Chapter 13
A pungent odor assaulted Keith’s senses when he neared Typhoon Beach's massive body of saltwater. Keith looked over the side of his griffin and gazed into the depths of the water, yet all he saw beneath the dazzling surface was darkness.
Fighting underwater was a challenge many would struggle with, especially Keith, who relied heavily on the Entangling Roots skill, as it needed a solid surface for the roots to erupt from. Even though Keith would be at a great disadvantage battling here, he intentionally came here first to test an idea.
Now that he arrived, Keith unsummoned his griffin and used the Flight skill, though just as he neared the water’s surface to get a better look, a shadow appeared directly beneath him. Without making the slightest sound, a Bruised Swordfish erupted from the water, its pointed nose exuding sharpness that would put a mythic grade weapon to shame.
Keith exclaimed and twisted to the side, his face stinging from the wind.
Before Keith could relax, the now airborne Bruised Swordfish smacked the air with its fin, sending it barreling toward Keith’s gut. With the Flight skill giving Keith freedom of movement, he spun, dodging the Bruised Swordfish’s follow-up attack and countering with a fierce kick to the fish’s head.
BANG!
The Bruised Swordfish skid across the water, its health dropping by a quarter. As Keith steadied himself, the fish vanished underwater as quickly as it appeared.
Keith released a breath.
How fast!
For being level 580, the Bruised Swordfish was unbelievably quick, so quick that if Keith had a thousand agility less, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with its movements. Thankfully, although its speed was frightening, a simple kick had reduced its health by 25%, revealing that it was incredibly fragile.
In the next moment, Keith’s ears twitched, having picked up the subtle sound of water parting.
Turning around, he multicast Cold Snap three times and froze all the water within twenty feet. Undeterred, the Bruised Swordfish pierced through the ice, and its speed diminished by half. Like before, it slapped the air to boost itself, but before it could get anywhere, a large hand formed by Entangling Roots squeezed it to mush.
Keith’s eyes sparkled. It works!
If Entangling Roots had no solid surface to sprout from, why not make his own? Ice Wall, Earth Wall, Cold Snap. Used creatively, Keith could cast Entangling Roots wherever he wanted.
When combining Keith’s massive mana reserves with Mind Division and Mind Enhancement, Entangling Root’s potential skyrocketed. Keith felt that it was no worse than a divine grade skill.
And that wasn’t all.
Since Keith’s Mana Body boosted all his skills by one grade, it was more like a celestial grade skill. Of course, as Keith had never seen a celestial grade skill, he couldn’t be sure.
In any case, now, there was nothing to fear.
Having accomplished his goal, Keith decided to head to Mandara Desert. Hunting monsters in Typhoon Beach would take too much time – the body of water here was too vast.
Two hours later, Keith arrived at the border of Mandara Desert, and what greeted him was a scalding wind so hot that he continuously lost health points. Promptly drinking a mythic grade heat resistance potion, Keith looked around with tears in his eyes. Here, the sunlight reflected off the light tan sand, turning the desert into a massive mirror that left Keith half-blinded.
Keith searched through his Collection Grimoire and withdrew sunglasses he had collected long ago. Putting them on, Keith could finally see. In the distance, he spotted a large ravine, ruins, and an oasis, all places of interest.
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A minute later, Keith hovered above the oasis, its waters flat and still. Surrounding the oasis were patches of palm trees and dense foliage. At first glance, Keith didn’t see any monsters. Wherever they were, they were well hidden.
Smiling, Keith snapped his fingers.
Up above, five Small Meteors appeared in the sky, a fire trail burning in their wake. In moments, they collided with the ground, unleashing shockwaves that devastated a portion of the previously serene oasis.
ROAR!
The monsters Keith’s Small Meteors had hit were now enraged and searching for their attacker. Brutish Alligators, Horned Beetles, and Dirk Scarabs rushed out of the impact zone. There were at least a few dozen, all ancient grade and with a level over 600. Together, they locked onto Keith, growling.
Before they could do anything, Keith raised the palm of his hand and spoke softly, “Earth Wall.”
One, two, three.
Fifteen Earth Walls erupted from the sand, enclosing the dozens of monsters within. Next, Keith’s mana poured into his Entangling Roots skill array as he closed his hand into a fist.
From all directions, thick roots the size of a bodybuilder’s thigh sprung from the Earthen Walls, reaching toward the dozens of monsters with astonishing speed. The monsters defended themselves, their skills destroying large portions of roots, but they quickly became overwhelmed.
With Mind Enhancement and Mind Division, Keith controlled the numerous roots as if they were his own limbs. They slithered forward like snakes before wrapping around their target and exerting pressure until all that remained was meat paste.
In seconds, the battle was over.
A notification appeared, informing Keith that he leveled up to 571. Swiping it away, Keith checked his status and noted that he had consumed around 200,000 mana, a significant amount considering he only had 1.5 million.
Normally, people tried to limit how much mana they spent when adventuring, as mana regenerated too slowly. That wasn’t a concern for Keith. With the dozens of Mana Gathering Arrays in his Collection Grimoire, he could afford to be so wasteful. Keith’s only limit was how much mana erosion his body could withstand. Before acquiring a transcendent grade Mana Body, that was about 10 million mana.
In any case, Keith knew he could fight freely, so he turned to face an untouched portion of the oasis, his smile widening. The atmosphere tensed as Keith once again raised the palm of his hand, except this time, dozens of monsters rushed out of their hiding spots before Keith could summon any meteors.
They had just witnessed Keith’s earlier fight, and seeing him face their direction scared them witless. Roaring, they attacked Keith. The Brutish Alligators spat out pillars of water, and the Dirk Scarabs tossed massive boulders as the Horned Beetles flanked Keith on both sides.
Unlike before, Keith didn’t raise a bunch of Earth Walls or cast Entangling Roots, as multicasting caused a skill’s cooldown to increase drastically. Instead, he pointed forward, summoning ten bolts of lightning.
In an instant, they chained from one monster to the next, forming an intricate web of lighting that lasted only a moment. The monster’s growls halted in unison as they stiffened, smoke rising from their bodies. They collapsed to the ground, dead.
Keith sighed in satisfaction when he saw he was halfway to the next level. He had never leveled so fast.
By this point, Keith had destroyed about 40% of the oasis, and the remaining monsters knew that a calamity had arrived. They set aside their grudges and animosity towards each other, knowing they had to team up to survive. Thus, to Keith’s surprise, a hundred-odd monsters charged out and attacked him with wild abandon.
“Woah,” Keith exclaimed and flew up to dodge the boulders and pillars of water, among other skills. The Horned Beetles flew after him, and a massive fight began. Keith flew around defensively as he continuously pointed and waved, each movement resulting in one skill after another being multicast.
To the monster's dismay, Keith was multicasting what others considered ultimate skills. Under his firepower, they were no match and were soon vanquished.
Afterward, Keith went to the ruins, then the ravine. He was like a natural disaster – reaping the lives of any monsters he encountered. In eight hours, Keith leveled from 571 to 594, and all it cost was 25 million mana. By then, the notification informing Keith about Mana Sickness appeared, so he called it a day.
Sitting atop a griffin as it headed to Serenity Canyon, Keith looked over his skills, noticing that they hadn’t leveled as much as he expected. They were struggling to push past 550. Keith sighed, accepting that he was reaching the limit of repetition. To level his skills further required an understanding of its effects.
For example, to level Chain Lightning, he needed to learn how lightning worked. What was it? How to produce it? Another way was to encapsulate its essence in your mind. Back when Serilla taught Keith Void Shadowstep, that was the method he employed. Each approach had its pros and cons.
As Keith brainstormed, the sound of glass shattering rang out. Alarmed, Keith looked up and found a large fissure spreading across the sky. Keith’s gaze followed the fracture to its origin, where one crack after another linked together some hundreds of miles away.
Although it was too far for him to get a clear picture, he knew someone had attacked the Skynet. Thankfully, the cracks in the sky repaired themselves, and soon they vanished completely.
Keith’s heart clenched, and without hesitation, unsummoned his griffin and pushed his Flight skill to its limit, hoping to reach New Hope as quickly as possible.