You are now Level 35]

Even as strength from each level filled him, Aiden paled. His eyes could only focus on one part of the notifications.

[Congratulations! You have slain Gangnar the Starter- Level 50].

The air wasn’t what had trembled at the sound of Gangnar’s dying roar. It had been something else. The ambient mana was what Aiden had felt tremble, which could only mean one thing from what his interface was telling him.

A manifesting skill, Aiden thought in worry. A level fifty skill.

His interface wobbled in front of him as it gave him the bad news. Gangar had attained a manifesting skill right before its death. Reached level fifty.

[Gangnar the starter has used manifesting skill Friend of Foe]

[You do not have sufficient Willpower]

[Willpower (Mastery 02.10%)]

…

[Skill Friend of Foe takes effect in 00:00:07]

…

[00:00:06]

Pain filled his head and Aiden racked his brain, confused. Terrified.

He wouldn’t be under the effect of the skill forever. But he would fight until everything Gangnar had considered an enemy was dead. In Elaswit’s currently condition, she wouldn’t last against him.

She could barely even hold her cleaver properly right now.

[00:00:05]

Think, Aiden, he panicked, gritting his teeth against the pain. It felt like someone was pushing needles into his ears. How does it take effect?

He knew the skill [Friend of Foe]. It was a skill people hated, designed to turn enemies into allies. It was a mind effect skill. And how did skills like that work?

[00:00:04]

By poisoning mana. It infiltrated the mana of the affected person through some means with the will of the caster, then tunneled its way to the mind. The timer was how long the skill took to breach the affected’s mind. In Aiden’s case, seven seconds was generous.

There had to be a way out of it. Aiden refused to kill Elaswit just after she’d saved his life and he’d done his best to save hers.

Think!

[00:00:03]

An answer came and Aiden’s eyes widened at the madness of it. It was dangerous, terribly so. And it would hurt greatly.

It’s that or become the wrong type of murderer.

That was not an option.

Aiden placed his hands together. His knees buckled under him from the pain in his head and he weaved an enchantment no normal person would weave on themselves intentionally.

When it took effect, the pain of needles piercing his ears was a distant caress in its wake.

[You have cast Weave of Lesser Madness]

Aiden went into a fit. He fell to his knees, screaming in pain and agony. Tears spilled from his eyes and he frothed at the mouth.

The enchantment was designed to scramble the ambient mana. Everything about mana, no matter how chaotic it seemed had an order—a pattern. As he had been taught once, all mana—ambient or otherwise—had a flow. Active skills took advantage of that flow and so did passive skills.

And mana was in everything. The air, water, light, darkness. If it existed, it possessed mana. Even abstract concepts such as love, which was a difficult thing to follow, was supposed to have its own type of mana. Even if there was yet to be a living being capable of manipulating the more abstract types.

[Enchantment of Lesser Madness] threw that flow into disarray. It took a calm river and shook it, gave it waves and created tectonic shifts right at the bottom of it.

Now that he’d used it on himself Aiden was the conduit for it. And he was the mana.

It scrambled his mana within him and he screamed in tortured pain. It was like a thousand flashbangs going off inside him. Like ants burrowing into his skin and chewing at his brain.

It was hell and Aiden begged for death.

And hell lasted for only three seconds

Then it was gone. As if it had never been. It was a terrible lie. Aiden felt as if nature had just gaslighted him into believing that terrible things had just happened to him. But the feeling was there. The pain. The dread. The plea for death. All of them present like the effects of a dream you couldn’t remember but knew how it made you feel.

Aiden was slightly ashamed of the plea for death part of it. But it wasn’t that big of a deal. He could always take that to his inevitable grave one day.

Still, it was a better option than than turning on Elaswit.

Aiden let out a tired breath as he looked at his notification, glad for what he saw.

[00:00:02]

…

[Weave of Lesser Madness has deactivated]

…

[Manifesting skill Friend of Foe does not take effect]

Aiden stumbled back to his feet. That was good.

Now he just had to get his spoils and get the hell out of here. Hopefully, Elaswit would be a little useful.

A new notification popped up in front of him.

[Congratulations!]

…

[Unique Scenario: Advent of the Demon King 1.]

You have found the first known point of invasion of the Demon King into this world. The young followers, eager to make a name for themselves, have found their way into this world ahead of time. They are paving the way, raising an army. Vanquish the early signs of the Demon King’s arrival before it is too late.

[Scenario objective completed: Defeat Gargoyle 18/18.]

[Scenario objective completed: Defeat Gangnar the starter 1/1]

[Reward: Unique skill.]

…

[You have gained a unique skill: Pathfinder]

…

[Pathfinder (Mastery 00.00%)(U)]

One with the world, you will always find your path to your destination. As long as you know where it is and or could be, you will find the path there.

Aiden read it twice. It didn’t necessarily sound like much but it was truly a unique skill. Which was odd because the [Enchanter] class had no business with it.

But you’re not an enchanter, though, he told himself. You’re a [Weaver].

And what specifically is the [Weaver] that you are.

Aiden frowned. Regardless, it was something to ponder on elsewhere. Elsewhere being not here.

“Got to check on the princess,” he muttered to himself. He placed a hand to his head, feeling a headache coming.

He looked around. “Now where is—”

A flash of bright red came alive in his periphery and he stepped to the side on reflex. A part of it shattered against Gangnar’s corpse. What was left of it shot past him.

I didn’t mistake that, right? Aiden groaned. I guess its reach was quite far.

Aiden turned, grabbed his sword and pulled it from Gangnar’s chest. It took two pulls before it came free.

With a sigh, he turned and held the sword down and to the side in one arm. Then its bright orange glow dimmed then went out. The electricity stopped crackling through it.

Then it crumbled.

Aiden groaned. This is going to be a problem.

“Any chance we can do this with a conversation?” he asked.

In the distance, Elaswit stood, calm, cleaver held in front of her. Her eyes glowed a soft yellow.

Aiden took a very deep breath and let it out.

This, he frowned, tired, is going to be a problem.