Chapter 40

In section B34 of the Blockade, Keith’s outburst caused a chain reaction.

Wiping out tens of thousands of monsters allowed the defenders to assist Sharn in defeating the Undead Hydra. From there, they reinforced the adjacent sections, preventing them from being overrun.

When the battle ended and the military tallied the casualties, they noticed section B34 ranked among those with the least deaths.

Hours later, Keith awoke, finding himself inside a medical tent surrounded by wounded soldiers lying on beds. Many were missing limbs, and one even had half their body missing. Thankfully, they’d regenerate as soon as their health recovered to full.

Upon waking, a nearby nurse approached Keith, asking, “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Keith stood up, feeling dizzy.

“Good,” the nurse scrutinized Keith and nodded. “You’re free to leave.”

“Thank you,” Keith smiled wearily and carefully walked out of the tent.

In a few minutes, he returned to his assigned sleeping quarters, wanting nothing more than to lay down and rest. His body felt incredibly weak.

Too bad there’s no known method to recover from Mana Sickness, Keith inwardly thought.

After entering his private room, Keith took out one of the luxurious meals he’d stocked up beforehand in his Collection Grimoire. Each bite gave him some strength back, and he felt much better when he finished.

Withdrawing his magic tablet from his inventory, Keith sent his mom a message, informing her that he was fine, then opened up the Blockade Event screen. Browsing through the details, he pulled up the ranking list and found his position.

105!

While Keith ranked near the top, he struggled to muster any excitement.

How could he be happy when the scenes of people dying to the monster horde were fresh in his memory?

It was too depressing.

Sighing heavily, Keith laid on his back and rested his eyes, trying to quell any negative thoughts.

Around ten minutes later, Keith sat back up and inspected his status.

By casting so many Laegur Beam arrays, he had effectively put himself out of commission for several days. Keith didn’t know how long it would take before his body returned to normal.

On the upside, he gained 15 levels, now sitting firmly at level 685.

With an improved mood, Keith re-opened the Blockade Event and discovered he had just under 2.1 million contribution points to spend. Since Keith watched Yara create the event and price all the rewards, he knew his 2.1 million was a considerable sum.

However, the rewards he knew of were before the battle.

After so long, Yara should have listed all the valuable loot dropped by the monsters.

Indeed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Keith found many new items when he browsed through the exchange list.

Unfortunately, while Keith was unconscious, other people had already exchanged for all the items he was interested in, particularly the elixirs and divine grade equipment.

Wait… Keith found something remaining, a divine grade skill, priced at 2 million.

(Divine, Skill) Combustion

Description: Passively enchances your attacks. Upon dealing damage, consume mana to inflict the target with flames that deal 1% of the initial damage every second for ten seconds. If the target has ten different flames applied simultaneously, consume mana to make them explode, instantly dealing all the damage that would’ve happened over time.

Note 1: This skill requires a large mana pool.

Delighted, Keith bought the skill as soon as he finished reading its details, leaving him with a hundred thousand contribution points. At the same time, the System conveniently teleported the skill gem directly into his hand.

Observing the flickering ruby-colored gem for a moment, Keith willed, and it dispersed into nothing.

Congratulations! You’ve learned the skill: Combustion.

Keith read the notification and had no regrets.

There was a reason he bought the skill gem so quickly. In his hands, it would perform a grade higher. Arsenal of the Desert was already Keith’s most powerful skill. With Combustion enhancing it, it was like a tiger gaining wings.

As for the warning about the high mana usage, Keith wasn’t worried when he had Mana Battery backing him up.

Contemplating briefly, Keith considered finding a monster to test the skill but decided against it.

If he spent any more mana, he might gain Mana Sickness.

That was something he couldn’t afford.

For now, he needed to rest.

Keith looked at the ceiling and sighed.

He wished there was a quantifiable statistic about the state of his body concerning Mana Sickness. That way, he’d have a grasp of when he’d acquire it.

Just as he had that idea, he sensed a change in his status.

No way! Keith’s eyes widened in surprise.

Pulling up his status, he found a new parameter under his mana gauge.

Mana Erosion: 88%

Keith focused on the words Mana Erosion to pull up its definition.

Using unattuned mana erodes your consciousness.

You die at 100%.

Raise the strength of your consciousness to resist the erosion of mana.

Keith’s eyes brightened like stars.

The definition gave him a clue about how mana functioned.

Sadly, it was related to something he had no understanding of.

Strengthen his consciousness?

How the slimeball could he do that?!

“Hey, System,” Keith spoke aloud. “There should be a stat related to my mind, right? How do I unlock it?”

There was no response to Keith’s question.

In fact, he was just probing.

There were many times when equipment stated something like, ‘increases primary stat.’

Keith felt like there was something more.

After all, why say primary and not just stat?

In any case, Keith was ecstatic with the new parameter in his status. He’d check it tomorrow to determine his recovery rate.

Until then, Keith passed the time on the magic tablet, browsing different pages until nightfall. At one point, he wanted to ask Yara how many people died during today’s defense, yet deleted his message in the end. One part of him was curious, and another part wanted to remain oblivious to reality.

Keith had a feeling the casualties were higher than the military expected.

Though they weren’t overrun during today’s battle, it was still above what the defenders could handle. Thankfully, Keith was a mage and could remain atop the ramparts. His life wasn’t in much danger.

Keith’s mother, on the other hand, fought down below.

If she hadn’t sent him a message right after the battle ended, he would’ve thought she had fallen.

Thinking about it, ignoring the casualties, Keith was immensely satisfied with the 15 levels he gained and the divine grade skill he acquired. One day had increased his overall power significantly.

How much stronger would he get in a week?

A month?

A year?

Actually, the difficulty the Innate’s military had against the monster horde was greatest during the period when they were still weak. Should they overcome the initial hurdle, the casualty rate would plummet. Keith hoped they wouldn’t need to sacrifice too many people to get there.

Just then, a thought popped into Keith’s mind.

Who ranked number one?

Pulling up the Blockade Event leaderboard, Keith smiled when he saw his father was ranked second and Ska’dur first. The difference in their contribution was next to nothing.

Keith wondered how much stronger they’d gotten today.

Since he gained so much, they should’ve as well.

Hopefully, Keith wouldn’t fall unconscious the next time he fought, or he’d lose the opportunity to exchange for the best items.

With that in mind, Keith’s exhaustion caught up to him, and he fell asleep.