(TPOR) Chapter 111: Dark, Colorful Smoke (Patreon)

Abed watched in confusion as Zed looked around for him. The tear in the man’s shoulder he’d inflicted with his sword was literally stitching itself back together.

Mages healed quickly but not this quickly.

So he continued to watch as Zed approached with a twisted scowl and a bleeding face where Abed had smashed it in with an armored fist.

He’d been told that the mage was a rune mage in training under a Knight rank mage. Then he’d been told he might be a mind mage. Whatever the man truly was, the amount of blood aura he was emitting was far too much for any of those two types of mages. It was at sickening levels as if he’d bathed in it then drank it.

Abed would believe more easily if he was told Zed was a blood mage. But Abed knew Zed wasn’t. Blood mages didn’t fight the way he did. He fought like something else, something eerily familiar.

It took Abed only a moment to realize what he fought like.

He fought like a monster.

To Abed’s left a tree shook as the purple light of force magic blasted into it, shaking it enough to shake leaves loose.

Abed held his breath, silent. A distance not too far from the first tree another blast of force magic slammed into another tree harmlessly. He noted that this one was weaker than the one before it and he felt a touch of relief. At some point Zed had been healing everything Abed had thrown at him and Abed had been beginning to fear the man’s mana was infinite.

For a moment Abed realized what was really going on. He was a category two Rukh mage hiding from a category three Beta mage. He could understand that he was weak right now, his core empty, but no matter how weak a lion was, it didn’t hide from a cat.

And he still had his sword even if Zed had all but destroyed his armor with force blasts and his own body, fighting with the wild savagery of the untrained and uncivilized. Abed’s grip on his sword tightened and he ignored the bite mark Zed had inflicted on his forearm, ripping a giant chunk of flesh, as he darted out. Abed held his sword low and to the side, bracing for the impact of a force blast as charged.

But it never came.

Instead, Zed’s bloodied form met him head on.

Abed swung his sword, hoping to take Zed’s head. If he could not, he hoped to at least strike him aside. None of his hopes came to reality as Zed ducked low and under the sword, allowing Abed’s swing miss.

Zed stepped into Abed and rounded him. Coming up behind Abed, he wrapped his arms around him. At least he tried to. With Abed’s massive girth, it was an impossible task and Zed struggled to get a strong enough hold.

Abed took advantage of Zed’s struggle and threw his elbow back. It cracked against Zed’s jaw and his head snapped back. Zed’s arms slackened around Abed and Abed sought the chance to escape his hold.

He was almost free when pain ran up his sides.

Looking down, Abed saw the cause as he clenched his teeth against it. Zed’s hands grabbed the flabs of his sides, using them for purchase where he couldn’t wrap his arms around him.

Then Zed did the impossible; he lifted.

Abed staggered from both Zed’s action and the pain of been lifted by a handful of his flesh. He refused to cry out as his feet left the ground by an inch before he dropped back down. It seemed in Zed’s frenzy he’d forgotten one simple thing. Mages were denser than humans by their natural constitution, and the stronger they grew, the denser they got. The average Beta mage could easily weigh over two hundred kilograms. The average Rukh mage could weigh as high as four hundred. Abed weighed more than the average Rukh mage and knew it would take much more than madness and grit to lift him.

He threw another elbow back and Zed lifted him off his feet. Abed’s elbow strike missed, and this time Abed didn’t come back down. Zed took him off the ground and tossed him backwards.

Abed went over Zed and hit the ground with a loud thud. He dropped in a loud boom and a small crater formed from the impact.

Abed took the briefest moment to shake the shock of being thrown when Zed scuttled around and mounted him.

Abed felt his sword still in his grip and he swung upwards, attempting to strike Zed off him. Zed responded with a backhanded slap to his sword arm. His blow connected with Abed’s wrist and the weapon finally fell from his hold.

Zed stared down at Abed, face contorted in rage. Dark green eyes screamed his anger, and his fist came down. It cracked against Abed’s face. Abed bucked at the impact and strength drained from him. Another blow came down on his face like a sledge hammer. His head bounced off the ground and a headache shot through his head. But Abed had greater worries as he caught sight of another blow coming. Unable to dodge it, he closed his eyes and braced for the impact.

The blow struck Abed in the neck. Something ruptured and he coughed up blood. His consciousness waned. The realization of what was about to happen dawning on him, panic set in.

No, Abed scolded himself, gritting his teeth, you can’t die here. You haven’t saved her yet.

Abed’s vision focused for a fraction of a second and he watched another blow come down on him. He willed his head to the side, his hands shooting up on nothing but instinct.

Zed’s fist swerved to the side and his elbow came down on Abed hard.

Then everything went dark.

Zed bashed Abed’s face in a second time. Then a third. And continued till he lost count. Now the man laid unmoving beneath him, and sparing the crushed face, now more blood than face, Zed got up.

He teetered on his first step and sat back down. Abed’s large stomach cushioned his fall. Pain and the acrid stench of blood filled the air as strength faded from Zed’s body. His arms weakened and his body grew sore.

He was spent.

· There are no more enemies in the vicinity.

· Skill [Bloodwrath (mana, blood, passive)] has deactivated.

Zed felt the adrenaline gutter out of him and he slumped forward. Then pain filled his head like a million centipedes crawling inside a small vase. Pinpricks of pain lit his mind and the world darkened around him.

· You have defeated Rukh rank mage [Abed Hafeez].

· You have gained +458 [Exp].

· Due to effects of skill [Bloodwrath (mana, blood, passive)] [Exp] has been halved.

· You have gained +229 [Exp].

· Exp to Category 1 (Rukh) 239/5000.

Quest: [Giant Slaying].

· Objective: Defeat a Rukh rank enemy 1/1.

· You have received +600 [Exp].

· You have defeated a sentient being vastly stronger than you.

· Due to the achievement of an acknowledgeable feat additional rewards will be garnered.

· For defeating a sentient being significantly stronger than you for the first time you have received additional reward.

· You have received [Titan’s Axe].

Zed stared at the notification without reading it. Darkness continued to claw at his vision even as pain threatened to rip him into many pieces.

As he slipped into the world of the unconscious, he saw a notification he recognized even without the ability to read it and he accepted its request before he fainted.

· Would you like to use [Conqueror’s touch] on Rukh rank mage [Abed Hafeez]?

Words tried to fill his mind but he couldn’t make sense of them through the pain and the darkness.

When he fainted, it was in a cloud of dark, colorful smoke.