Chapter 186

After Janus’ betrayal, I swore to be less naive; however, I didn’t count on Hallas letting the Lich control his body and feeding the Warden with the Holone Grapes.

Perhaps it was the Avatar’s fault for giving me subpar runes to fight against the Lich. My father’s words echoed in my mind. You can’t blame others for your own mistakes. I had been overconfident, and now I was wagering our future on a hail mary. Maybe, just maybe, if I lost my Class, I would get a power similar to the Man in Yellow and his office colleagues.

“You never learn, Robert,” I whispered as the scrubbing rune meant for Wolf activated in my hand.

I hoped my hunch was right.

“What are you doing?” the Lich’s voice trembled.

A bright light blinded me, and when my vision cleared, I was inside my mana pool. The place was dark and peaceful, like an underwater cavern. The round walls were covered in blue glyphs. The only trace of Corruption left was the slim cracks on the bottom of the mana pool. White rays of light from the Fountain streamed through the fissures.

Suddenly, a string of runes flashed bright red. The System flooded my mind with information. Red meant danger. My brain was kneaded, just like when I acquired a new skill. This time, however, no prompt appeared before me. Instead, I knew I could stop the process anytime with a single thought. I didn’t. The System complained, but the orders inscribed on the scrubbing rune had priority and the program obeyed.

My mana pool trembled, and the runes on the wall lost their shine. I felt like someone had plucked a hair directly from my brain. I closed my metaphorical eyes, but it took me a moment to overcome the uncomfortable sensation. I had grown over-reliant on the ability of [Foresight] to dampen my pain.

The sensation struck again, multiplied. A hundred needles pierced my brain. Being torn from the System felt like cello strings being cut with a knife. The recoil hit my body, and the walls of my mana pool started to fade. I was confused.

Above, there was nothing but pure blackness.

Then, I started falling.

I moved my arms, trying to stay afloat, but no water was around me. The runes disappeared into nothingness from top to bottom, and the walls turned into dust. Then, I saw the Fountain in all its magnificence, a small white sun suspended in nothingness, and I continued falling. I tried to yell, to swim away, but I had no body.

The seconds passed as panic got a hold of my existence. The Fountain wasn’t a tiny sun anymore but a roaring planet occupying my entire field of vision. I even tried to close my eyes, but I had no eyelids.

The Fountain touched me and I burned. My whole being felt like I was thrown into a vat of boiling metal. Then, a presence appeared near me. I turned, expecting to see the System Avatar, but only found the Fountain’s endless white.

“Hello. Who are you?” a soft, unfamiliar voice asked.

The pain intensified, and the next moment, I was standing on the platform on top of the elven city. The phantom pain followed me for an instant before disappearing like it was never there. The dragon’s roar resonated through my chest.

“No! What have you done?!”

There wasn’t anger in his voice, just frustration. Then, the realization hit me. Without my connection to the System, I had no Access Rune he could steal.

My body felt sluggish, and my mind slow. I had grown accustomed to [Foresight]’s support. What seemed evident now was obscured. I couldn’t read the dragon’s movements, and it was safe to assume I had lost the resilience of my thirty-one levels.

I was a sitting duck, but the feeling of true magic was there like a limb I had forgotten existed until now. Primal mana flew through my body without causing any harm. It was pure, violent. Nothing prevented me from using it as I wanted: no brakes, safety switch, or automated skills. I felt the heat of every object inside the Warden’s Tree as small vibrations. I felt like I could touch them.

“Where is my rune!”

Mana swirled around the dragon’s mouth.

The magic came to me so naturally that I barely had to think about it.

The Lich spat his frozen breath upon me. I drew an imaginary bridge between the breath and the ceiling of the Warden’s Tree. Captain Kiln jumped between me and the dragon’s attack at the last moment. Instead of the frozen wave, a warm gust of wind struck us. It smelled like dog breath, but we were unarmed.

The dragon-Lich blinked, confused.

Long icicles grew from the ceiling.

“You don’t have to die for me, Izabeka,” I said, surprisingly in good spirits. Doing real magic felt even better than leveling up. It was almost like stretching one’s legs after a fourteen-hour flight.

Without [Master of Languages] acting as an intermediary, the words felt strange in my mouth.

“Screw off, Robert,” Captain Kiln grunted, feeling her body. There was no sign of ice. “What the hell was that? I thought he had us.”

The answer was on the ceiling, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain. I felt like I had more adrenaline than blood flowing through my veins.

“I've come to kill the Lich and chew bubblegum, and the entire kingdom of Ebros is out of bubblegum,” I replied.

Fountain mana surged through my body. Fire required heat, an oxidizer, and fuel. I gathered heat at a single point, but before I could figure out how to add fuel, my hand caught fire. I was startled. The fuel was Fountain mana.

“Remember, we are inside a tree,” Captain Kiln pointed out.

“It’s probably fireproof,” I replied.

I had no skills without the System, so I had to use my imagination. Fireballs were the first thing that appeared in my mind, so I focused on the image of a fireball—a big one.

“I need you to cover me. Right now, I have the endurance of a Lv.1 Scribe,” I said, rummaging through my pouch and retrieving a Holone Grape.

Captain Kiln ate the fruit, but the effect wasn’t as powerful as the first time. Her physical wounds healed, but I could tell she was still exhausted.

The Lich broke from his confusion and lunged at us.

Captain Kiln’s radiant chains coiled around the dragon’s neck, but they weren’t enough to stop him. Without [Foresight], my movements were sluggish. I couldn’t even resort to [Mirage] to hide. Luckily, the Wind-Shoot Boots worked even with Fountain Mana.

I jumped from the central tower and landed on the roof of a half-collapsed pavilion. I channeled Fountain mana and threw my first-ever fireball. Surprisingly, I could control it even after it left my hands, so I aimed at the Lich’s head.

The explosion echoed across the Warden’s Tree. The Lich roared in pain but shrugged off the attack and darted in my direction. Captain Kiln pulled the chains like a gladiator fighting a lion. However, the Lich buried his claws in the edge of the central tower, tearing a section and throwing it in my direction.

I covered my head with my hands, but the impact never came.

Zaon stood before me, blocking the debris with his [Steadfast Shield]. Despite the size of the shards, his feet remained firmly planted on the floor. He was also using [Bulwark].

“I told you to run away!” I shouted over the dragon’s groan.

“I know, but I decided to stay! I’m sorry!” Zaon replied. “[Sentinel’s Oath] told me you were in danger!”

I smiled and ruffled Zaon’s hair, careful not to set him on fire.

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The Lich smashed the central tower, sending debris flying, but [Steadfast Shield] kept us safe.

Through the black mist, I could see the kids' heat signatures. Firana was trying to dispel the black fog while Ilya channeled a dozen small sparrows. If I had to guess, it was part of the System’s program not to allow me to see through the dragon’s mist.

“I will count on you to keep me alive, Zaon,” I said, channeling Fountain Mana.

“You bet I will… probably,” the boy said as he reinforced the silvery barrier between me and the dragon.

Without [Foresight], my thoughts flowed like a river of mud. Physical damage and fireballs wouldn’t cut it. The scales of the Lich’s dragon body were too resistant. I understood why Hallas worried about the Forest Warden attaining its true form. The creature was almost invulnerable, save for its mouth, and I doubted I could sneak a fireball inside it.

I closed my eyes. Instead of my mana pool, I encountered the Fountain. I pulled a massive chunk of mana by willpower alone and transformed it into a bright thread. No matter how much I pulled, there seemed to be no end to the power I could retrieve.

“Who are you?” The soft voice from before spoke from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

“I’m a little busy right now,” I replied, using up to the last ounce of mental focus to tame the streams of energy.

“Okay. That’s fine.”

I ignored the voice, not knowing if it was real or if my imagination was playing a prank on me, and opened my eyes. Arches of light came from my body, scorching the wooden surfaces. Zaon’s hair stood on its ends. An arch hit him on the back, making him recoil. Luckily, the Insulation Rune on his shirt absorbed most of the blow. I needed to get rid of the energy quickly.

“Wizard!” the Lich’s voice resonated through the Warden’s Tree.

Heat obeyed me like I was its only master. During our first fight, I had gathered the heat trapped in the rock into a single point above the Lich’s head. Back then, I was against the clock as Corruption soared through my body. Now, I had a better grasp of what was happening. I could connect two points and transfer heat, regardless of the thermal balance or distance.

As flashy as fireballs were, they weren't the most effective use of my powers.

The dragon pulled Captain Kiln’s chains, his claws almost covering the stretch between the central tower and the pavilion. Zaon pushed more mana into his [Steadfast Shield]. His shoulders trembled, but he stood between me and the beast.

“Wizard!” the Lich bellowed in anger.

With a single thought, the ice covering the roofs of the elven city melted, and the Lich’s scaled arm instantly froze.

“Firana!”

The girl shot through the fog. Her eyes fell on the dragon’s extended arm, and without a second of doubt, she used [Aroekinesis] to change direction. The Aias Sword caught on a gust of fire. She spun like a bullet, slicing the dragon’s scales. Cracks appeared in the beast's armor.

Out of nowhere, a flock of sparrows emerged from the fog. Then a single shining arrow pierced the Lich’s arm from side to side. The frozen scales cracked.

Firana landed on the wall of the central tower and propelled herself forward. With one last blow, the dragon’s arm shattered into thousands of tiny frozen shards. The Lich roared in pain. Having a living body had its downsides. Pain was one of them.

“I will kill you! I will turn you into my puppet!”

Without giving him a moment of respite, I channeled my mana and froze the Lich’s shoulders, dumping the heat into the city. Slowly, the beast’s movement came to a stop, and a relieved expression appeared on Captain Kiln’s face. The Lich struggled against the radiant chains in one last desperate attempt, but it was too late.

I poured rivers of mana to drain every speck of heat from his body.

“You are making a mistake, wizard! Corruption can’t be stopped any more than you can stop the sun from rising every day!”

I froze the Lich’s dragon head, and he slowly turned into an ice sculpture until his mana signature ceased to exist. The black fog disappeared, leaving behind a destroyed city. Suddenly, everything was silent. It was done.

We exchanged a look of relief. The Warden’s true body was destroyed, but we still had work to do. We needed to find the Corrupted System Proxy.

I jumped into the central tower. Firana and Zaon had a few scratches, but nothing serious. A moment later, Ilya, Pyrrah, and Wolf joined us. Ilya leaned against Pyrra to walk. The girl was injured, but Wolf’s regeneration powers already covered her wounds. A wave of relief washed through my body. The Ghoul armor had proved to be lifesaving.

“I’m starting to think I have really bad luck. Every time we get into a fight, I get smacked,” Ilya said.

Firana put an arm over her shoulders, making the gnome girl grimace.

“You spent all your luck meeting someone as incredible as me.”

Ilya rolled her eyes but smiled in the end.

As the kids argued about Ilya’s luck, Pyrrah approached me.

“I don’t want to sound pushy, but we need to retrieve the seed,” she said.

“Hasn’t the seed sprouted into all of this?” Wolf asked, signaling the citadel around us.

Pyrrah shook her head. “When the Forest Warden dies, a new seed is created, and the cycle restarts. No matter how many times you kill a Forest Warden, if you don’t destroy the seed, it will return.”

I wondered if that was still the case, considering the Lich had usurped the Warden’s body.

“The seed should be inside the body,” Pyrrah pointed at the dragon ice statue.

We had to crack it open.

“Who wants to hit the piñata?” I asked.

Without the System, I didn’t have the strength to do it.

Captain Kiln sat on the floor, exhausted. “I already killed one of these before.”

Ilya shrugged. “I almost dislodged my shoulder shooting the bow, and the thing almost has no draw. I pass.”

“I’m technically a non-combatant Class,” Wolf said. “What about Zaon? He hasn’t landed a hit on that thing yet.”

Firana sighed, but ultimately, everyone agreed.

Pyrrah offered her war hammer to the boy.

“Hit from the waist!” I shouted as the boy approached the dragon.

Zaon wasn’t having a particularly good time with all our eyes on him. Still, he channeled his mana and swung at the dragon’s chest. The cracks widened, and the upper body collapsed. The inside was made from roots and vines, much like the Gloomstalkers and Spriggans. Zaon hit again, and a perfectly cut System Crystal emerged from the beast’s belly. It was almost two meters tall and a meter wide, much like the one at Umolo.

I approached. Deep streaks of Corruption crossed the Crystal, and the runes were blackened and distorted. Suddenly, I felt the Lich’s presence intruding into my brain. Old insecurities resurfaced. I saw myself as a lost man stumbling through life with a dead-end job, alone and aimless. However, I didn’t give in to panic. I knew it was the Lich trying to get under my skin, quite literally, and most of all, I wasn’t that man anymore.

After meeting Elincia and the kids, I had found my way.

“Be careful. The Lich is still alive inside the Crystal,” I said.

“I can feel it. It’s a faint voice,” Zaon said with a grimace.

Before I could say anything else, Captain Kiln channeled her radiant aura and hit the Crystal, but her body suddenly froze before her fist could connect. She tried again with the same result. Her fist stopped a centimeter above the surface of the Crystal.

“I can’t do it. Something stops me,” she grunted.

The kids didn’t have better luck.

The Crystal must have been safeguarded against System Users.

Pyrra and I tested our weapons. We couldn’t leave the slightest mark. Then, I tried to freeze and melt it, but it was useless. The Crystal seemed to be protected by a magic even superior to mine.

If nothing else, the System Avatar had made sure the physical parts of the System didn’t break down even in the most extreme environments.

The Lich had chosen an excellent vessel for his soul.

My mind raced. I had to prevent him from turning any of us into puppets. I couldn’t let this win get away from my hands, but the Access Rune seemed to be the only way to solve this puzzle. I needed my Class back.

“Izabeka, take the kids back to the orc camp. Don’t stop until you stop hearing the Lich’s words. His powers are weakened, so his skills shouldn’t have as much range,” I said.

Captain Kiln stood up laboriously.

“What about you?” she asked.

“This will require my runeweaving skills, so it might take me a while to figure out,” I casually replied.

Captain Kiln rubbed her temples. “A Runeweaver? As in Runeweaver Baram? Really? Crap… that explains the enchanted stuff.”

“I swear I’ll explain everything in detail after we finish with this.”

Captain Kiln groaned and looked into the sky for a bit of patience. Then, her demeanor changed from the affable old aunt to the city guard's captain. “Alright, cadets! You heard the man. Let’s get moving.”

Pyrrah and the kids grabbed their things and prepared to leave, but Ilya stayed put.

“I won’t be able to solve this if the Lich turns any of you into a puppet,” I said with my best teacher’s voice.

“We’ll take the same path we used to get here, so if you finish early, you can catch up to us. Don’t leave us hanging…” Ilya said, and before I could say anything, she caught me in a hug and didn’t let go.

Firana instantly jumped in.

I was so damn glad everyone was alive.

After a minute of reassuring the kids I would be okay, I was left alone.

To get back the Access Rune, I needed to contact the System Avatar. So far, I have met him three times: once inside my mana pool and twice after touching the System Crystals. I thought about touching the Lich’s Crystal but feared it would backfire. The streaks of Corruption worried me, so I left that as a last option.

My mana pool didn’t exist anymore, yet I could still access the space where it used to be. I wondered if the System Avatar was there, waiting for me. If I were him, I would try to get in contact as fast as possible. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My thoughts disappeared, and as I entered a state of meditation, my consciousness was transported.

The Fountain burned like a white sun in the middle of the void.

There was no sign of the System Avatar.

“Hello?” I asked.

I swore I heard a voice before, but it might have been the burning pain or adrenaline rush. No, the voice had spoken to me twice—It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

A shiver ran down my spine. It wasn’t the System Avatar.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The soft voice remained silent, almost like it was thinking about the answer.

“I’m old, and I’m dying.”