From fifteen, came sixteen, followed by a stagnation at eighteen. Once she overcame that, there was twenty, twenty-two, all the way until four days later she was unable to breakthrough twenty-seven rounds. For the entirety of the fourth day, she had attempted to break through this bottleneck. In the end there was no freedom from this restraint. This wasn’t something she could do in fact. Not without moving away from Grade F. Using this as one last opportunity to relax, she entered a meditative trance.
By the time her eyes opened, she had completely lost track of time. She knew she had been in the dungeon for days, in that very room the longest. Having slept a few times, Jessica had been spending her days using up all her mana in her extravagant sword dance. From the first day, she had been feeling stuffy. Her entire body felt like she had weights on her limbs. The mana itself felt heavy. This wasn’t a normal phenomenon, and in fact something she only felt after making it through the dungeon.
Before this, having left the cultivation chamber, she hadn’t been pushed. Once she made it to the fifth room, there was some unconformability in her body. Her limbs started to feel heavy, and she was feeling tired far earlier than she should have. Generally, mana was used to strengthen the body and increase one's ability, when used poorly or with bad utilization there wasn’t much difference. However, going from mana efficient to extravagant, showed a rather, lack luster response.
From twenty-two on, she could feel that the weight had disappeared. In response, Jessica felt a longing to keep going. Her body could feel that if she kept going, there would be something to gain. Her mana was at a level she never felt before. At this moment she could feel pushing forward, she would be able to push through even if she met a room with five wolves. Completely rested, she did a once over and made sure everything was in place.
Stepping on the threshold of the doorway, she paused ever so slightly. With a step back, she went into her storage pouch and pulled out three items. Two blue beautiful stones that glimmered faintly, and extra tape. While keeping it on her at all times, she very rarely used the tape. This wasn’t normal tape, instead, the tape was a special material with binding agent on one side and a rough exterior. This side was easy to hold and didn’t shift in her hands. Still, in case of an emergency it was something she always kept on her person. It weighed next to nothing and if she needed it, it could save her life.
This was no emergency, however she wasn’t in a position she was willing to place her life on a knives edge because of this new-found confidence. Taking her daggers, she put a blue stone and wrapped the tape around the handles. With a few attempts, she held it with satisfaction. Now if one looked closely they would see that the wrapping on the handle didn’t match the designs, instead, there was an unseemly lump under the tape. Now, with a higher level confidence she stepped through the door as the wolves came to life.
The first to move were the pair of snow wolves. Quickly followed by the forest wolf. Spreading out as if planned, the ice wolves moved in a pincer movement, this left her in between the two. Running down the middle, the forest wolf that started the furthest was the fastest to reach her. Without losing her calm, she was greeted in a manner in which she had expected. For a reason she couldn’t explain, the forest wolves in the dungeon, would lunge at her torso and head in their very first attack.
Wild wolves, could and did do the same. However, the primary method of attack had always changed. Very rarely did they constantly use the same attack over and over again. They were similar to the volcanic wolves that sat scouting the edges of the battlefield waiting for a moment she let her guard down, or they saw an opening. They were a breed of beast that sent fear into their prey by just being top level predators.
The second the beast left the ground with its front paws, she dove. With the momentum, there wasn’t any time for the forest wolf to do anything else. Bringing her right arm up behind her, she could feel the feedback telling her she had made contact. From the feeling alone, she knew she had cut into the wolf from underneath. Using her left arm she bent it and leveraged herself into a roll using her arm awkwardly to protect her head.
Rolling onto her feet, she was crouched into a ball as she was given a split second. With her maneuvering, she was given that second as the two snow wolves needed to reposition themselves. Once moving in a pincer movement, now they were running up from the back more than the sides. Kicking off the ground, she stumbled for a split second before coming face to face with one of the volcanic wolves. In a favorable position, the wolf didn’t explicitly move immediately. Instead, it allowed her to come at it face to face. Behind her were the two snow wolves, gaining distance as the three ran.
By the time the two met, she had no choice but to jump over the wolf. She wanted to try and slice at its back to add any kind of damage. Unfortunately, as if knowing her plan or trying to take advantage of its positioning, the wolf took off, aiming to trip her up or slow her down. If she did in fact slow down, the two behind her would have bitten onto her legs, ripping her apart, ending in a way that not a single piece of scrap would go to waste.
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When she landed, she could feel the heat behind her. As if her body was warning her of the danger, she didn’t stall and jumped one more time. The room was never that long to begin with, instead, wide would be a better description. With a little forward momentum, she used the mana in her legs, she kicked off the wall to gain distance as she flipped over the two chasing her. With the last of the vision in her position, she grimaced as the two wolves slid for only a moment before promptly being in a position to turn around.
Landing as she bent slightly, with her head turned she was able to see one of the two volcanic wolves had pounced at her landing position. Pivoting, she was finally able to remove a single obstacle. With a burst of mana she embedded a dagger into the side of the skull. Leaning forward to not get taken out by the body. She was faced with the second volcanic wolf that was in the shadow of the first. Her positioning subpar, she wasn’t in any position to do anything. Being a little overwhelmed, she could do nothing but roll to the side.
In fact, she had even forgotten to add slack, so her roll was interrupted. She awkwardly ended up flat on her back as the long forgotten and bloody forest wolf descended upon her. With a bit of panic, she flailed a bit as she attempted to stab the wolf with her remaining dagger in the eye. However, she missed as the beast’s claws ripped into her shoulder. Now under, she rapidly ascended with the dagger as she was finally met with flesh. As one ripped into the shoulder, the other ripped into the neck. In the end, she was declared the winner. Her prize was a sweet few seconds of panting.
Rolling to the side as a pair of claws ripped at the ground, she had just been in. Using her mana to retract the loose dagger somewhere in the room. She was barely able to stand when a snow wolf was about to lunge at her. Soon, instead of a lunge was a skid as the wolf extended its claws into the ground as there was movement in its peripheral. Unfortunately, without intelligence, it had lost tract of the battlefield and didn’t understand its golden opportunity had come and gone. Pivoting on her heel, she is flimsily grasped the dagger that had just returned as she shoved the remaining mana into the dagger as she once again stabbed it into the head of another wolf.
Once she pulled the dagger out, she was able to get a proper grip as the lump underneath the tape crumbled. Without any time to celebrate, the remaining snow and volcanic wolf hesitated slightly. Their instincts were telling them to run, only this was a dungeon and not the wild. A hint of disgust ran through her eyes as the hesitation was overtaken by a new-found bloodlust. With a little over half her mana remaining, it wasn’t a difficult to imagine ending.
The snow wolf was used as bait as she took the opportunity to dodge it as the volcanic wolf took the bait and tried to use the fake opening it believed to be real. Without much suspense, the two were quickly dispatched. Sitting flat on her ass, Jessica looked at the volcanic wolf that was being fed back into the dungeon. There was some hesitation on her face as she decided against trying to claim the body.
Closing her eyes, she did her best to enter a meditative state. What she was aiming for was not to regain any mana, nor was it for rejuvenation of physical energy. Without any suspense, she wanted to push the disgust and uncomfortable nature of the dungeon itself. The mind of wolves, regardless of how intelligent, these were different from normally intelligent creatures. This only meant it was easier for her to stay in this dungeon. At most, they showed a short moment of hesitation that caused them to become more bloodthirsty.
Unbeknownst to Jessica, was that Leo had stopped what he was doing and was paying attention to her. He didn’t feel anything off until she started to fight. As her adrenaline reached a peak he, who had been paying attention, had been able to feel a shift. Looking out, he watched her fight. Still, even having seen her fight on numerous occasions, couldn’t help but frown as his brows furrowed. At least if he had a real body. While he could make faces, it was unknown if it was anything other than just his imagination.
He had never been in a real fight, at most there were scuffles. Never had he seen someone fight with their life on the line. Unsure if it was something to do with higher levels of oxygen or if this was all due to the metamorphosis brought about by mana. No matter how he looked, the level of control and ability she showed, even if she was physically talented, was rather horrifying. Each time he watched, his heart felt like it was going to leap into his mouth.
The first time he saw her fight, he believed she was dead. Time and time again, she returned alive. Now he was starting to get used to it. At least he could control himself from trying to stop her. This didn’t mean it didn’t bother him, it was likely to take a few years before he could remain calm with her wild fighting style. What he was now paying more attention to was her eyes and antics. Time and time again, he was feeling something wrong, but he couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
Jessica had been showing a reckless abandonment for herself. In a hurry all the time. Over and over, she would do things that made him uncomfortable. She was trying to do too much all at once. He could feel the mana had stagnated and while she was breathing in a bit, what was being cleansed wasn’t her heart but her mind. So he patiently waited. Hoping to gleam where the problem lay, from something in her body or something in the eyes that was spotted from the outside world.
Luckily for him, once Jessica opened her eyes she stood up a bit wobbly as her adrenaline was all gone. Instead of staying in the room. She returned to the extra room at the beginning of the floor. With a bit of interest, he paid attention and saw the door to the first room close as slowly as he had seen them open. He had heard about the doors locking behind participants giving up. He was curious of the difference. Supposedly when monsters were inside the door slammed shut, and yet the gentle closing should have meant it could be opened again. With that, he stopped paying attention to the outside.