With my health at about a quarter and my mana nearly empty, I didn’t have many options available to me. It was all I could do to dodge the attacks coming my way with ever increasing fervour. Unable to spend the mana to check, I was left wondering at how strong the female tiger-like Sundercat truly was. Stronger than either of the others, if not in level than in ability. It had definitely used a skill to initiate combat, which was a new level of danger for me.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem able to use the ability at will, choosing to snap attacks towards me like a boxer. Time and again, blade met claw and neither won the exchange. However, I was fighting my second battle in as many minutes while the Sundercat was fresh for the fight. Stamina wasn’t tracked numerically, though health recovery likely played a role, but I was nearing the end of my gas tank, visible numbers or not. Despite the situation, I flashed a toothy smile. My hyper mind challenged the Sundercat. Let’s play chicken.
My saving grace was mentality. Even with the injury to its hand, it was still going for the kill. Except, for the creature it was increasing desperation which made its strikes more powerful, yet more wild. My arms burned but I didn’t allow myself to only defend, retaliating where I could while remaining safe. If I took a blow, it was to land a more aggressive, more damaging blow of my own. For all the System had created a monster, the base of this creature was an Earth predator. Its panting was clear, the time between its attacks slowing gradually. I reminded myself that keeping up with me was no mean feat at this point, but maintaining maximum effort was hard on both of us.
I met a threshold I was waiting for and abandoned some of my mana regeneration for Manasight. My vision sharpened and the Sundercat lit up like a christmas tree. Its mana was pulsing hard through its muscles. Probably has been all fight. My theory on its tiredness confirmed, all I had to do was survive a little longer. By following the flow of mana within its veins, I was able to see its movements a moment before they were made.
Congratulations! A skill has levelled up!
That was the moment the balance shifted. Another degree of precision to my sight, I burst into action after more than a minute of careful defence. Allowing the weaker left hand of the Sundercat swipe across my chest, I stepped in and buried the knife I carried in its ribs. A flower of pain blossomed as the single claw sliced me open but I didn’t lose focus. The thing was broad, but I hit something vital all the same. Trying to push me away and remove the stake, the half-tiger woman started flailing and screaming. The fear of death made it panic all the more, the exhaustion now combining with terror.
Wounded animals were said to be the most dangerous. With a heavy foot against the blade, I pushed with all my might. My balancing leg strained and sank into the dirt. As had happened to me, the Sundercat found itself on the wrong side of physics and I was satisfied with the amount of trees it bounced off before collapsing into a heap. Pulling my foot from the ground, I didn’t let up. Hesitation could mean death if it unleashed its roar again.
Mana
15/75
06 per minute
Not willing to give the Sundercat the chance, I gathered a Mana Bolt. The amber orb of energy was more clearly defined to my sight, Manasight still active in case it had any hidden techniques. It didn’t seem I had anything to worry about. The thing had been knocked unconscious. Trying not to dwell on the execution I was about to commit, I focused on the Mana Bolt. The mobile mana within danced like an excited lava lamp, spinning like a drill ready to pierce my target. I had instinctively stopped giving mana to the skill at the limit of ten I found previously but the projectile was holding strong.
I squinted at the energy. The “amber” colour became more vibrant, the bolt more opaque, as I pushed more energy to the attack. On a whim, I tried specifically to move some of the crystals within my mana channels into the ball of energy. After defeating the fourth higher levelled enemy just a minute or two ago, my mana flow was cluttered with the uncomfortable rocks. Although the draconic mana wasn’t actually physical, I shook my arm to dislodge a few of the gemstones and was honestly surprised when it worked.
The weight of the Mana Bolt doubled while shrinking to half its normal size and my eyes widened in shock. It still wasn’t heavy, but it now felt like an iron ball instead of one filled with air. My ears filled with a dull droning sound and my hand began to tingle, so I didn’t want to wait anymore. I heaved the Mana Bolt at the still-prone form of the Sundercat only feet away.
It dodged.
I messed up. I hadn’t been as careful as I thought I was. As the deadly claws came my way, I was angry with myself more than anything. Stupid idiot, I cursed, certain that this was the end. The droning hadn’t stopped when I released the Mana Bolt, but instead grew into a defiant and mighty roar. Before the hidden tiger’s attack could land, mine exploded. The air filled with a smell like burning hair and ozone. The large weight of the Sundercat was thrown at me forcefully by the explosion of my attack.
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The light left the Sundercat’s eyes and its arm slackened, but that didn’t stop its momentum. The force of the Mana Bolt’s burst increased the speed the now deadweight thing had and it crashed into me with enough force to wind me. I scrambled away from the defeated enemy with a shiver that ran deeper than simply thinking it was gross.
Congratulations! Quest complete!
I couldn’t even read the System prompt before agony ripped me away from it. The shudders all through me got harder and harder, my body soon impossible to control. In my chest, a pain began to smoulder, increasing in temperature second by second. I spat out blood, aiming it for the downed enemy. “Did you… fucking poison… me?” I panted through the pain, ready to desecrate the body before I died out of petulance.
“Not quite, Grant,” Naea’s voice whispered from nearby. Her presence almost caused me to spit some venom her way for not helping me, but the pain moved from my chest and I screamed instead. “It’s okay,” Naea said softly over the noise, “Find a place for its strength. I believe in you.”
Unable to tell Naea her belief meant less than nothing compared to the world-ending ruptures popping over and over again inside of me, I turned my sight inwards instead. There were piranhas in my blood, tearing me apart, and I needed to purge them. I tried to gather some mana for the task, and finally worked out what was happening.
Something was happening inside my mana.
The pain had stolen my lucidity immediately but this was… supposed to happen, right? My thoughts sluggishly crawled their way to an answer. This was something I had wanted, before the pain at least. Snap and crackle and pop went my mana, and I stopped fighting the process. In the moment of shock, I had frozen all of my movement, down to the magic. Now it was allowed to flow once more, the pain rose to a nearly unbearable amount.
“Except, you can bear it, can’t you?”
The question was broadcast from my very soul. Was that true? I could tell that with a thought, all of this would end and I would stop. I would disappear and the agony would cease. What happened next didn’t really matter, did it? So long as the pain stopped…
I will never give up. Deeper than my psyche, an answer rose up. I rejected the nothingness and reached for understanding. It came quickly, in the form of a blast of fiery destruction and a roar of opposition. The draconic power had unlocked inside and was now trying to make itself comfortable. To do so, it was eroding the rest of me, the crystals of super condensed magic exploding over and over again throughout my mana channels.
It was when this agony reached my skills that I knew I needed to act. The Aspect would have been fine with burning through me like a wildfire. It was trying to replace the channels and power I had already with one purely draconic. I refused. The pain was coming from my mana, so the only force I could bring against it was the even more esoteric Willpower. I buried my fingers in the soft dirt, grounding myself and forcing my conscious mind to stay awake.
The power of the dragon needed to exist somewhere, and its preference was “everywhere.” I grit my teeth. Instead of “everywhere,” I imagined the crystals crushing together tighter and tighter. I was the core of power, not the dragon. The pain increased again and again, but it was irrelevant. Pain was not going to stop me. If I had a choice, I would make the choice to keep going.
In this strange half-lucid state of focusing on my mana, visualisation was power. Instead of pushing the crystals with my mana, I imagined a well of gravity which would suck them all together. The sharp fragments of crystallised mana began to get sucked in to the gravity vortex I pictured. It was slow, painful going but it worked and once enough of the draconic crystals were gathered in one spot, the new ones began to head towards the pile too. My conscious effort was no longer needed, I gasped and simply allowed the pain to wash over me. The collection of power grew without my input and I watched as it condensed and crushed in on itself.
I could feel the Aspect of the Dragon trying to work with me, and felt gratitude. The magic wasn’t aggressive, it was simply too powerful not to be dangerous. The grating pain within was getting worse as the jagged bundles of mana continued to draw together. I had an idea of where to take the imagery next. The gravity continued increasing, gathering the draconic magic into a ball I could manipulate rather than leaving it scattered throughout my mana channels. The friction and pressure of it all was melting me from the inside, so I worked quickly. I layered wrappings of my own mana over the burning dragon magic, dozens, hundreds of dozens of times.
I couldn’t know how long it had taken, but when the pain finally receded, I knew that my task was done. Although it had drained me mentally and physically, a new strength was filling my veins. Letting the power settle in, I inspected my work. Without guidance, I didn’t know if it was right, but it… felt correct.
If I closed my eyes, I could see an “inner world.” Well, it was more of a solar system. At the centre was me. My core. It hung in the skies of the smaller planet and drenched the new world with undiluted power. The new world was one of four, though the others didn’t exist yet. The dragon world was barren, for now, but life would grow as I cultivated it. The crystal nature I had given the Aspect’s power previously seemed to have influenced my final mental image but I wasn’t unhappy with the rocky world of energy I found in my psyche. Amber and amethyst gems made up most of the land, flashes of energy captured within. The core of this world was giving power to the planet from within. I wasn’t sure what I had done, exactly, but the pain had stopped at least. Is that… it? I asked the Aspect.
There was a rumble, deep within the core of the dragon world. It suggested satisfaction.. For now. I rolled my eyes, reminding myself that whatever magic was happening, it was all my magic. If I got annoyed at the response, I would only be getting mad at myself. Fearful that something awful would happen when I did, I slowly opened my eyes and expected the worst.
The only thing I saw was Naea’ concerned face. I actually burst out laughing, which surprised her. I’m sure she expected me to be in a bad mood after the pain. “What’s so funny?” She asked, wanting to be in on the joke.
I was in a bad mood. “I expected the worst and then saw your face. I was just laughing at how right I was.” Even flinching from Naea’s pretend retaliation made me groan in pain, so she went easy on me. After she helped me stand, I thanked her before turning a hard look her way. “You knew that was going to happen?”
Sheepish, she kicked her feet awkwardly in the air. “Yeah,” she answered slowly, “using a legendary Aspect at your level is dangerous. Not like I had any choice in the matter, but I didn’t know how to tell you it might… hurt.”
A deep breath and a shrug later, Naea and I were the best of friends again. She was the only ally I had in the dungeon, even if she couldn’t actually help me sometimes. I was just pretending this was one of those situations. Naea wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t as though her telling me what would happen would make it easier to deal with. Instead of holding any unnecessary grudges against Naea, or the Aspect itself, I closed my eyes and allowed the changes within me to subside.